The article introduces to the analysis of the intertextual implication of M. Katz’s film “The Desert” (1991) in the aspect of its interaction with the literary original – the novel “Judas Iscariot” of L. Andreev and some other literary (“Eleazar” by L. Andreev, “The Master and Margarita” by M. Bulgakov) and religious (New Testament, The Revelation to John) sources. Due to its complex technique of production it becomes possible to include the novel of the great Russian writer of XX century into a wide religious, philosophical and cultural contexts. At the same time, the deputy director of “The Desert” creates his own interpretation of the main idea of L. Andreev’s masterpiece. This interpretation is based on the skillful and clever work with the intertextual layer of the screen version.The combination of staging and documental elements helps the film to embody the expressive poetics of the novel and to regard the story of Judas’s betrayal from different points of view.