Films of the Christian Story Jésus devant Pilate (Alice Guy, 1898) From the Manger to the Cross (Kalem Company, 1912) The King of Kings (Cecil B. de Mille, 1927) King of Kings (Nicholas Ray, 1961) Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964) The Greatest Story Ever Told (George Stevens, 1965) Son of Man (Gareth Davies, 1969) Jesus Christ Superstar (Norman Jewison, 1973) Godspell (David Greene, 1973) Jesus of Nazareth (Franco Zeffirelli, 1977) Monty Python's Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979) Jesus (John Kirsh & Peter Sykes, 1979) The Day Christ Died (James Cellan Jones, 1980) The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese, 1988) Jesus of Montreal (Denys Arcand, 1989) The Garden (Derek Jarman, 1990) Matthew (Visual Bible, Regardt van den Bergh, 1996) The Book of Life (Hal Hartley, 1998) Jesus (Roger Young, 1999) The Miracle Maker (Derek W. Hayes & Stanislav Sokolov, 2000) The Gospel of John (Philip Saville, 2003) The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) A Bluffer’s Guide to Celluloid Christologies n Portrayals of Jesus and Salvation in Film A brief guide to some other films The King of Kings (1927) Dir. Cecil B. de Mille, written by Jeannie McPherson, Pathé This silent black and white epic was described by Welford Beaton, in The Film Spectator, as ‘a picture which will tend to standardize the world's conception of the New Testament.’ It follows an earlier film, Sidney Olcott's From the Manger to the Cross (1912), in which Jesus is played by Robert Henderson-Bland, an upper-class Englishman. Cecil B. de Mille cast the 50 year old H. B. Warner as a holy and rather fatherly Jesus. Since the film sets out to tell the life of Jesus from the viewpoint of Mary Magdalene, portrayed by Dorothy Cummings, poetic licence is in evidence.A scantily clad Mary Magdalene entertains her 'clients' in the film's opening sequence. Her lover, Judas Iscariot, leaves her to become one of Jesus’ disciples and, enraged, she storms over to Jesus in order to denounce him but is converted as a result of the spectacular exorcism of each of the seven deadly sins.
However, the film then sticks fairly closely to one or other of the Gospels.
The Gospel According to St Matthew (1966) Italian Original, ll Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964), dir. and written by Pasolini, Arco/Lux The Marxist film director, Pier Paolo Pasolini, directed a cast of non-professional actors for a naturalistic and realistic presentation of Christ, which is supported by the use of hand-held camera technique of cinéma vérité. The black and white film avoids both the Hollywood style gloss of films by using amateurs (Mary is played by Pasolini’s mother) and the distraction of the obligatory cameo roles for famous actors (such as John Wayne as the Centurion in The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965). It is a reminder that the people whom Jesus moved among were the poor. Pasolini also avoids the harmonizing of the different gospel traditions in the film, by addressing one gospel narrative. Resurrection is presented in the same naturalistic style, without excessive piety. The film attends to the inner life of Jesus, with iconic images of Jesus’ face, akin to Botticelli and Caravaggio, showing inner turmoil, but he is very much an alien figure who the film doesn’t pretend to understand.
Son of Man (1969) Dir. Dennis Potter, written by Graham McDonald, BBC Dennis Potter’s provocative BBC drama stared Colin Blakeney as Jesus. It was shot with handheld cameras to give the impression, for the viewer, of being part of the jostling crowd that is watching historical events. The humanity of Jesus is clear, as he preaches a gospel of loving one’s enemy and not resisting evil, while being troubled and uncertain of his mission. Reference to his divinity is largely absent and the film ends with the Crucifixion, which is a result of his challenge to civic and religious structures, rather than with the Resurrection. This is a John A.T. Robinson Christology.
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) Dir. Franco Zeffirelli, written by Anthony Burgess, producer Lew Grade, ITV In stark contrast with Pasolini’s film, Robert Powell, who plays Jesus, is joined by a star-studded cast (Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus, James Mason as Joseph, Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene, Peter Ustinov as Herod, Rod Steiger as Pilate and Ernest Borgnine as the centurion). Financed by Jewish entrepreneur Sir Lew Grade, Zeffirelli’s film shows Jesus as a Jew. Jesus’ birth is situated in the customs and practices of Jewish piety (as in Luke’s Gospel), he is shown in synagogues and at prayer, and repeats several times the Shema from Deut 6 (‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is One’). He is, above all, the Messianic suffering servant, who fulfils the ancient prophecies by dying on the cross for the sins of the world. Here, Jesus is not so much concerned with changing society as offering a ‘kingdom not of this world’ (John 18:36), a spiritual kingdom that can be experienced here and now. The film harmonizes gospel traditions, though with a distinct reverence for John, to portray Christ with a classical artistic piety, and received Vatican approval.
II Jesus (1979) Dir. Peter Sykes/John Kirsh, producer John Heyman, Agapé The result of a collaboration between John Heyman (Saturday Night Fever, Grease), and Campus Crusade for Christ, an evangelistic organisation, this film presented a Jesus acceptable to Christian piety. Jesus was played by Brian Deacon who portrayed a Jesus who smiles and laughs, obviously enjoys being with people, particularly outcasts, and cuddles children.While other actors were Jewish, Brian Deacon, interestingly, is blond.
To celebrate the millennium, a video of the film (subtitled the Man Behind the Millennium) was distributed by Christians to many households across the UK, which marketed the gift as 'a story so powerful that his life reset the clocks 2000 years ago’. The film is based on and faithful to Luke's Gospel, although the film goes to considerable lengths to show that it was not the Jewish people in general that were responsible for Jesus’ death but the rulers, both Jewish and Roman. It is reputedly 'the most widely translated film in history', currently available in almost 500 languages and estimated to have been seen by 1.25 billion people worldwide. This is the Christ of a Christianity with the marketing control of its imagery.
Jesus of Montreal (1989) Original title, Jésus de Montréal dain Dir. and written by Denys Arcand, Max films/Gérard Mital Jesus.
Productions/NFB Canada , se This French language Canadian film (available with English subtitles) sets the passion narrative in modern conditions. The protagonist, a character called Daniel, is invited to re-write a passion play of the stations of the cross for a Catholic church, but he does so in the light of archaeology and biblical criticism. Daniel plays Jesus, but many links are made between their lives. Daniel gathers together a band of actors, as Jesus gathered his disciples. He also liberates the actors from meaningless or menial work, but in rescuing one actress from an advertising career, Daniel overturns the photographic equipment and gets into trouble with the secular authorities. The play also angers the religious authorities that commissioned the play. In a multi-storey building, overlooking Montreal, Daniel is invited to be on TV and have his biography written, but resists the lure of such temptations.
Pursuing his play to its tragic confrontation with the authorities, Daniel’s head receives a blow and he descends into madness, on the stairs of an underground station where he preaches an apocalyptic message, before dying.A resurrection theme is presented with new life being offered to those who receive transplants from his body.
The Garden (1990) Dir. Derek Jarman, Artificial Eye/Basilik/Channel 4/British Screen/ZDF/Uplink The HIV+ director links Jesus, who is attacked by the religious authorities of the day, with a gay couple who are also mocked, beaten and killed by the church and state. This is a personal film, not simply because he uses his lover as one of the gay couple, but also because Jarman wanted to belong to the church, but felt rejected. Set in Jarman’s own garden, at Dungeness in Kent, the film evokes Eden, with natural ecosystems and the sea symbolising harsh beauty, vulnerability, death and rebirth. This is contrasted with images of a nuclear power station, symbolizing the evil of destruction that has rent the mythic paradise of Eden. It is filmed as a tableau of iconic images that develop the idea of healing, liberation and resurrection, not all of which are aligned with the church. The film raises questions and invites the viewer to engage in theological reflection.
For more information see Deacy Chris (2002), Screen Christologies: Redemption and the Medium of Film, University of Wales Press.
Kinnard, R. & T. Davis (1992), Divine Images.A History of Jesus on the Screen, New York: Citadel Press.
Tatum, Barnes WV. (1997), Jesus at the Movies.A Guide to the First Hundred Years, Polebridge Press. The Secrets of the Passion Michael Morton explores the gospel narratives of ‘the Passion’ Although the Passion of Christ has been celebrated in liturgy and studied for many generations, it seems that only recently has its historicity and anti-Jewish mood been questioned and highlighted. Such questions have been rekindled with Mel Gibson's film The Passion of The Christ.