Movie Review: Godspell

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Songs

Cons: Weird

The Bottom Line:

An acquired taste

With a strong 70's feel

But it can be fun

Over the Top and Weird, but I Really Do Like It

I have lots of guilty pleasures. But there are probably none greater than this movie.

Godspell takes the story of Jesus from the Bible, specifically Matthew but taking things liberally from the other Gospels, and transposes it to "modern" (read 1970's) New York City. It uses a small, diverse cast to act out various parables and stories from the life of Christ. Interspersed are songs inspired by the events the cast has been reenacting.

Now if you are looking for a serious retelling of the Gospel story, don't even think about picking up this film. It's silly. The movie was released in 1973, and the cast looks like it is wearing cast offs from a thrift store of the era. They are also decked out in face paint. Like its stage play source material, it involves lots of pantomime, minstrel show, and especially vaudeville. The result is best described as psychedelic. It's weird and campy, but if you get into it, it's lots of fun.

What amazes me is that they have such fun with the story while keeping most of the lines straight out of the Bible. At least 90% of the dialog comes straight from the Good Book. Yes, they manage to have fun with it without coming across as sacrilegious.

The thing that tips it over the edge for me is the songs. They are 70's rock, but really good. I just love the words to such songs as "God Save the People" and "Day by Day." And the choreography for "All for the Best" and "Light of the World" are imaginative and fun.

The movie takes place in an empty New York City. And it was filmed on location there. I can't imagine how much pull it took to get permits to film there since these 10 people are the only people on the screen. And they film in such locations as the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Coney Island, and the World Trade Center right before it was opened to the public. (The now gone twin towers feature in the climax of "All for the Best.")

One reason the film works for me is the cast is having fun. Victor Garber, in his first film, may be the only cast member you've heard of, but they all do fine. Of course, there's not much to their roles other then have some fun reciting their lines and singing the songs.

There are some problems with the film, however. The first couple are minor. Between the cast, costumes, and the music arrangements, this film is stuck in the 70's. That right there limits the films audience. For the film version, they took out "We Beseech Thee" and substituted "Beautiful City." It's probably a personal preference, but I love the song they took out and am luke warm to the new song. Nothing really wrong with it; I'm probably just holding a grudge.

The final two are more serious. As I mentioned earlier, there are only 10 people in the cast. Victor Garber plays Jesus, but the other nine cast members play multiple parts. This often cheapens the scenes that are more serious in the Bible. It also leads to some confusion as disciples in one scene are Pharisees in the next. Keeping a tradition from the stage play, David Haskell plays both John the Baptist and Judas Iscariot. Now if that's not confusing, I don't know what is.

Finally, there's the climax. The final quarter of the movie turns serious leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, but that scene loses its punch as they tie him to a chain link fence. The song that is sung while this happens is also my least favorite in the movie with its poor excuse for lyrics, so that doesn't help. Finally, there is no resurrection. And, frankly, that's the entire point of the Gospel.

The DVD is basically a movie only version. It's a two sided disc that includes full frame on one side and wide screen on the other. The picture does have a little bit of dust and grain occasionally, but it's not really too bad. There are some production notes and cast bios, but that's about it.

This film is not for the majority of people. Godspell is quirky and definitely an acquired taste. Maybe with the rash of remakes, this would make a good target. But until then, I will pull it out and enjoy this version.