The Brand New Testament

This is definitely different. If you are tired of watching formula movies where every next scene is an easily predictable scene, this... well, I just don't know what else to say. 5 stars go for creativity alone. Not going to take any stars off for subject matter.

The premise is that God is a grumpy dad who enjoys making arbitrary rules to, in general, make people miserable. We all know his son, but living in his shadow is God's daughter. Fed up with his behavior, she takes matters into her own hands, setting off a world-wide panic as she texts to everyone the exact dates that God has decided they'll die. Their reactions to this news is, to say the least, life-changing. Wonderful performances and a lot of fun for those who love their humor as dark as it gets.

A cinema masterpiece uncorked: its title: the brand new testament.This movie is hilarious, bizarre, hysterically funny. I laughed an hour after this movie was over. Three hours later, I'm still laughing and talking about it. Director Jaco Van Dormael unleashed a gem. I haven't laughed so hard in seeing a movie, since I don't know when. My sides are split, I laugh out loud like a madman, all because of this simply brilliant movie. Funniest film I have seen in years. Or let's say, ever since time started.Belgium French speaking actor Benoit Poelvoorde plays Dieu, a wife, child beating maniac who loses his temper at the drop of a dime and victimizes his family, his wife, La Femme Dieu, and his 10-year-old daughter Ea. The father's absurd violent egotistical behavior is part of the absurd gag of life. In the end, this movie dates back to the French existentialist Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, and the true absurdist of them all Samuel Beckett and his gems Waiting for Godot and the End Game.Nonetheless in the 21th Century, this movie takes the cake on absurd behavior. It's just so damn funny. Off the wall, bizarre, wacky, pore unadulterated hysterical. I'm still laughing four hours later.As a movie, this one is entirely in French. Yet simply enough for an intermediate French speaker to understand. The Brand New Testament is a dark, fantasy comedy unlike any I have ever seen before. That's how original and funny this movie is. It's hysterical. No kidding. On scout's honor, it's worth watching if one understands French, and understands dysfunctional, absurd, odd family behavior. Only if there were six stars, this one would get that.

This film is utterly fantastic! I am buying a physical DVD copy as soon as I have the money to do so. I love movies; I collect the ones that strike me and make me think or feel.I am spiritual but I am not aligned with any religion. I follow no creed. I believe in no form of dogma. I think that it is important to say this in the beginning because if I did have a creed, believe in a dogma, or have a specific set of beliefs regarding God, this movie would probably make me very upset.However, I thought it was a beautiful idea and it plays out in moments of hysteria, shared love, the fullness of life, and everything that makes up the world that we know. What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? What if it was tomorrow? What if it was in 102 years?Take this quote from "Fight Club" into consideration,"(Tyler Durden) Listen to me! You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you. He never wanted you. In all probability, he hates you. This is not the worst thing that can happen."If that only makes you more curious about this film, then I fully and enthusiastically encourage you to watch it. If not, then you will probably be very upset by the concept of God promoted by this very, very tongue in cheek film.

It is possible; I found my self enjoying a laugh twice during this. The quirky images yield brief interest and minimal involvement.It seems to me, though, that this is all about how established norms, here attributed to God the Father, are prisons, obstacles to personal happiness and fulfillment.I can't recommend this; in my view much talent, time and money have been squandered. Perhaps this was a huge commercial success. So be it.Certainly, one can build a story on the premise that the God of the Old Testament and the peoples of the book was a misanthropist and sadist.This is what you get on that foundation.

This movie is one of my all-time favorites. I was looking for the foreign comedy section, which Amazon Prime makes so hard to find, I had to Google it. The link I found through Google gave me this as the first result. This movie hit me just right - I used to live in Brussels, and am going through an existential crisis, so as I watched the results of Ea letting everyone know when they'd die so they started to do what they really wanted, well it really struck a chord. It's a little like the movie Amélie - some of the same actors, and similar narration style. The scene where God emerges from the washing machine - such powerful symbolism. Victor thinking Ea's brother is Jean-Claude Van Damme, just priceless, especially as a Belgium lover. If you want to think about god, life, and what we're doing with the time we're alive and laugh at the same time, this is a great movie for that.

Jaco Van Dormael’s The Brand New Testament (2015) arrives like a breath of the sweetest fresh air. From the land of Rene Magritte comes this peculiar, ambitious, gem of surrealist cinema.God exists. He lives in Belgium. And he’s a monstrous prick played with vim by Benoît Poelvoorde, the star of Man Bites Dog (1992). The flavour of this film is not dissimilar.God sits at his computer all day thinking up tortures for humanity… Bread always falls jam side down. As soon as you get into the bath, the phone will ring. Hassles never happen one at a time… He is a sadistic drunken lout who is cruel to his wife and daughter and hateful of everything.His young daughter finally snaps and breaks into God’s computer, and texts everyone on Earth their death dates. This changes humanity, largely for the better, but…The rest is like an epic poem. On Earth the daughter seeks out six apostles to write a brand new testament. Not every element is perfect, but Catherine Deneuve makes out with a gorilla. God gets beaten up by skinheads. And God’s daughter’s boyfriend becomes a girl.Sensational! The best film no one has ever heard about. What a joy.

Brilliant, surreal, and very funny fantastical comedy.Catherine Deneuve, Yolande Moreau, Benoît Poelvoorde, François Damiens, and all supporting cast are brilliant, but especially so is the actress Pili Groyne who plays Ea who helps narrate the story. Next to these big stars of French language cinema she's just as much a star of the show.The look of the film is great with cinematography from Christophe Beaucarne, and there is great music including some beautiful classical pieces such as Handel's “Lascia ch'io piangafrom "Rinaldo" Act 2” (I'm not familiar with the title of Handel's piece of music, but I recognised the tune straight away and it is beautiful) and more (slightly) up-to-date songs like Charles Trenet's “La Mer” (which for me has got to be one of the best French songs), and lots besides.The most praise must go to Belgian director (and writer) of “The Brand New Testament”, Jaco Van Dormael, as he has created a wonderful film as well as referencing other film within “The Brand New Testament”.It is a film that could be enjoyed on so many different levels by different viewers. If you are at all attracted to the idea of God existing within a somewhat dysfunctional family, and doing so sat behind a computer in Brussels, then I'd definitely say to give the film a go.On the DVD (ASIN: B01FIB7M5Q) you get:“The Brand New Testament” (1 hour 50 minutes)Scene SelectionAudio Set Up: 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Dolby DigitalThe film has embedded English Subtitles

A very different interpretation on the "God" complex. An excellent film with superb acting. Imagine how we would react if we knew the exact date when we are set to expire ... WOW!!! Deneuve is, as always, fabulous.

I saw the previews and my attention was caught by it. I know, it is a mistake to get hooked on the previews. On the whole, it is not a very bad movie. It has it's moments - black humor, stories with questions that we need to ask ourselves. There was a potential for this movie to be something better. In the end, this movie left me hanging right in the middle - parts I disliked ( and some I really hated it) and parts that made me think or I found them interesting.

Fantastic, very original. It is necessary to have an open mind though and to take it as a joke, with a pinch of salt as the English say it. I love films which are NOTpolitically correct; they are rare and courageous.Un film magnifique et avec un humour qui pourrait être discutable mais que j'ai adoré. Benoit Poelvoorde n'est jamais mauvais et souvent hors du commun. Alors qu'aujourd'hui il devient difficile de ne pas être politiquement correcte, ce film est politiquement et religieusement incorrect et c'est formidable qu'on puisse le voir.