The Brand New Testament

(Le tout nouveau testament)

113 minutes

French
German

Belgium
France
Luxembourg

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT begins with one simple conceit: God exists! He lives in Brussels and he’s a real bastard, a petty tyrant to his wife and daughter. His son is known well; JC managed to escape his father’s grasp and live among us, getting himself killed in the process. But God has a daughter, too. Ea is ten years old and has had enough of her father using humanity as his playthings. When she spies the right opportunity, she hacks into his computer and leaks to the entire world via text message their inevitable date of death. What follows is Jaco Van Dormael’s witty and eccentric answer to the loaded question: what would you do if you knew exactly how much time you had left to live?

starring...

Pili Groyne

Benoit Poelvoorde

God

Catherine Deneuve

Martine

Francois Damiens

Francois

Yolande Moreau

God's Wife

Laura Verlinden

Aurelie

Serge Lariviere

Marc

Didier De Neck

Jean-Claude

Director

Jaco Van Dormael

Screenplay

Thomas Gunzig, Jaco Van Dormael

Director of Photography

Christophe Beaucarne

Editor

Herve De Luze

Production Design

Sylvie Olive

Costume Designer

Caroline Koener

Sound

Dominique Warnier, Francois Dumont

82% on the CINEMETER

BOCA

61% - Dec 4, 2016

Music was interwoven very well and the the cinematography was very good!
Boca Raton Member

Very original, clever and interesting! A most unique fantasy!
Boca Raton Member

Very provocative and makes you consider other alternatives. I loved that God was a 'creep' and so very Old Testament!
Boca Raton Member

I enjoyed this wonderfully imaginative film
Boca Raton Member

Would love to have dinner with the screenwriter and the director.
Boca Raton Member

89% - Dec 4, 2016

What a wonderful fantasy. I will recommend it to everyone I know. Every choice the director made was to delight the audience. I haven't laughed that much at a movie in years. Thank you! I would never have found this on my own.
San Francisco Member

This is the most imaginative film I've ever seen and maybe the most imaginative ever produced. Rich in concepts and delightfully presented.
San Francisco Member

Clever, wacky, fun, thoughtful. Brilliant and sparkling. What a gem! Like a modern version of "Big Fish" - great cinematography. Ever so slightly long though.
San Francisco Member

Don't wait for death - live your life, don't waste a day: a wonderful Sunday morning message. The dance of two hands was exquisite.
San Francisco Member

Goes on my Top Ten list - though perhaps not for evangelicals. The big idea of knowing your death date is thought-provoking.
San Francisco Member

So original. If only the world was run by a little girl and a goddess....
San Francisco Member

In Belgium, milk is taxed, alcohol is not.
San Francisco Member

Christopher Hitchens and Jane Austen get together to remake "Amelie."
San Francisco Member

STL

90% - Nov 6, 2016

I loved this film. It is happy, funny, and thoroughly entertaining. It makes you think of a lot of things on many levels: love, joy, pride, anger, regret and full potential for all.
St. Louis Member

I enjoyed it very much! An amazing look at life's most perplexing questions and most desired fantasies. It provokes a soul-searching look at how we live our lives.
St. Louis Member

A lovely antidote to the cynicism of our time. A "feminist" movie without the stridency and (often) shrillness we hear so often. Full of hope, joyful, engaging, transporting, playful. The audience seemed palpably relaxed and good-humored, lots of laughs.
St. Louis Member

Thank Goodness for such creative minds! Of the two world views, I choose hers. Isn't the mind a wonderful thing! If you can't laugh with this, you need to crawl back to your computer.
St. Louis Member

A fascinating and quirky story, with an amusing premise. An interesting way to challenge and spoof certain traditional notions about God, human nature, and life & death.
St. Louis Member

A wonderful creation of imagination! The film that creates its own world based on love and beauty! Any world based on music, baseball, liberation of and love for animals and kaleidoscopic beauty with Catherine Deneuve is OK with me.
St. Louis Member

MIL

90% - Nov 6, 2016

Delightful! My kind of humor.
Milwaukee Member

I really enjoyed this film. It made me feel that our lives can be exceptional even when we don't always follow society's conventions.
Milwaukee Member

What a quirky, wonderful film. So imaginative and fantastic casting.
Milwaukee Member

I LOVED THIS MOVIE! Irreverent, thought-provoking, beautiful, unpredictable and humorous. Perfect!
Milwaukee Member

Very interesting; different from the usual. Makes people think about it.
Milwaukee Member

A fantastic, original, and odd (in a good way) view of the world and religion. In this election year, I have been disappointed with humanity but this film was a lovely escape and I left uplifted!
Milwaukee Member

I loved this film. It was insightful, sad and yet uplifting at a time when needed.
Milwaukee Member

Peculiar, clever and stunning.
Milwaukee Member

So strange but so enthralling. Great use of score!
Milwaukee Member

BOS

78% - Dec 4, 2016

Outstanding; One of the most inventive films I’ve ever seen.
Boston Member

Fresh, funny—delicious visually; fascinating and enlightening.
Boston Member

I adored the music. A comical and clever allegory of how we live. Each apostle story reminded me of the miracle of hope, possibility, and reinvention.
Boston Member

Loved it. A riot.. charming and quirky.
Boston Member

Original! Fun! Liberating! It asks deep, provocative questions in delightful humorous ways.
Boston Member

73% - Oct 30, 2016

Wonderful movie, one of the best! Two perfectly intertwined stories: 1. The plot of God, Mother, Ea, the computer, and the restart; 2. The people’s lives when they know their death dates.
Greater New Haven Member

Very interesting. Light and humorous, yet a heavy subtext.
Greater New Haven Member

Incredible sense of humor and imagination – fabulous!
Greater New Haven Member

Great fun! Great story! Great acting! Great music! (Note: Many praised it as ‘fun’ or ‘entertaining.’ or delightful.’)
Greater New Haven Member

Playful, profound, clever, insightful.
Greater New Haven Member

Whimsy is a powerful tool in the face of adversity.
Greater New Haven Member

Very original – very creative. I liked the idea that everyone has an inner music.
Greater New Haven Member

‘How could a merciful God let such tragedy happen?’ A question I hear all the time. This movie provides the answer and the remedy! No surprise that 18 is the magic number for apostles as it represents “Chai” or life.
Greater New Haven Member

Special effects—best I’ve seen.
Greater New Haven Member

A fanciful farce – witty and beguiling. Felliniqesue magical realism.
Greater New Haven Member

As if Wes Anderson learned to think and speak in French. Very sweet and satisfying for all heretics everywhere. Lots of fun and gives special effects a good name!
Greater New Haven Member

I am not sure I really understood it – but I greatly enjoyed it!
Greater New Haven Member

The best movie so far! Ingenious, original and thought-provoking. ‘What would you do with your life if you knew your time was finite?’ But don’t we know that already? Serious question but handled with great humor. Loved it! (Note: many commented that the film was thought-provoking.)
Greater New Haven Member

I will always be haunted by the images created in this movie. The dancing hand will remain in my memory forever.
Greater New Haven Member

Lots going on in this film – too much maybe. But I loved the gender reversals with which the film concluded: what the world could be like if God had a female sensibility. (Note: a number of comments such as ‘let women rule the world.’)
Greater New Haven Member

It is not for everybody: shocking for certain, but as Belgian, so much ‘humour noir Belge!!. Funny, caustic, but for me the best movie of the season. Absolutely loved it!
Greater New Haven Member

This film was a breath of fresh air! I think the message may be ‘God is love.’
Greater New Haven Member

For someone like me, young and battling a difficult cancer, this film was poignantly real. Through teary eyes I could only reflect on what a bastard God can be and how desperately I long for a lengthy, loving and fulfilling life with my husband and children. May we all get to experience joix de vivre before our final hour.
Greater New Haven Member

In the beginning, there was imagination, and it was Good. Even if there was a misfire or two, with however many days, hours, and minutes I have left, I am so glad I saw this movie!
Greater New Haven Member

90% - Nov 6, 2016

Wow! The camera angles were awesome, and I liked the juxtaposition of sharp detailed scenes like the pearls falling down the floor, against the scene where the man was sitting at the table in a literal haze as his wife is talking to him.
Washington, DC Member

First time I ever felt privileged to watch a motion picture. Perhaps it reflected the yearning about a "better" life we all feel.
Washington, DC Member

A miracle on par with the loaves and fishes! Astonishingly imaginative and a welcome reminder that we only have so long - even if no one knows the date and the hour. Puts in perspective the saying "An Act of God." I also loved God's numbered rules of annoyances. Best of the season so far!
Washington, DC Member

It's comforting to know what a co-production of Monty Python, Albert Camus, Kurt Vonnegut and Rene Magritte would be like. Sublime.
Washington, DC Member

Bizarro, clever, weird, imaginative, interesting, lots of fun, loved it!
Washington, DC Member

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