Thursday August 8, 01:01 PM
Jesus Christ superstar - in the movies
By Victor Olliver
Mel Gibson's plan to make a Jesus Christ biopic called Passion will be yet another addition to the many depictions of the Messiah.
Mel Gibson's plan to make a Jesus Christ biopic called Passion will be yet another addition to the many depictions of the Messiah.
Given his devout Catholicism, Gibson is not likely to produce anything to upset the Pope. In fact, he's in talks with high-ups at the Vatican on the best way to approach his subject.
Oh, there's Charlton Heston as John the Baptist. And is that Pat Boone as "the young man at the tomb"? And that isn't Angela Lansbury as Claudia!
Usually, how Christ is portrayed reflects the time in which a movie is made - Teletext trawls the genre.
Hysterical, however, is John Wayne's centurion who delivers a noble line in his customary drawl at the crucifixion. It's a wonder he didn't shoot someone.
In the beginning (in the movies at least) any physical depiction of Christ was regarded as sacrilege. Remember 1953 sword 'n' sandals epic The Robe?
Monty Python's Life Of Brian (1979) is "so funny it was banned in Norway", as the tagline put it. It was not satire, just a laugh at the Christ story.
Someone called Donald C Klune was given the thankless task of performing as the shadow of Christ in a mute part. At one point we see Christ distantly on a hill as Victor Mature glowers as per usual.
Python had prepared the way with its TV show - but still many Christians were appalled by the irreverence.
But such reverence was true to the mood of Christian America - not yet subject to the iconoclasm to come.
Even some Python fans think it's an attack on religion. In fact, Python was never about attacking anything - it just assumed there was nothing that couldn't be turned into a good joke.
In Nicholas Ray's King Of Kings (1961) Christ is allowed to find his tongue at last and is depicted, rather sexily, by the handsome Jeffrey Hunter.
In movie terms, Jesus was completely reinvented in Martin Scorsese's highly controversial The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988).
There are odd omissions - spectacular miracles are few and far between (such as the parting of the sea) and there's an eccentric staring match between Christ and John the Baptist.
Scorsese's offence, in the eyes of many Christians, was to have brought to life an imperfect Messiah, an all too fallible man who lusts after Mary Magdelene and collaborates with Romans.
The movie is nothing if not entirely unquestioning of the Christ story - though surprisingly violent.
Willem Dafoe draws out a neurotic Jesus - part of a growing thesp fad to tear away image and focus on human frailty.
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