Product Details

• Actors: Charlotte Hellekant, Lynne Dawson, Magdalena Kozená, Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre
• Directors: William Klein
• Writers: Charles Jennens, George Frideric Handel
• Producers: Michel Rotman
• Format: Color, Content/Copy-Protected CD, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Koch Lorber Films
• DVD Release Date: December 6, 2005
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BFJM1M
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,462 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Messiah" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Photographer-filmmaker William Klein takes on Handel’s Messiah and has created a gorgeous concert film that mixes the sacred with the profane. Performed in its entirety, the oratorio provides a narrative of Christ’s nativity, passion and resurrection juxtaposed against images of absurdities and abuses against the human species across the world. The film reveals a wide array of worshippers from the Bodybuilders of Christ to the Lavender Light Gay and Lesbian Interracial Choir to the Dallas police choir.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME, AUDACIOUS AND MEANINGFUL, September 18, 2006

By 

Robin Simmons (Palm Springs area, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiah (DVD)

George Frideric Handel's most famous work, the inspired 1741 oratorio, MESSIAH (Koch Lorber) is taken from Judaism and Christianity's interpretation of the prophesied "anointed one;" that is, Jesus, the Savior, Prince of Peace and God in the flesh.

Originally conceived for performance at Easter, with a text taken from the King James Bible, the work has become a staple of Christmas celebrations in the English-speaking world.

Filmmaker William Klein's audacious take on Handel's Messiah -- performed in full -- mixes a potpourri of images both sacred and profane that keeps the central message of both the oratorio and Jesus' life front and center.

The stirring narrative of Christ's life from birth to death to resurrection is performed by an extreme mix of human types, and heard over images of humanity at its worst. I especially liked the shirtless guy singing alone in the desert, the prison chorus, the gay and lesbian interracial choir and the chorus of Dallas cops.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On a Par with Koyanasqatsi, April 4, 2010

By 

Paul J. Kinosian "Horror Host" (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiah (DVD)

VERY moving AND very disturbing presentation of a classic and very complex piece of music which does it proper justice in a way that typical Christmastime religious presentations of the work do not.

I saw this on the big screen in Columbia, SC on Good Friday with the concertmaster of the South Carolina Philharmonic. The performances are a mixed bag, with some top notch world class and some amateurish but moving. It shows the nuttiness of American holy-roller megachurch religion silently and without comment juxtaposed on Handel's score.

People who take all the religious bull$#!+ seriously AND don't have a very high I.Q. will be highly offended. Those religious people who are not complete morons will really like this film and find that it adds depth to their faith.

In either case, it's better than 'Avatar.'