Once Upon a Time in Judea is the setting for this watchable new comedy at the London film festival from film-maker and musician Jeymes Samuel, that talented and prolific multihyphenate who just two years ago opened the LFF with his feature debut The Harder They Fall. The followup is a wacky counter-gospel action adventure about a little-known rival to Jesus, an alternative, dope-dealing Chosen One called Clarence; all taking place in the Holy Land at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. It’s a sort of stoner-spaghetti eastern, with some nice gags, sprightly cameos, monolithic Bible-movie credits, chariot races, gladiator contests, Roman soldiers in silly uniforms and holy men with long straggly hair.
Samuel pays explicit tribute to Monty Python’s Life of Brian with a bit of a dialogue riff on the first syllable in the word “messiah”, but The Book of Clarence has something Life of Brian didn’t have – a fear of giving offence. In the end, there is a weird solemnity and piety to the film, which appears somewhere along the way to lose the courage of its satirical and sceptical convictions.
Clarence is played by the always likable and seductive LaKeith Stanfield, who is effortlessly laidback with an easy and charming address to the camera; even on the cross he is pretty chill. Stanfield is a performer whom you can’t help warming to, although here, as sometimes in the past, I found myself wanting him to bring something extra in the third act, some new level of energy or anger. But maybe it would be wrong here.
Samuel amusingly imagines Clarence to be the scapegrace twin brother of the Apostle Thomas (also played by Stanfield), whose traditional “doubting” attribute has been transplanted to the no-good Clarence; he does not believe, and makes a dishonest living dealing weed. But Clarence owes large amounts of money to a local tough guy, with whose sister (Anna Diop) he is hopelessly in love; it is money he spent on a bizarre chariot street race, losing to badass Mary Magdalene, and now cringingly seeks the Apostles’ protection against the mobster’s demands for repayments. Clarence even wants to be baptised himself, to the intense irritation of John the Baptist — a witty turn from David Oyelowo. His cheeky request to be inducted as the 13th apostle is contemptuously rejected, chiefly by Judas Iscariot (Micheal Ward), so Clarence sets up in business himself, doing fake miracles – and, of course, he doesn’t believe there is any other kind. The money comes rolling in but Clarence is assailed by an unfamiliar virtuous sensation: instead of using the money to pay off his debts, should he not buy the freedom of slaves?
So we are on the verge of a secular miracle, a non-religious wonder of doing good without superstition, and Clarence is always very clear that miracles in the literal sense are fake — or at all events, he can’t do them, whatever he has encouraged people to think. And again like Life of Brian, this movie puts the actual Jesus into the story so that there’s no question of our anti-hero trying to impersonate the Son of God. But this film fudges the miracle issue and finds itself drifting in the direction of a sonorous, religious ending, so having got big raucous laughs earlier in the story, the film expects hushed respect for the ending. But there’s a lot to like here and I enjoyed the slave-master’s imperious and affronted question at Clarence’s sudden appearance: “Who are you and how do you expect me to react to the news you are about to give?”
• The Book of Clarence screened at the London film festival, and is in UK and Irish cinemas from 19 April.
