Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories

Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories

2015 · 99 min · ★ 8.3 · Documentary

Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories is a labyrinthine narrative in which notables such as Peter Sellars, Emio Greco, Simon Halsey and painter Rinke Nijburg explain their special relationship with Bach’s St Matthew Passion to Ramón Gieling (Johan Cruijff: en un momento dado). They speak against the backdrop of a church which has fallen into disrepair, while a choir of homeless people and Pieter Jan Leusink’s Bach Choir & Orchestra rehearse the Passion. Leusink isn't just the conductor, he is one of the main characters himself, with a painful past in which this musical piece has played a dominant role. Stories from the others alternate seamlessly with this. We learn how the St Matthew Passion played a decisive role in the relations between men and women, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and their unborn children, and finally that in spite of our differences we all find a common denominator in the secret of Bach's music.

Directed by Ramón Gieling · Written by Ramón Gieling

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 17m together

Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories

When Chueca Dies

Both from Ramón Gieling.

More from Ramón GielingSee all →

When Chueca Dies

When Chueca Dies · 2025

When Chueca Dies

Chueca in central Madrid has been an oasis of freedom for the LGTBQIA+ community since the 1990s. But recently, due to the changing political climate of hate speech by politicians, the neighborhood has been under a magnifying glass.

Fatum: Room 216

Fatum: Room 216 · 2017

Fatum: Room 216

On a Sunday afternoon, a man is asked to come to the police station to see if he can be of any help in the investigation of the rape and murder of two women.

L'amour La mort

L'amour La mort · 2022

L'amour La mort

MovieDocumentaryMusic

Every love, no matter how happy, sooner or later ends unhappily; either due to loss, due to death, or due to a broken bond. These are all sides of the same medal. Why do we love others if love can hurt us so much? Wouldn’t it be safer not to love? In this documentary, several people who have been profoundly confronted with love and death in their lives, provide glimpses of the enigma of love, based on their personal stories. On Freud’s famous couch, they are questioned about their experiences. Their stories are interwoven with timeless works from the history of painting and music. When words are not adequate, there is art and music.

Buñuel's Prisoners

Buñuel's Prisoners · 2000

Buñuel's Prisoners

MovieDocumentary

The filmmaker interviews still surviving residents of Las Hurdes, where Buñuel shot a controversial documentary almost 70 years ago, and compares the area as shown in that work to the way it seems now.

Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado

Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado · 2004

Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado

MovieDocumentary

Johan Cruijff - En un momento dado is a 2004 documentary film by Ramon Gieling on the life of Dutch footballer Johan Cruijff.

Living with Your Eyes: The World According to Johan van der Keuken

Living with Your Eyes: The World According to Johan van der Keuken · 1997

Living with Your Eyes: The World According to Johan van der Keuken

When I told Johan van de Keuken I wanted to make a film about him and his work, we decided to make a film in a film, that is I would shoot the making of the film he was supposed to make about the Chinese photographer ToSang who would be making photographs of his clients. The film won a Jury Award in Figuiera da Foz, Portugal.

Joaquin Sabina - 19 Days and 500 Nights

Joaquin Sabina - 19 Days and 500 Nights · 2008

Joaquin Sabina - 19 Days and 500 Nights

MovieMusicDocumentary

They still carry his house keys with them, Joaquin Sabina's old friends. It does not matter that the Madrid-based singer, who is adored throughout the Spanish-speaking community, changed the locks to his house years ago. After the brain haemorrhage that hit him in 2001, Sabina suddenly could not bear the dozens of friends anymore that invaded his house. This was a raw deal for them, as the interviews reveal that director Ramón Gieling had with them. As in Gieling's previous documentaries, he created a cinematographic form for the interviews, which he consistently applies. Friends and former lovers are introduced in a minutely reconstructed copy of the living room they were expelled from. In the real living room, they used to lead a loose life without thinking about the health risks.

About Canto

About Canto · 2011

MovieDocumentaryMusic

Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt achieved worldwide renown in 1979, when his work for four pianos Canto Ostinato was first performed. Although some music experts viewed it with disdain - it broke with prevailing notions of serialism and tonality - the piece was a huge hit in the contemporary classical music world. In the years since, numerous musicians have released their recordings of Canto, and it is still being performed around the world. Director Ramon Gieling interviewed a large number of people about the sometimes far-reaching impact this composition has had on their lives. One interviewee tells of how Canto was the soundtrack to the birth of her son; another has a section of the score tattooed on his arm. Gieling seeks to unravel the mystery of the universal power of music, and his blend of documentary footage, fiction, essays and archive material produces a multifaceted response to the question of just what it is about this piece that touches people so deeply.

Tramontana

Tramontana · 2009

The wind blows almost permanently on the craggy coast of Northern Spain. While the legendary storm blusters, old villagers play cards and discuss the history of the scandalous relationship between Pepet Tremolls and the much younger Rosa Campos Del Amor, in the days of Franco's dictatorship. Tremolls was found dead on Christmas Eve. Suicide, people said. Or was it Rosa's resentful lover? 'The best distance to a beautiful young woman is the biggest one', the coroner concludes who examined Tremolls' body at the time. The gentlemen try to find out how the two lovers got to know each other and how intense the stormy relationship must have been. Jumping back and forth in time, the relationship and its players are expounded, alternated with images of the tranquil village, the wild nature and the wind that sweeps through the trees and stirs up dust on country roads.

The Death of Antonio Sànchez Lomas

The Death of Antonio Sànchez Lomas · 2019

The Death of Antonio Sànchez Lomas

MovieDocumentary

On All Saints’ Day, the Spanish pay tribute to their dead: a day of reverence and remembrance. Nevertheless, beneath the serene surface lie unhealed grief, thundering silence and ever-burning political conflicts. In the southern Spanish village of Frigiliana, time has not healed the wounds from the Franco era. Even now the murder of a villager in 1952 divides the community.

Sisyphus at Work

Sisyphus at Work · 2021

Sisyphus at Work

De onderkoning: strijd om de grondwet

De onderkoning: strijd om de grondwet · 2014

De onderkoning: strijd om de grondwet

A dramatic documentary about how the Netherlands got its first constitution.

The Disciples: A Street Opera

The Disciples: A Street Opera · 2018

The Disciples: A Street Opera

Twenty homeless people, one opera. An Amsterdam based homeless choir is rehearsing an opera written for them. Who is setting the rules?

Paul Blanca, Deze film redt je leven

Paul Blanca, Deze film redt je leven · 2023

Paul Blanca, Deze film redt je leven

Duende

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

More on NetflixSee all →

Animals

Animals · 2026

MovieThrillerDrama

When the son of an L.A. mayoral candidate is kidnapped, he and his wife have a few hours to come up with the ransom payment. With most of their money spent on his political campaign, they have to get their hands dirty and expose a side of their lives they never intended to see the light of day.

Reporting Live

Reporting Live · 2026

MovieCrimeThriller

A young reporter and her reluctant cameraman chase a story, only to get entangled in an illegal sand-mining racket run by a ruthless syndicate.

The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot · 2024

MovieFamilyAnimation

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home · 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home

MovieActionAdventure

Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away · 2001

MovieAnimationFamily

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

The Godfather

The Godfather · 1972

MovieDramaCrime

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

Gladiator II

Gladiator II · 2024

MovieActionAdventure

Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Transformers One

Transformers One · 2024

Transformers One

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle · 2025

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle

MovieAnimationAction

The Demon Slayer Corps are drawn into the Infinity Castle, where Tanjiro, Nezuko, and the Hashira face terrifying Upper Rank demons in a desperate fight as the final battle against Muzan Kibutsuji begins.

Facing El Chapo

Facing El Chapo · 2026

Facing El Chapo

MovieCrimeAction

Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift · 2012

Ice Age: Continental Drift

MovieAnimationComedy

Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle · 2004

Howl's Moving Castle

MovieFantasyAnimation

Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs · 2009

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

MovieAnimationComedy

Times are changing for Manny the moody mammoth, Sid the motor mouthed sloth and Diego the crafty saber-toothed tiger. Life heats up for our heroes when they meet some new and none-too-friendly neighbors – the mighty dinosaurs.

Shrek Forever After

Shrek Forever After · 2010

Shrek Forever After

MovieComedyAdventure

A midlife-crisis burdened Shrek, longing for the days of when he felt like a real ogre, makes a pact with magic deal-maker Rumpelstiltskin. But when he's duped and sent to a twisted version of Far Far Away—where Rumpelstiltskin is king, ogres are hunted, and he and Fiona have never met—he sets out to restore his world and reclaim his true love.

KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters · 2025

KPop Demon Hunters

MovieFantasyMusic

When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey aren't selling out stadiums, they're using their secret powers to protect their fans from supernatural threats.

White Chicks

White Chicks · 2004

MovieComedyCrime

Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, accidentally foil a drug bust. To avoid being fired they accept a mission escorting a pair of socialites to the Hamptons--but when the girls are disfigured in a car accident, they refuse to go. Left without options, Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from black men into rich white women.

War Machine

War Machine · 2026

MovieActionScience Fiction

On one last grueling mission during Army Ranger training, a combat engineer must lead his unit in a fight against a giant otherworldly killing machine.

Shrek the Third

Shrek the Third · 2007

Shrek the Third

MovieFantasyAdventure

After the King of Far Far Away dies, Shrek and Fiona are to succede. However, Shrek wants to return to his cozy swamp and live in peace and quiet, so when he finds out there is another heir to the throne, he and Donkey set off to bring him back to rule the kingdom.

28 Years Later

28 Years Later · 2025

MovieHorrorThriller

Twenty-eight years after the Rage virus outbreak, a heavily-defended island survives connected to the mainland by a single causeway. When one of the group leaves the island into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.

No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached · 2011

No Strings Attached

MovieComedyRomance

Emma is a busy doctor who sets up a seemingly perfect arrangement when she offers her best friend Adam a relationship with one rule: No strings attached. But when a fling becomes a thing, can sex friends stay best friends?

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter