Women in the village of Majdalah live only as a wife and mother in their lives, Mari tries to be free, after rejecting the proposal to marry a person named Ephraim. Her father is named Alisha, who is believed to be holding a demon. Elisha asks Jesus, the spiritual healer who has the ability to solve these problems.
Other than to show that a woman called Mary who wasn't a prostitute was involved in the final weeks of the Jesus story, I have no idea what the filmmakers wanted for this project. I'm pretty sure they didn't achieve it.
Mary Magdalene only snaps into focus as narrative when we get to Jerusalem, chiefly because it gives these kids something to physically rail against - moneylenders, Judas kisses, Romans, and all. It's a little on the late side, though.
I'll freely admit that I'm not a religious person and perhaps this influences my opinion... but I didn't find Mary Magdalene to be an interesting character.
Hushed, deliberate and realised with considerable care and beauty, the resulting film has its heart entirely in the right place; its pulse, unfortunately, is far harder to locate.
A film of little dialogue, almost entirely made of mood. But the mood is pretty magical ... truly depicts how scary it would be to see someone brought back from the dead ... title is a cheat; this is the story of Christ, even if he has less close-ups.
It ripples with interesting ideas, but the overall effect is glassy and inert, with Rooney Mara's Mary an oddly elusive presence in the film that carries her name.
