From the early 300s to today, there have been discussions (aka arguments) about Jesus' nature. Was he a god or a blood-filled flesh bag? The orthodox answer is that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. He was just as human as any of us, but also completely the Son of God. But how do you show that in a movie? The tendancy of film is to lean one way or the other-- to be a god-like person or to be more human with supernatural qualities. Below are some films of that second category:
The Passion of the Christ—This Jesus doesn’t have much to do
except suffer. He has a few scenes,
notably the “He who has not sinned cast the first stone” scene, where he can
actually be a normal human being, but these are short, and offer few insights
of Jesus as a person. The movie is not
about Jesus, but about The Christ—the symbolic sacrificial lamb. The Christ isn’t supposed to be someone we
identify with, but he is deeply human, in that he suffers and struggles and bleeds. And bleeds.
In a sense, this is the perfect orthodox Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t teach anything
specifically, but who dies for humanity and allows his followers to fill in the
gaps. No one has to listen to this
Jesus, or obey him, nor does he say anything uncomfortable. All we have to do is watch him die. And while observing that is, at the very
least, a difficult task, it is better than a Jesus that meddles in our lives,
right? I know that the film is only
about one aspect of Jesus’ life, but I really need a Jesus that does something,
not just one that winces. Jesus-2/5 Film-3/5
The Last Temptation of Christ—The most human of the human Jesus’. Jesus struggles with the common desires of
every man, he gets married and has kids. We see that Jesus wasn’t interested at first in God
acts, but had to be led and prodded every step of the way. In
this way, this Jesus is the one that is most identifiable, the one we can best
connect with, of all films. I only have
one personal problem with it: Willem Dafoe.
He’s a great actor and he does a wonderful job. But he also played a rather iconic role in
the much more recent Lars Von Trier film Antichrist, which I watched a couple months before my
rewatch of Last Temptation. So I couldn’t
see Jesus at all, only Dafoe. I’ll watch
it again later and see if I can distance myself from his other roles. Jesus- 4/5 Film-4/5
Jesus of Montreal—I like the way that Daniel isn’t Jesus
from the very first scene. Rather, he is a
struggling actor with a girlfriend trying to make ends meet and to have
integrity as an actor and director. But
as the movie progresses he becomes more and more like Jesus, until the role is
completely embodied. This is probably
the best portrayal of the love of Jesus and a great human version. Jesus-4/5 Film-3.5/5
Life of Brian—First, I want to point out that Brian isn’t
Jesus. He doesn’t intend to be the
Messiah, and in one scene he is trying to hear Jesus speak the Sermon on the
Mount. But on the other hand, Brian IS
a kind of Jesus. The pathetic Jesus who stumbles
upon his Messiahship unknowingly. Brian
is a terrible Jesus. But Life of Brian
is a wonderful poking at religious thought. Jesus- 1/5 Film- 4/5
Ordet—Before you read the second part of this paragraph, I want to say two
things. First of all, this is my
favorite portrayal of Jesus ever.
Secondly, if you haven’t seen it you MUST NOT read any more. Major spoilers, here. Order the film from Netflix, watch it, and
then finish this paragraph…
Okay, have you watched it?
Wow, huh? My favorite part of
this film is that Johannes is seen as clearly mad throughout the film. Interestingly enough, this is how Jesus was
seen in his day by contemporary scholars and by his own family. After all, one who makes such exaggerated
claims as Jesus MUST be mad, right? The
only thing that separates a madman from a saint is that the acts and words of
the saint actually come to pass. I can
think of no film that better portrays the view of Jesus family during his
ministry and the aftermath. I was as
stunned and pleased and overwhelmed at the end of this otherwise dry film as
any of the characters. Glorious, just
glorious. Jesus-5/5 Film- 5/5
If you cheated and read this without watching Ordet, go and
watch it anyway. It is an excellent
experience and the best portrayal of Jesus I have ever seen.
The next section, I give some recommendations to the next film portrayal of Jesus.
Are these ratings evaluating Jesus or the film? Because Life of Brian is a great film.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I liked Jesus of Montreal (from one of my favorite directors Denys Arcand) and reckon I owe it a revisit now that I'm a bit older.
Where's Jesus Christ Superstar fit into all this?
I should have been more clear: I am rating the Jesus, not the film. Life of Brian gets a 4/5 for the film. And me rating Brian as Jesus isn't fair anyway because he's not Jesus, nor is he supposed to be. But I thought it would be fun to throw him in.
ReplyDeleteHere we start talking! I remember that Montreal thing. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI did what you told me and stopped reading about Ordet. I haven't watched it. It's in my shelf. I really need to get around to do it.
That's good. I'd hate for Ordet to be ruined for you. Write something up after you watch it!
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to ignore your comment about Jesus Christ Superstar, Bondo.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in fourth grade, my mother introduced me to that album and it almost certainly changed my life. That's the reason I'm a Jesus freak, more likely than not (as my parents weren't religious). I had all the lyrics memorized and even today I could begin at "My mind is clearer now" and sing all the way to the end of the title song.
When I watched the film, it was all wrong, as of course it would be. In listening to the original broadway recording, I already had a film running in my head, and the "official" film was just awful, in my opinion. Now, I recognize that I cannot be objective about the film, and never can be. So while I think JCS is a fantastic album, I must remain mute about the film.