DVD | Hail Mary

Jean-Luc Godard’s modern re-telling of the story of the Virgin Mary is often confusing and extremely hard to get into. But perseverance does pay off as we see the story that means so much to us, yet one that has become sterile and uninteresting be made into a drama of proportions we never dreamed of.

Possibly drama is the wrong word, as some will struggle all through this film with feelings of boredom, but to do so would be to miss the wonderful characters of Joseph the Taxi Driver and Mary the Service Station Attendant, and their struggles with destiny.

Joseph struggles in his relationship with Mary, who wants his love but will not give herself to him. Who claims to be pregnant, but insists that she is a virgin. Even when the Angels try to slap some sense into him he doesn’t seem to get it. His is not an easy journey, but one that he finally does accept.

Then there’s Mary, who struggles with her pain, with her obedience to God and her own happiness. She senses the inner physical turmoil in her body and out ward emotional turmoil of dealing with life, a boyfriend and two of the weirdest angels ever.

As I’ve said, its not the easiest movie to watch, and I suspect many Christians will not get it – they will protest over the nudity, the attitude of the Angels, and the struggles that two humans with a divine destiny go through. But they will never get it. It’s a fresh perspective on a stale story, it’s an angle few of us will actually think about, but shows even more clearly what a miracle it was.

Interestingly this movie was rated R18 in Australia, but only given an M rating in New Zealand. I can see why the Australians gave it an R18 rating – it has the most full on nudity that I have ever seen in a movie. But whilst it contains some explicit nudity, it has no real sexuality, which I guess the New Zealand censors saw as a defining difference. But still, it makes you wonder just what the censors office use for guidelines.