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LA PASSIONE DI GIOSUČ L'EBREO
THE PASSION OF JOSHUA THE HEBREW
year 2005 length 100' color 35 mm country Italy
directed by Pasquale Scimeca
Screenplay Pasquale Scimeca, Nennella Bonaiuto
Cast Anna Bonaiuto (Anna), Leonardo Cesare Abude (Giosuč), Marcello Mazzarella (Johanni), Giordana Moscati (Sara), Franco Scaldati (master Shiumek), Vincenzo Albanese (the Inquisitor), Toni Bertorelli (Abravanel)
Cinematography Pasquale Mari
Art direction Eva Desideri, Osvaldo Desideri
Editing Babak Karimi
Costume Design Grazia Colombini, Giulia Mafai
Music Miriam Meghnagi
Producers Rosa Scimeca, Rosario Calanni Macchio
Production
Arbash, supported by Ministero per i Beni e le Attivitŕ Culturali
World Sales
Adriana Chiesa Enterprises
Via Barnaba Oriani 24 A - 00197 Roma (Italy)
Tel. +39 068 086 052 Fax. +39 068 068 7855
www.adrianachiesaenterprises.com
Distribution
Istituto Luce
Press Office
Maria Antonietta Curione, Istituto Luce
Tel. +3906 7299 2274 (# 274) Fax +3906.7212 713
Mobile +39348 5811 510 E-mail m.curione@luce.it
synopsis
In 1492, a young Jew, Giosuč, is exiled from Spain together with his people. A series of events eventually leads him to Naples, where because of the anti-Semitism which has spread throughout Christian Europe, he is again forced to flee. He finally ends up in Sicily, in a village founded by Jewish coal merchants forced to convert to Catholicism.
One day Giosuč, on his way to sell coal in nearby Hassin, wins a competition on religious themes and is chosen to play Christ in a portrayal of the Passion on Good Friday. He identifies with the role to such an extent and his preaching is so genuine and effective that those in power (especially the Inquisitor, who realises that the boy is Jewish) decide to kill him, and like Christ 1,500 years earlier, they crucify Giosuč because the powerful cannot stand the Truth nor those who profess it.
The opening sequences of the film by Pasquale Scimeca form a sort of “moving pictures” illustrating some well-known historical facts. The whole movie culminates in a shocking final sequence – a Passion play with the young Jew playing Christ. In this very moment, the line between performance and reality is blurred and the historical detachment of the spectator is gone. We take part in this perverse but not blasphemous passion play, which is the antithesis of The Passion by Mel Gibson. The director points to the distinctive features of Christ which in fact make Him unacceptable or hidden, even for the believers. There he is, Jesus who would be crucified again, if only appeared; Jesus whom people venerate, but cannot tolerate at the same time – Jesus the Jew.
(Tadeusz Sobolewski)
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