The Body (2001)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Jonas McCord

Writers (WGA):

Richard Sapir (novel)
Jonas McCord (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 January 2001 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Chaos, unearthed.

Plot:

A crucified body dated back to the 1st century A.D is uncovered at an ancient cave in Jerusalem. Trouble ensues as word spreads.

Plot Keywords:

Jerusalem | Cave | Tomb | Skull | Helicopter

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Antonio Banderas	...	Father Matt Gutierrez
Olivia Williams	...	Sharon Golban
John Shrapnel	...	Moshe Cohen
Derek Jacobi	...	Father Lavelle
Jason Flemyng	...	Father Walter Winstead
Lillian Lux	...	Mother
John Wood	...	Cardinal Pesci
Makram Khoury	...	Nasir Hamid (as Makram J. Khoury)
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Monsignor
Ian McNeice	...	Dr. Sproul
Mohammed Bakri	...	Abu Yusef (as Muhamed Bakri)
Yoav Dekelbaum	...	Avi (as Yoav Deckelbaum)
Sami Samir	...	Achmed
Jordan Licht	...	Dorene
Limor Goldstein	...	Galic

Also Known As:

Das geheimnisvolle Grab (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violent sequences and brief language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA | Israel | Germany

Language:

English | Arabic | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #35768) | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Israel

Company:

Avalanche Films

Goofs:

Continuity: When Matt goes to visit Father Lavelle, Father Lavelle refers to Mark 18:21. Mark only has 16 chapters. Then later he refers to Mark 13:21.

Quotes:

Father Winstead: It's the Bible. It's a big book, but it's a crackin' read.

Not so much bad as far too safe

Given a new resonance in the light of James Cameron's recent Geraldo Riveraesque TV special, The Body certainly isn't the stinker the critics claimed, more a film with an intriguing premise that it's too eager to avoid offending anyone with to really capitalise on. Somewhat reminiscent of 70s miniseries The Word, it sees Olivia Williams' Jewish archaeologist discover the tomb of a crucified man who died in AD 32 with identical wounds to Christ in Jerusalem, in the process opening a rather nasty can of worms that sees the Catholic Church, the Israeli authorities, Palestinian political groups and Hassidic Jews all at increasing odds over the possible consequences, with the Vatican sending Antonio Banderas' priest to investigate and debunk the find leading to the inevitable crisis of faith. So far so promising, but despite being more entertaining than expected it never quite gets to grips with either the theological or political implications, while playing down the genuine archaeology to avoid confusing the intended audience. Naturally it ends in a shootout and a big explosion (the film throws in another at the halfway point to keep things lively) and things do briefly get silly as a typically hammy Derek Jacobi's loss of faith and subsequent mental breakdown reaches a melodramatic turning point (cue slo-mo anguish from Antonio), but if it never hits the heights it's never dull either and Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography is typically strong.

Note to Olivia Williams, though: sneering in profile just makes you look like Tara Palmer Tomkinson, and that's not a good look for any girl.