EIFF 2015: Last Days in the Desert
White people fannying about reenacting scripture should, on paper, be testing the boundaries of taste. But Last Days in the Desert is so pared down, so sure in its aesthetic, and so expertly performed, that it glides past most of the pitfalls of contemporary Biblical adaptations (we're looking at you, Noah).
Set during a small period at the tail end of Christ’s desert wanderings, the film has Ewan McGregor as both messiah and Satan, invisibly heckling JC while he helps a small family work through some issues. Ciarán Hinds plays the gruff but thoughtful father to young blood Tye Sheridan, and both tend to Ayelet Zurer as the sickly, bedridden wife. The dynamic between them is tight and moving, and the limited cast gives room for respective strengths to flourish. Most captivating is McGregor, however, whose conflicted dialogues are so engaging it’s easy to forget it’s the same actor talking to himself.
Emerging from a post-Birdman, post-Gravity blockbuster glitz, gilded cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki lends his formidable eye to this puritanical production, matching the barren desert and economical scenes with wide, empty shots and a dry, earthy pallette.