With the birth, life, teachings and death on the cross of Jesus Christ presented almost as a cine-verite documentary, Pasolini's second feature seemed a strange choice for such a revolutionary director, but it is an attempt to take Christ out of the opulent church and present him as an outcast Italian peasant.

Applying Neo-Realist methods, the director shot the film in Calabria, using the expressive faces of non-professionals - including that of his own mother as the Virgin Mary.

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew is widely considered the greatest screen version of "the greatest story ever told" and this freshly re-mastered version brings the film to life in a way that has never been seen before.