Director
Raffaele Mertes
Actors
Aglaia Szyszkowitz, Mathieu Carrière, Hannes Jaenicke, Manfred Zapatka, Mathias Herrmann
Runtime
1 h 31 min
Release Date
11 April 2001
Genres
History, Drama
Overview
PILATE and the Roman legate VETURIUS look on worriedly as JESUS is celebrated as the new messiah in Jerusalem, fearing an uprising. Veturius decides to have Jesus arrested as soon as a suitable opportunity presents itself. JUDAS is delighted by the reception Jesus is receiving, and quickly wants to win over the influential merchants to the cause # which would make him the king and the liberator of the Jews.

Made-for-television dramatisation of the Biblical story, directed by Raffaele Mertes. This take on the story of Judas Iscariot (Enrico Lo Verso) proposes that Judas’s betrayal of Jesus (Danny Quinn) was due to a botched assassination attempt on the Roman governor Pilate (Mathieu Carriere) by his fiancee Sarah’s (Aglaia Szyszkowitz) brother, unwittingly financed by Judas. When the attempt fails and the members of local families, including that of Judas, are detained and subsequently threatened with death, he pleads with Jesus to free them. But when his pleas are not answered, he decides to offer up Jesus to the authorities, thereby freeing his family, in the mistaken belief that Jesus would be forced into demonstrating his divinity.