25 May 2008

Cited in some quarters as one of the great debut films of recent times, La vie de Jesus (The Life of Jesus) is the first feature by Bruno Dumont, who continued to make his cinematic mark with the likes of L'Humanité (1999), Twentynine Palms (2003) and Flanders (2006).

Unemployed teenager Freddie lives in a small Flemish country town in northern France. He passes his days with his similarly directionless friends, riding motorbikes, having sex and directing their aggression towards Arabic immigrants. Freddie has a serious thing for supermarket cashier Marie, but when she is proposed to by young Arabic Kader, Freddie and friends decide to take action to punish him for his boldness.

With its frank depictions of the body in the course of the sexual act and its powerful climax, La vie de Jesus announced Dumont's arrival on the world cinema scene of a major new filmmaker who was to go on to become one of Michael Haneke's favourite directors. Read into that what you will. The film itself won a number of prestigious awards, including the prestigious BFI Sutherland Trophy, the Camera D'Or at Cannes and European Discovery of the Year at the European Film Awards, amongst others.

La vie de Jesus is to be released on UK DVD by Masters of Cinema on 21st July 2008 at the RRP of £19.99. The features include:

• New anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer in the original aspect ratio;
• New and improved English subtitles;
• Original French trailer;
• Full colour 40-page booklet including a lengthy interview with Dumont on the making of the film and Dumont's notes created during production, in new English translations.