Garrel: Le Lit de La Vierge

“Born in 1948, Philippe Garrel was the wunderkind of French cinema in the 1960s. His fifth feature, LE LIT DE LA VIERGE, is a parable about Jesus set in modern times. Shot in the aftermath of the uprisings of May 1968, the film reverberates with the rebellious spirit of that period. Pierre Clémenti plays a Christ reluctant to assume his earthly mission, while the Virgin Mary (Zouzou, doubly cast as Mary Magdalene) attempts to reconcile him with his duty.

Garrel invokes the Christian narrative only to reject a strict retelling in a chronicle that is episodic and nonlinear. In naming his characters Mary and Jesus, Garrel reminds us of the contestatory attitude of the ’68 generation, for whom Jesus was a hippie avant la lettre. Made without a script and under the influence of LSD, LE LIT DE LA VIERGE is minimally concerned with traditional religion. It does, however, suggest the ways in which Garrel and his friends saw themselves as belonging to a kind of religious sect, engaging in ritual behavior.” —David Pendleton, Harvard Film Archive