Movie reviews for Biblical Times course
Comparing Franco Zepharelli’s "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977), Norman Jewison’s "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1973) and Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ" (2004), I think that "Jesus of Nazareth" was best at portraying 1st century life Judea and Galilee. Among the many historical details in this film I found the following particularly interesting.
a) The main characters walked past a woman grinding at a small, portable mill. This was very interesting to me. Many times I have read of Abimelech’s death at Thebez , and have wondered how something as large as a millstone came to be at the top of a tower, and how a woman could have lifted it. Until I saw this film, I thought all millstones were very large and massive. Now I see how small a millstone can be, and I understand better how a woman broke Abimelech’s skull with one. Furthermore, seeing the woman in the film grinding what was probably her daily food reminded me of the commandment not to take the upper or lower millstone as a pledge for payment ; to take a part of a millstone as a pledge would have jeopardized the borrower’s life.
b) I do not know how historically accurate it was when St. Mary was shown weaving in her home in Galilee, but weaving was not an uncommon activity , and we do know that she wove cloths for the Temple in Jerusalem . And at this place in the film (prior to the Annunciation), this weaving might have been a foreshadowing of the weaving together of Jesus body that would happen in her womb .
c) The fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee in the film appeared to a bit larger than the 1st Century boat found in the Sea of Galilee in 1986 . But they were fairly close in size the real boat.
d) The presence of Zealots (a noticeable minority) throughout Palestine
e) The professionalism of the Roman army
f) Pious Jewish men wearing long side-locks
g) Jesus being circumcised on the 8th day
h) Men and women standing in different parts of the synagogue
Both Jesus of Nazareth and Passion of the Christ showed fairly typical carpenter work for Nazareth. "Jesus of Nazareth" showed St. Joseph working as carpenter in a town made of mud and brick buildings . "The Passion of the Christ" showed Jesus making a tall modern table for a rich man. This isn’t unlikely since the wealthy Hellenistic cities of Tiberias and Sephoris were very near Nazareth .
Probably, the most emotionally moving scene in any of the three movies was the calling of St. Matthew in "Jesus of Nazareth". The scene placed Jesus at a dinner party at Matthew’s house, with Peter standing outside the door, amazed that Jesus has entered the house. (Peter and Matthew hate each other.) When Jesus is invited to eat and drink he says, "First let me tell you a story", and he goes on to tell the story of the Prodigal Son. The idea being that Matthew is the Prodigal and Peter is the Older Brother. But it wasn’t just heart-stirring, it contained several important historical details.
a) Matthew is shown as the kind of tax collector St. John the Forefunner had in mind when he was preaching. Like most Roman tax collectors, he was greedy and ruthless .
b) Pious Jews refused to enter Matthew’s house.
c) Matthew’s social circle included notorious sinners and prostitutes .
The treatment of Herod Antipas in "The Passion of the Christ" seemed odd. In the movie he seemed to be a drunken transvestite. It is hard for me to believe that Emperor Tiberius would tolerate that kind of behavior in one of his tetrarchs.
Likewise, "The Passion of the Christ" seemed very sympathetic to Pontius Pilate, making him seem like a man who didn’t like killing. It is as though Mel Gibson forgot that Pontius Pilate was a butcher who even profaned sacrifies when it served his political interests.
There was a strange inconsistency in "Passion of the Christ" that I have not been able to resolve. The cross carried by Jesus was the familiar "Latin" style cross consisting of stipe and patibulum. But the crosses carried by the two thieves were only patibulum.
There is one other historical detail concerning the crucifixion that needs to be dealt with. All the movies show the nails going through the top of the foot, in the area of the tarsal or metatarsal bones. However, the one example archaeologists in Palestine have found of a crucified man shows that the nails entered the foot through the heel, fixing the feet to the sides of the stipe, and not to the front of the stipe .
The most interesting thing about "The Passion of the Christ" is that it was not just a movie portraying part of the life of Jesus as told in the Gospels. Rather it was a theological statement. From the opening scene with its allusion to Genesis 3:15, to Jesus obviously being in command of all of the events surrounding His Passion, everything in the film spoke of the co-existence of the physical with the spiritual. The beatings and tortures were real, but so was Satan standing by mocking Jesus in a perversion of what the Church would later call the Icon of the Virgin of Tenderness. Jesus the man was real, but so was Jesus the Son of God, ordering all things for the salvation of the universe. And in something shocking, God’s last act at the Crucifixion was the shedding of a giant tear drop. It reminded me of the Stricherion of Vespers on on Holy Friday: "O Thou who dost endure all these things in Thy tender love, who hast saved all men from the curse, O long-suffering Lord, glory to Thee."
Up to this point I have not mentioned the third movie I watched for this assignment, "Jesus Christ Superstar". This very stylized musical was not very enlightening. There were only two things that stood out to me:
a) The constantly expressed desire of Judas Iscariot for Jesus to be a politico-military savior. Of course, a century later the Jews did get a messiah more to their liking: Simon ben Kosiba lead the Second Jewish Revolt.
b) The song "Don’t Know How to Love Him" sung by Mary Magdalene. Although the Gospels do not indicate that St. Mary Magdalene had been a prostitute, it is how she is portrayed in this movie. And being a former prostitute she is confused about how to love Jesus. Of course, we know from the Gospel according to St. Luke that she loved him by supporting him financially .
a) The main characters walked past a woman grinding at a small, portable mill. This was very interesting to me. Many times I have read of Abimelech’s death at Thebez , and have wondered how something as large as a millstone came to be at the top of a tower, and how a woman could have lifted it. Until I saw this film, I thought all millstones were very large and massive. Now I see how small a millstone can be, and I understand better how a woman broke Abimelech’s skull with one. Furthermore, seeing the woman in the film grinding what was probably her daily food reminded me of the commandment not to take the upper or lower millstone as a pledge for payment ; to take a part of a millstone as a pledge would have jeopardized the borrower’s life.
b) I do not know how historically accurate it was when St. Mary was shown weaving in her home in Galilee, but weaving was not an uncommon activity , and we do know that she wove cloths for the Temple in Jerusalem . And at this place in the film (prior to the Annunciation), this weaving might have been a foreshadowing of the weaving together of Jesus body that would happen in her womb .
c) The fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee in the film appeared to a bit larger than the 1st Century boat found in the Sea of Galilee in 1986 . But they were fairly close in size the real boat.
d) The presence of Zealots (a noticeable minority) throughout Palestine
e) The professionalism of the Roman army
f) Pious Jewish men wearing long side-locks
g) Jesus being circumcised on the 8th day
h) Men and women standing in different parts of the synagogue
Both Jesus of Nazareth and Passion of the Christ showed fairly typical carpenter work for Nazareth. "Jesus of Nazareth" showed St. Joseph working as carpenter in a town made of mud and brick buildings . "The Passion of the Christ" showed Jesus making a tall modern table for a rich man. This isn’t unlikely since the wealthy Hellenistic cities of Tiberias and Sephoris were very near Nazareth .
Probably, the most emotionally moving scene in any of the three movies was the calling of St. Matthew in "Jesus of Nazareth". The scene placed Jesus at a dinner party at Matthew’s house, with Peter standing outside the door, amazed that Jesus has entered the house. (Peter and Matthew hate each other.) When Jesus is invited to eat and drink he says, "First let me tell you a story", and he goes on to tell the story of the Prodigal Son. The idea being that Matthew is the Prodigal and Peter is the Older Brother. But it wasn’t just heart-stirring, it contained several important historical details.
a) Matthew is shown as the kind of tax collector St. John the Forefunner had in mind when he was preaching. Like most Roman tax collectors, he was greedy and ruthless .
b) Pious Jews refused to enter Matthew’s house.
c) Matthew’s social circle included notorious sinners and prostitutes .
The treatment of Herod Antipas in "The Passion of the Christ" seemed odd. In the movie he seemed to be a drunken transvestite. It is hard for me to believe that Emperor Tiberius would tolerate that kind of behavior in one of his tetrarchs.
Likewise, "The Passion of the Christ" seemed very sympathetic to Pontius Pilate, making him seem like a man who didn’t like killing. It is as though Mel Gibson forgot that Pontius Pilate was a butcher who even profaned sacrifies when it served his political interests.
There was a strange inconsistency in "Passion of the Christ" that I have not been able to resolve. The cross carried by Jesus was the familiar "Latin" style cross consisting of stipe and patibulum. But the crosses carried by the two thieves were only patibulum.
There is one other historical detail concerning the crucifixion that needs to be dealt with. All the movies show the nails going through the top of the foot, in the area of the tarsal or metatarsal bones. However, the one example archaeologists in Palestine have found of a crucified man shows that the nails entered the foot through the heel, fixing the feet to the sides of the stipe, and not to the front of the stipe .
The most interesting thing about "The Passion of the Christ" is that it was not just a movie portraying part of the life of Jesus as told in the Gospels. Rather it was a theological statement. From the opening scene with its allusion to Genesis 3:15, to Jesus obviously being in command of all of the events surrounding His Passion, everything in the film spoke of the co-existence of the physical with the spiritual. The beatings and tortures were real, but so was Satan standing by mocking Jesus in a perversion of what the Church would later call the Icon of the Virgin of Tenderness. Jesus the man was real, but so was Jesus the Son of God, ordering all things for the salvation of the universe. And in something shocking, God’s last act at the Crucifixion was the shedding of a giant tear drop. It reminded me of the Stricherion of Vespers on on Holy Friday: "O Thou who dost endure all these things in Thy tender love, who hast saved all men from the curse, O long-suffering Lord, glory to Thee."
Up to this point I have not mentioned the third movie I watched for this assignment, "Jesus Christ Superstar". This very stylized musical was not very enlightening. There were only two things that stood out to me:
a) The constantly expressed desire of Judas Iscariot for Jesus to be a politico-military savior. Of course, a century later the Jews did get a messiah more to their liking: Simon ben Kosiba lead the Second Jewish Revolt.
b) The song "Don’t Know How to Love Him" sung by Mary Magdalene. Although the Gospels do not indicate that St. Mary Magdalene had been a prostitute, it is how she is portrayed in this movie. And being a former prostitute she is confused about how to love Jesus. Of course, we know from the Gospel according to St. Luke that she loved him by supporting him financially .
posted by Matt at 9:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home