The film, which won a Special Jury Prize at the 1964 Venice Film Festival, is different from other cinematic depictions of the life of Christ in that there is no screenplay per se. Pasolini limited himself to the account by Matthew: only words written by the Saint are employed; no additional dialogue was written and only scenes described by Matthew are shown. Pasolini used no professional actors (his mother plays the older Mary) and he dedicated his film "to the dear familiar memory of John XXIII."