The Book of Saint Matthias

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After a few years spent wandering the wilderness I feel like the director Terrence Malick is making his way back to me, and our boy Mathias Schoenaerts is just the great big force of beautiful nature to do the nudging -- Matthias has a role (I think on the smaller side) in A Hidden Life, Malick's "conscientious objector" film that's gotten very fine notices from Cannes and Telluride and from Toronto where it plays tonight. They released a strikingly lovely trailer a couple of weeks back; AHL hits theaters on December 13th. 

Anyway it appears that Malick has made like every single one of us would make and is refusing to let go of Matthias now that he's got his hands on him -- Schoenaerts will also star in Terry's next film, opposite no less than Mark Rylance and the great Géza Röhrig, in The Last Planet -- although IMDb has it titled Samarkanda -- which will be a retelling of Christ's life through parables. Matthias thankfully isn't playing Jesus, which would be a lot for even me his number one fan -- Röhrig will be donning the robes and saintly little sandals for that, while Rylance will be playing Satan and Matty's going to be playing Saint Peter...

... seen there on the left in a painting by Francois Boucher in 1766 and yes this is what it takes for me to start sharing religious iconography here on the site -- the ability to impress upon you, the reader, the possibility that Matthias Schoenaerts might soon be seen acting with a big bushy beard. I'll sing hallelujah for that!

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