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SITE RATING:  2/10 SITE REVIEW:  Coupling conductor Marc Minkowski's unfortunate recording of Messiah with director William Klein's off-putting visuals is a kind of cosmic anti-karma.  Both artists' visions, skewed towards the bizarre and unwholesome, perfectly complement each other - creating a reverse synergy which, instead of becoming more than the sum of their respective parts, becomes far less. What to say about a film-maker who wishes to disturb and upset his audience instead of uplifting and inspiring them?  Klein's random jigsaw of images, ranging from atrocities to head-scratching images of parked airplanes, is married to not only Minkowski's rightfully-marginalized recording of Messiah, but to a handful of other choirs whose styles and performance levels clash with the professional polish of the Musicians du Louvre, who at least have the good sense to sound and look good while performing.  While the filmmaker probably believes that the random crush of images, everything from a tatto parlor to carnival-like faith healings, allows his audience to create their own interpretation of the meaning of Messiah, Klein's own agenda is unmistakably clear.  Klein delights in juxtaposing the profane against the sacred, ostensibly to create "dialogue" and get people "thinking", and undoubtedly, some viewers out there will high-mindedly align themselves with this sort of artistic prostitution, but for those who side themselves with pure artistry, and the idea that music and film are meant to remind the audience of how good and charitable they can be, will stay far away from this film, whose sole purpose is to create a bleak landscape which leaves the viewer feeling empty, instead of clean and refreshed.

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