Film Essay -- Research Papers Movies Religion Papers

Film Since its introduction to America and the world, film has become one of the most important and popular heathen mediums ever (Marsh 33). Ever since the motion picture industry began, the role of Jesus Christ has been used numerous times in different ways. These portrayals of Jesus in film have varied in imageing either a traditional image, pertaining to the gospels, or one to a greater extent unconventional, usually based on someone elses interpretation. Both of these different ways of showing Jesus and his life have greatly influenced peoples image of him (Brunstad 145). Because of the movies portrayals of Jesus, his differing image has also been shown as more human, usually when Jesus is unconventional, or more manufacturer. The portrayal of Jesus Christ, from Ben-Hur to The Passion of the Christ, focuses too much on either his human aspect or his divine aspect, but has never met the correct depiction of a believable God-man. Jesus Christ shown as a God-man i s central to Christian beliefs. In Christian acculturation Jesus is understood to be both fully divine and fully human at the same time. Because of this idea, the attempt has been made by several films to show Jesus in this way, but has never been achieved. The movies that will be discussed in this paper came out between 1959, after Ben-Hur, and 2004, before The Passion of the Christ. They are as follows, in chronological order of when released Ben-Hur, King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus of Nazareth, The Last come-on of Christ, and The Passion of the Christ. Ben-Hur came out in 1959. It was directed by William Wyler. The role of Jesus was played by Claude Heater. This movie de... ... of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 15 border 2004. 25 Apr 2004 .Grimshaw, Michael. Sexless Piety or a Mans Man? Notes on the cinematic representation of Jesus. Journal of Beliefs and Values 20 (1999) 149-161.Hit tinger, Russell and Elizabeth Lev. Gibsons Passion. First Things A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life 141 (2004) 7-9.Kinnard, Roy and Tim Davis. Divine Images A History of Jesus on the Screen. New York Carol, 1992.Marsh, Clive and Gaye Ortiz, eds. Explorations in pietism and Film. Oxford Blackwell, 1997.Medved, Michael. Hollywood Vs. America Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values. New York HarperCollins, 1992.Stern, Richard C, Clayton N Jefford, and Guerric DeBona,. Savior on the Silver Screen. New York Paulist, 1999.Turner, Matthew Paul. Jesus in Living Color. Christian Single 26 (2004) 40.