Monday Night Film Series: The Brand New Testament

Jaco Van Dormael’s silly, sweet-natured and stylish alternate theology comedy The Brand New Testament is an irresistibly laugh-out-loud and feel-good story. In this fantasy film, God is a wrathful being living in a cramped, tatty apartment in Brussels who gets his kicks watching his creatures suffer and making up thousands of Laws of Annoyance (example: whatever line a person stands in, the other one moves faster.)  Each law is quickly illustrated onscreen and each is a hoot.

He lives with his long-suffering wife, his son JC who has retired to become a statue, and his 10 year old daughter named Ea. And while we might have heard of his son, who in this reading seems to have defied His will by walking among the people and getting himself killed for his troubles, we probably know less about Ea, his daughter.

Ea is observant, gaining in powers and wants to set the world, which her mean-spirited father regards as his own personal playset, to rights.. “Don’t get crazy ideas like your brother,” Dad grunts, but later that evening she has a conversation with “JC” and the pair devise a plan. Ea is going to get six additional disciples, and listen to them, thus creating a Brand New Testament.

The Brand New Testament | Monday Night Film Series | Tilley Hall, Room 102, UNB Campus | February 15, 2016 – 7:30pm | See full schedule