Popcorn Reviews With Cybèle: Godspell

By Cybèle Elaine Werts  
CybeleW@aol.com

Popcorn Kernel Rating (four possible): Three Kernels for a fantastic score and great singers. No kernels for production values.

There are two things I look for when I watch a movie made more than ten years ago (1973). One is that the story makes sense, that the message comes through intact. The other is "suspension of belief" or did I get so caught up that I forgot it was a "movie?"

Unfortunately Godspell didn’t do either. But more on that later. Here’s the good things. The reason Godspell is worth renting is because the score was written by award winning writers and performed by top notch singers. Even 25 years later, almost every song is absolutely riveting. Many of the friends who watched Godspell with me knew the words to the songs. Why? Because this work was a watershed of the 1970’s, first an award winning play, then a movie.

The cinematography was also strong, particularly so given the lack of plot. Godspell is based on the gospel of Saint Matthew, a loose translation set in the hippie era. A man comes to New York City to bring the spirit of God - "Prepare ye the way of the lord." He brings together both Jesus and his disciples and they "act out" the parables of the bible. While most of the film is a music vehicle, the one scene that is both coherent and moving is when Judas betrays Jesus in the garden. For a few minutes I felt Jesus’ pain.

The problem with this film is that the story of Jesus’ teachings and last days is translated into an incoherent and choppy series of one act plays. Jesus is played by a dewy faced fluffy haired guy in a superman t-shirt and suspenders. The sensitive look might have worked 25 years ago, but today it looks patently ridiculous. The disciples come from every walk of life and hear the "call." They become as children to learn the way of god, literally (they paint their faces and "play") and figuratively. This being the seventies, everyone is dressed in mismatched artsy clothes, which might have been more transparent as it was in the movie Hair, but the "plot" was so artificially constructed that the whole 70’s thing seemed silly and distracting. The characters act out the parables with imagination and humor, but you have to be familiar with the gospel of St. Matthew to really understand what is going on. I didn’t. The actor’s theatre background did not translate well to the immediacy of film, with gestures both awkward and overblown.

Let it be said again that this film is well worthwhile for the music and the context. Once that makes sense, buy a copy of the compact disk and leave it at that.

Here’s a little bit from one of the songs:

Day by day

Day by day

Dear Lord, three things I pray

To see thee more clearly

Love thee more dearly

Follow thee more nearly,

Day by day.

Copyright 2000