Rodrigo Garcia’s “Last Days in the Desert” is no doubt fascinating, but made even more enjoyable courtesy of the outstanding performance by actor Ewan McGregor. While the film may not be big budget or feature a large cast, those familiar with the gospel may find “Last Days in the Desert” to be a film worth watching!
© 2015 Last Desert Days Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Last Days in the Desert
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2015
DURATION: 100 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 2:40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English and Espanol 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, Espanol
COMPANY: Broadgreen Pictures
RATED: PG-13 (Some Disturbing Images and Brief Partial Nudity)
AVAILABLE ON: August 2, 2016
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia
Written by Rodrigo Garcia
Produced by Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn, Wicks Walker
Co-Produced by Berj Bannayan, Allan Magled
Executive Producer: Abby Whitridge Berman, Nicolas Gonda, Kristina Kendall, Elizabeth Koch, Eri
Co-Executive Producer: Ryan Rettig, Michael Zakin
Associate Producer: Allison Avery Jordan, John McKeown, Amy Lynn Quinn
Music by Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki
Edited by Matt Maddox
Production Design by Jeannine Oppewall
Art Direction by John DeMeo
Costume Design by Judianna Makovsky
Starring:
Ewan McGregor as Jesus
Claran Hinds as Father
Ayelet Zurer as Mother
Tye Sheridan as the Son
Susan Gray as Demonic Woman
Last Days in the Desert follows Jesus (McGregor) in an imagined chapter in his 40 days of fasting and praying in the desert. During his time in the wilderness, he is faced with temptations from the Devil, also played by McGregor, over the fate of an ordinary family in crisis, setting for himself a dramatic test with distinctly human conflicts.
Filmmaker and producer Rodrigo Garcia may be known for his work on TV series “Six Feet Under”, “In Treatment”, “Christine” and “Blue” and in 2005 for the film “Nine Lives”, but the writer/director has created a film about Jesus Christ titled “Last Days in the Desert”.
The film stars Ewan McGregor (“Big Fish”, “Trainspotting”, “Star Wars” films), Ciaran Hinds (“Munich”, “Road to Perdition”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two”), Ayelet Zurer (“Man of Steel”, “Angels & Demons”, “Munich”) and Tye Sheridan (“Mud”, “The Tree of Life”, “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”).
The film focuses on Jesus, after his baptism of John, goes into the Judean Desert to fast and pray for 40 days.
During his fast, Satan tries to tempt a hungry, exhausted and lonely Jesus.
While in the desert, Jesus comes across a family, who offers him shelter, while Jesus offers him his carpentry skills.
But while with the family, Jesus is able to connect with the man’s son. But the father has difficulty trying to connect with him, as he wants his son to obey him and care for his sick mother.
But while spending time with the family, Satan tries to tempt Jesus from his goals.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Last Days in the Desert” is presented in 2:40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Picture quality is good, as one can expect on DVD but I’m surprised the film was not released on Blu-ray. Cinematography does a good job of showcasing the barren landscape. Meanwhile, audio is crystal clear for dialogue and musical score.
Subtitles are in English, English SDH and Espanol.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Last Days in the Desert” comes with no special features.
When I was a child, one of the stories that I felt fascinated but also frightened to read at times, was the story about Jesus vs. Satan, as the painting from the children’s bible featured Jesus taking on this ogre looking devil.
Fastforward decades later and here we are with a film featuring Jesus vs. Satan by Rodrigo Garcia titled “Last Days in the Desert”.
As the gospel goes, Jesus Christ fasts and prays for 40 days in the desert. After Jesus succeeds, he would go on to create his ministry. But to disrupt Jesus during his most vulnerable time is Satan.
Satan takes many forms in this film but most of the time, it’s the image of Jesus Christ (portrayed by Ewan McGregor).
And Satan does whatever he can to put as many fears and doubts into Jesus Chris to stray him away from his path.
Of course, when taking on a film about Jesus Christ, people will immediately find something to dislike about the film, considering the director and some of the talents are not devout Christians.
Some will question why Rodrigo Garcia would take on such a film but when you think about the actual circumstance, the film can be quite compelling. Of course, subjective to the viewer.
I personally found “Last Days in the Desert” to be fascinating for the way we see Satan depicted in the image of Jesus, trying to stray the exhausted carpenter from his love for God and his path to preach the word of God.
For those who worry about films they may deem as overly religious, while the film focuses on Jesus Christ, this is not an adaptation word for word as what we read in the bible. The film explores the psyche of Jesus Christ who has been without food for 40 days and to see how he would carry on despite the problematic situations that present itself.
The only thing that hurts the film is that the story is known, thus making the film predictable. So, viewers may find themselves gravitating to the film to see how Jesus is able to withstand Satan and his lies and during the time when Jesus is most vulnerable.
But where the film succeeds (and some may scream blasphemy) is humanizing Jesus as a man who must go through various states of emotions. Anything trying to show Jesus in a weak state of mind, tends to receive criticism but I felt for this film, the film required Ewan McGregor to take on a role of playing multiple sides of Jesus, but also to play the arrogant and troublesome Satan and because of his outstanding performance, “Last Days in the Desert” becomes a more fascinating film.
As for the DVD, picture quality is good, as one can expect on DVD. And because the film is shot primarily outdoors, picture quality is very good. And the dialogue is crystal clear, as with its musical soundtrack. Unfortunately, there are no special features included on this DVD.
Overall, Rodrigo Garcia’s “Last Days in the Desert” is no doubt fascinating, but made even more enjoyable courtesy of the outstanding performance by actor Ewan McGregor. While the film may not be big budget or feature a large cast, those familiar with the gospel may find “Last Days in the Desert” to be a film worth watching!
