Films > Film Reviews

The Brand New Testament

25/04/16

Our Father, who art in Belgium.God (Benoît Poelvoorde) lives in Brussels with his downtrodden wife Goddess (Yolande Moreau) and his bored daughter Ea (Pili Groyne), in a small, dingy apartment which he has had on lockdown since the disappearance of his son "JC". He spends most of his time on his computer, creating petty rules designed to infuriate humanity (#2166 The telephone will always ring just after you get in the bath, #2167 When dropped, toast will always land jam side down).

After learning of the way her father treats his human playthings, Ea embarks on a quest to enlist six new Apostles, whilst writing the titular Brand New Testament.The film plays out in a sequence of self contained segments, each one dealing with a different Apostle. Ea's recruitment of the Apostles seems to be the main drive to the story at first but it's their own lives that are the focus, each one representing different parts of human nature. Characters like this run the risk of tipping over into caricatures, but the playful script and the fact that their stories rarely come to their obvious conclusion managed to prevent this from happening.Although this is a fairly broad comedy, some dark themes are explored here (bestiality, prostitution, murder to name but a few) that are handled with a lightness of touch and a dry wit that brought to mind the works of Wes Anderson, with a surreal edge. Where else this year are you going to see Catherine Deneuve in a sexual relationship with a gorilla and be all for it?Director Jaco Van Dormael takes the odd gentle swipe at religion, though he never really gets his claws out. Instead, he has crafted a quirky tale about acceptance, tolerance and the human condition that asks some big questions, and answers them in the most unlikely way.Plenty of laughs to be had, and even more if you paid attention in Sunday School.