Customer Reviews

Hail Mary

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"Hail Mary" (Je vous salue, Marie) is a modern-day retelling of the Annunciation and Incarnation by France's aging enfant terrible - Jean-Luc Godard. Despite the vociferous condemnation it garnered, it is a visually beautiful and surprisingly spiritual film. It hews closely to biblical narrative, albeit updated to modern times and laced with a wickedly bawdy sense of humour. Marie (Myriem Roussel) is a basketball-loving teenager attending high-school in Geneva. Her boyfriend Joseph (Thierry Rode) is a school-dropout who works as a Taxi driver. He is frustrated with her because unlike other girls, she insists on remaining a virgin. The archangel Gabriel (Philippe Lacoste) appears as a grumpy, unshaven man who arrives by airplane, accompanied by a cherubic sidekick. Gabriel takes Joseph's taxi to the petrol station where Marie works part-time for her dad. There he makes his momentous announcement to the consternation of everyone. The bulk of the film examines Marie's reaction to her situation. It is conceived as a "serious" film, delves into weighty topics, and would be hard to follow for most audiences, who will more likely focus on the pervasive nudity instead and declare themselves mightily offended.

"Hail Mary" is preceded by Anne-Marie Miéville's short film "The Book of Mary" (Le Livre de Marie) and both films should be viewed as a whole, in that order. They were shown as such upon original release. Miéville's "The Book of Mary" has nothing to do with religion or the Marie of Godard's film. It is a lovely 27-minute film about a young girl coming to terms with the separation of her parents. What it has in common with "Hail Mary" is the theme of life-change and the importance of accepting change. There is a particularly lovely sequence where little Marie (Rebecca Hampton) dances to her father's favourite recording of Mahler's 9th Symphony (Final Movement), her anguish mirrored in the music, spinning around the living room and patio until she finally collapses in grief and exhaustion. In the end, little Marie can only regain happiness when she learns to accept that change and loss are all inescapable parts of life. Immediately following the last frame of "The Book of Mary", we see the placard, "en ce temps là" (at this time), which then segues without preamble to the opening storm sequence of "Hail Mary" and then is used throughout the latter film to bookend its different scenes.

The major theme in "Hail Mary" is Marie's repeated question: which is pre-eminent? The soul or the body. This is crystalised in her dilemma; abjure the body and glorify the soul by remaining chaste and a fit vessel for the incarnation or satisfy the body by giving in to Joseph and thereby ensure his love. Marie's choice in putting her soul and God above her need for Joseph's love is contrasted with the other couple in the film, Eva and the Professor. Eva gives in to bodily lust and beds the Professor, who after he has had his way with her, dumps her and goes his merry way. Marie's choice of abstinence is rewarded by Joseph's continued, albeit grumbling presence and slowly dawning love. The final scene shows us Gabriel hailing her across the street with a loud "Je vous salue, Marie," whereupon she turns, puffs on a cigarette, smiles and after a moment's hesitation, puts on her lipstick; a confident young woman, happy with the choices she has made and at peace with herself, both body and soul.

The film is suffused with classical music from the likes of Bach and Dvorak. It also features some of the most beautiful photography in any Godard film. However, it also comes with Godard's often groan-inducing humour. Witness the exasperated angel Gabriel trying literally to beat some sense into a horny Joseph as he gets overly amorous with his espoused. Or the child Jésus exploring under his mother's skirt while she gives hilarious names to the various parts of her anatomy (No prizes for what "la prairie" refers to). Or Marie's tongue-in-cheek reply, in the same scene, to her irritated husband who points out that the child is too old to be seeing his mother naked. Marie's quip "Quia respexit, Joseph," is a playful reference to the old Latin text of the Magnificat (My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord), whose third line goes "Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae" (For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden). As little Jésus scampers off to play, he officiously announces, "I must tend to My Father's affairs." And later when Joseph worries about his absconded son, Marie replies laconically, "He'll be back... at Easter... or Trinity."

It is certainly irreverent but there is never malicious intent. In fact when considered carefully, it is a tender and salutary look at a figure many simply pay lip-service to as the "Mother-of-God".

New Yorker Video provide fairly good transfers for both films, both in 1.33:1 (Full Screen). I can't vouch for the original aspect ratio but visual composition looks generally alright. There were a few instances where the framing looked as if it had been cropped but it could be just coincidence. The print is clean and undamaged. The image is sharp with light natural grain throughout. Colours are strong and natural. Sound is in the original French 2.0 Stereo. English subtitles are optional but turned on by default. Extras include a fine 20-minute featurette "Notes About Hail Mary" on Godard's making of the film. It includes several scenes of Godard directing Myriem Roussel and gives us an idea of how he wanted to portray the young Mother-of-God - a combination of "La Pieta" and "La Strada". The film's theatrical trailer completes a fine overall DVD package.

Note: Although I liked the film overall and did not find it offensive, bear in mind that most Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, would. The late Pope John Paul II is quoted as saying: "Hail Mary deeply wounds the religious sentiments of believers." The usually generous film critic Roger Ebert gave it one of his rare 1-star ratings. Although Ebert tried to defend it on theological grounds, he was scathing in demolishing it artistically. Whether you find it offensive or not depends more on your tolerance and comfort level with issues of sexuality, nudity and irreverent humour, especially in relation to religious figures.

I would give the 1984 film Hail Mary (Je Vous Salue, Marie) by Jean-Luc Godard 4 stars out of 5. Sadly however I would give the recently released New Star Video/Jef Films version 1 star (0 stars if I could).

This DVD version is a disgrace and a rip off. The cover claims it is a digitally re-mastered version of the film. It is not. It is a DVD mastered from the analogue Video masters. For those not so technically minded it means that the non digital video originals from the 1980s have been digitised for this DVD. It is not sourced from an original print of the film. In fact the print is so bad that tracking marks can be seen constantly throughout the film. As a digital medium DVD does not track like video used to. This confirms this disks dreadful origins.

The quality of the image is worse than I could ever have imagined. The picture is blurred, dull and dark. Again this is a characteristic of its source. The sound is no better as it is fuzzy and distant. The burnt in subtitles on this film also proove problematic as each time a title appears or diappears the entire image changes colour ( a characterisitc of bad DVD source and encoding).

This DVD is totally unacceptable for a number of reasons. Firstly a Japanese DVD version prooves that the original film prints of this film are still available and in good condition. The Japanese version is beautifully restored and features a worthwhile behind the scenes featurette, not included on this disk. Secondly the full price of this DVD makes it nothing short of a rip off.

In the infancy of DVD a number of smaller companies produced DVDs of questionable quality. This was down to a lack of skilled DVD technicians and a lack of knowledge of the format and its capabilities. This is not however acceptable at this stage in the format's life.

Avoid this DVD of Hail Mary. It is a copy of the 1980s Vestron Video VHS version. The quality is no better and the price is a rip off.

I'm not even going to attempt a review of Jean-Luc Godard's film Hail Mary (Je Vous Salue Marie) here. The DVD is of such bad quality that I could not watch it all and returned it to the store.

As the reviews below point out there is nothing Digital about this release, it is a bad transfer of a VHS copy. How dare New Star Video sell this as a digitally remastered film! Shame on them for releasing such shoddy merchandise and taking our hard earned cash for it!

I agree entirely with D. O. Hanlon. This DVD should be avoided. The picture quality is abysmal; looks like it's been transferred through a grey filter. The cast "extra" includes a tiny bit of information about Mieville's short, The Book of Mary, which precedes Godard's feature; there is nothing about Godard's film at all. I'm returning mine for a refund.

A good movie from Goddard, not among the best though.

Still wondering why it got censored, it's approach is very subtle.

Jean-Luc Godard's Hail Mary ('Je vous salue, Marie')has the distinction of being one of the most controversial films of the late 20th Century. It was banned and boycotted and denounced by no less than the Pope himself but most of the film's most ardent critics hadn't even seen the film that they vilified. For what its worth Hail Mary is perhaps Gogard's most spiritual film and it can be quite lyrical as it attempts to tell the story of the Annunciation in a modern setting.

Mary (Myriem Roussel) is a normal but stunningly beautiful teenager: she plays on the basketball team at her school and lives with her father who owns a gas station. She desires a normal relationship with her boyfriend Joseph (Thierry Rode) but her life quickly goes out of control when she is met by two angels who inform her that she is pregnant. Mary, who is a virgin, has trouble accepting this fact as do the people around her. What follows is a meditation on both the divine and the human. Mary accepting the role she is given in contrast to a second couple who live for the carnal.

This second couple Eva (Anne Gautier) and her Professor/Lover (Johan Leysen) are involved in an extra marital affair that only leads to anguish. They are the opposite side of the coin from Mary and Joseph.

Godard uses the film to contrast pure love with love of the flesh and does quite a good job. So why only three stars? Godard's film moves at a glacial pace and his difficult philosophy is on display in its most brutal form. There are moments of complete confusion for the viewer as one tries to sort it all out.

The film has beautiful imagery courtesy of Godard cinematographers Jacques Firmann and Jean-Bernard Menoud with loving shots of the heavens and fields of flowers. The editing was done by Anne-Marie Miéville and while sometimes distracting serves the material quite well.

The standard definition disc by New Yorker provides the film and Anne-Marie Miéville's short The Book of Mary as an extra. Mieville's film is a natural addition as the film deals with the elements of change and acceptance but this time in a wholly secular setting of a child's reactionto her parent's separation.

This is one of those films that is worth seeking out but takes a great deal of patience to appreciate fully.

To see this movie when it screened in Boston, I had to cross a picket line set up by the SLAVES OF THE IMMACULTE HEART OF MARY, the vestiges of a rabid right wing anti-semetic movement headed by the radio personality Father Coughlin (father of hate radio) in the 1930s. It was worth it to see what was arguably Godard's most beautiful film. Like most really smart people, Godard is only about 20% right, but that beats the 2% average for the rest of us. Godard's musings on the Rubrik cube as an arguement for inteligent design are crap, but the tension between Mary's conflicted maternal sexuality and Joseph's subjugated male sexuality are as primordial as the blues and every bit as poetic. The gynocological exam (much more humane in France than the US)that validates her pre-partum virginity throws arguements about physical purity into the pit of absudity where they belong.

The DVD includes The Book Of Mary, a short film by Anne-Marie Mieville which has no direct tie to the Godard film, but but is equally poetic, more lyrical actualy, and sets the mood perfectly for the main attraction.

When I bought this DVD, I also bought a PAL/NTSC all-region DVD player so I could watch it. It was worth the combined price, and having the international DVD player opened a whole range of other DVDs unavialble in the US market

Note: French with English subtitles.

Synopsis: The sun glides across the horizon on its unending journey from sunrise to sunset. A plane descends upon the modern, urban landscape carrying a female child and her Uncle Gabriel presumably sent on a mission of divine origin.

Meanwhile Mary tends the counter inside her Father's gas station, occasionally stepping outside to record the latest tallies registering on the pumps. Her boyfriend Joseph picks up the divinely sent messengers at the airport terminal and brings them to the meet his beloved never realizing who they are and what lies ahead for the young couple.

Critique: `Hail Mary' released in '85 is quite likely the most controversial film of the 20th century. Banned by the Catholic Church for its raw and sometimes scathing modern day depiction of the Virgin Mary, I believe this is a movie whose time has finally come and will soon be recognized as the classic it truly is. After listening to all the ranting and raving condemning this film you will surely be surprised, and I hope delighted, by what you experience when you finally watch it.

Myriem Roussel is perfect in the role of immaculate Mary. Her youthful, understated beauty provides the perfect combination of innocence and sensuality, appearing as a little lost girl in need of comfort one minute and a passionate woman in the mood for love the next. Thierry Rode in the role of Joseph doesn't quite rise to the level of Roussel but does deliver a strong though understated performance fully manifesting all the confusion, pain and unconsolable loss of a man forever forbidden to fully love the woman he marries.

Like most French films from the 80's `Hail Mary' is steeped in existential angst complete with Heideggerian "God Is Dead" philosophy and Darwinian "we are nothing more than slime in a pond" science. However this oppressive nihilistic atmosphere of life on the brink of annihilation and nothingness is subtly underscored by the possibility of something outside and beyond, something miraculous, maybe even divine. It's this juxtaposition of Theology and philosophy that gives this film its unique and cutting edge.

Director Jean-Luc Godard has provided us with an amazing exploration and retelling of the long revered New Testament account of the Annunciation, complete with intermittent breaks in action where the words "At That Time" appear on-screen as though dividing the visuals into chapter and verse.

Are some of the Catholic Churches concerns valid? Well, there is nudity and some very blunt dialogue that could understandably be perceived by the Vatican as blasphemous. From my personal perspective however I see those statements as honest penetrating questions consistent and pertinent to the interior dialogue within the heart and mind of Mary as she attempts to grasp the unfathomable mystery growing within her womb. Faith and acceptance is not always immediate or tasteful.

My Rating: 'Hail Mary' is a masterpiece in the genre of artistic, provocative, thoughtful and intelligent filmmaking. This is a film for the ages that receives an enthusiastic - 5 Stars-!

I haven't seen the DVD release of "Hail Mary," so I can't comment on its technical qualities. But I CAN comment on the movie itself.

The movie is a vile piece of French s---.

The movie places the "Holy Family" (Jesus, Mary, & Joseph) into a 20th Century context, where the family lives in Paris and Joseph is a cab-driver.

The moment of the Incarnation of Jesus, or conception of Jesus inside his mother, is amazing. "Mary" is shown in full-frontal nudity, writhing on her bed in sexual frenzy, as she is becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

When this movie hit a single theater in Boston around 1989, it was this scene that drove hundreds of the faithful nuts. Hundreds of them gathered outside the single theater in Cambridge (where else?) where the movie was showing to pray. As a result, the movie received a lot of attention -- far, far more than it deserved.

The Archdiocese of Boston was smart enough to keep its mouth shut about the movie. If the protesters had been equally as clever, the movie would have shown for a few days before a few dozens spectators and then quietly would have deservedly vanished. But because of the protests, the movie showed to a packed house for several weeks, so that the protesters themselves were indirectly responsible for the greater desecration of the Holy Family.

Something happened near the end of the movie that caused the audience to do something I've never seen an audience ever do, before or since. It's now about 12 years after "Jesus" was born, and he disappears for a few days. When he returns, "Mary" asks him where he'd been, and "Jesus" replies, "Woman, don't you know I must be about My Father's business?"

What a corny, lame, ham-handed line! The audience groaned IN DISGUST when the line was uttered.

I was thinking about this film recently because as I write this, there is a great controversy in the Islamic world about a dozen tepid, lame cartoons that were printed in Europe that supposedly insulted the Prophet Muhammed. The Muslims burned the Danish embassy in Syria to the ground, and have threatened to take hostages elsewhere.

"Hail Mary" was a FAR MORE grievous insult to Christianity than were those lame cartoons. Christianity and Judaism both get knocked daily far worse. Yet, the Muslims have reacted in greatly more barbarous ways.

That may be "Hail Mary's" gratest contribution to civilization, allowing us to place gthe Muslims' childish behavior in its proper context...

James A. Nollet aka the Altosackbuteer

This is one of the worst movies I ever watched. It was poorly produced, and the story is really poor. I really felt empty and stupid after having watched this movie. I was waiting (or hoping) for the movie to become more interesting, for the real story to start, and eventually the same poorly produced movie, just dragged on and on until the end. The story is almost non existent, and trying to get something out of this movie, is almost like trying to squeeze juice out of a dry orange.

By the way, if you are buying this movie because you think you will see Juliette Binoche acting, forget it. She only appears a couple of times, and she does not even speak.