12 Days: Lothaire Bluteau in Jésus de Montréal

'A group of actors put on an unorthodox, but acclaimed Passion Play which incites the opposition of the Catholic Church while the actors' lives themselves begin to mirror the Passion itself. '

It's always challenging trying to find a movie for an Easter piece in my 12 Days series.  There just aren't many Easter themed movies.  I've (un) covered the classics, (HERE:) went the Hallmark route, (HERE:) looked into the genre of Easter Bunny horror flicks, (HERE:) and even just picked movies with Rabbit in the title. (HERE:)  This year, I went back to the basics. 

You can't closer to the core of Easter than The Passion Play. The Passion Play is a massive stage production that brings to life Jesus' Passion, covering the time frame from his visit to Jerusalem to his crucifixion, and tells the story of his suffering, death, and resurrection  1989's Jésus de Montréal is the story one city's  production.

In Montreal, an unknown actor named Daniel (Lothaire Bluteau) is hired by a Roman Catholic site of pilgrimage present a Passion play in its gardens. The priest wants Daniel to modernize the classic and dated play that the church has been using,  An inspired Daniel goes to great lengths to research and put his own take on the tale.

When Daniel's version of the play is performed, it receives excellent reviews from critics but is regarded as unconventional and controversial by Father Leclerc, the priest who hired Daniel, tries to distance himself from Daniel. When the higher authorities of the Roman Catholic Church object to Daniel's Biblical interpretation, they tried to forcibly stop the production leading to an accident. Although the source material is deadly serious, the film is actually both a drama and a comedy.

Montreal born actor Bluteau has an extensive resume working both in English and in French in theatre as well as on film and in television.  Most of his credits and acclaim come from his roles in Canadian productions but many many know him from his roles in the third season of 24 as well as turns on The Tudors and Vikings on the History Channel.