Posts Tagged ‘The Gospel Of Us’

Michael Sheen and director, Dave McKean talk to Filmbeat about The Gospel of Us.

The official trailer for The Gospel of Us has been released. A copy has been added to the Video Library, or you can click on the thumbnail below.

The other good news is that if your local cinema is not showing The Gospel of Us, then you only have to wait a few months for the DVD. It has been announced that the DVD will be available in the UK on 9 July 2012.

You can pre-order this from Amazon, by clicking on the Buy button below.

Three clips from The Gospel of Us have been added to the Video Library.

My video player software seems to no longer add thumbnail images, so I apologise for that. Please click on the 3 thumbnails below.

Last week, there was a memory event  for last year’s Passion play, held at the Aberafan Shopping Centre. The culmination of this event was a Q&A with BBC Radio Wales Phil George.

A download of this interview is now available on the Downloads page, or you can click the download button below.

A new video has been added to the Video Library of Michael Sheen talking about The Gospel of Us to The Guardian. Please click on the thumbnail below.

No self-respecting fan of Michael Sheen needs me to remind them of the phenomenal and ground-breaking event that was last year’s Passion play. For those, like myself, that were unable to attend, there is a small consolation in the form of The Gospel of Us.

The play itself took place over the three days of Easter in 2011, and The Gospel of Us is the culmination of a year’s worth of work from the director, Dave McKean. He has put together original recordings as well as new sequences from many sources, including hidden cameras and footage donated by the viewing public. This has been cleverly edited together to form a spectacular piece of cinema.

The original play was a secular version of the traditional Passion of Christ, with a brilliant script written by poet and author, Owen Sheers. The symbolic themes of this familiar story are blended organically with the struggle of the town.

Michael Sheen plays a local teacher who has been missing for 40 days. He arrives back in the town of Port Talbot, with no memory of who he is, just when a company called I.C.U are delivering a not-too-welcome message about their future plans for the town. The Teacher manages to diffuse a terrorist bomb, and inadvertently becomes the focus of the town’s resistance. This obviously brings him under scrutiny from I.C.U, who decide to make an example of him.

If you are not familiar with Dave McKean’s work, he is predominantly an illustrator of great renown. He has collaborated for many years with Neil Gaiman for example, on some of the writer’s successful graphic novels. This is his third full length feature film, and if you have seen and enjoyed any of his other work, such as Mirror Mask for example, you will appreciate the director’s iconoclastic approach to this project.

The film definitely has his style of mixing different types of images to form a moving collage, reminiscent of his illustrations. It creates levels of tension that makes you catch your breath, while brilliantly capturing the emotional response of the crowd. Something I thought that was handled superbly, wathe background noise from the crowd. By blanking out the noise of the audience, all you hear is the principle actors voices, giving a much needed clarity of focus. The addition of a beautiful soundtrack, blends with the animation and footage to create something that is an assault on the senses. Not all of it makes sense, and I feel that the film will take several viewings to full appreciate its depths.

In a film that is made up of many visually striking moments there is a lot to digest and appreciate. There is one scene in particular, toward the films climax, that is guaranteed to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

The amalgamation of live performance and film works beautifully. The crucifixion scene is graphic and intense, and Michael brings a performance worthy of his great talent. His passion, his empathy, and the fragility of his character are not lost amongst the special effects, but highlighted in a profound and moving way.

The Gospel of Us hits theatres in the UK tomorrow, so check your local listings and go see it.