With Easter just ahead and many of us stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, there is no better time than now to both watch movies about the life and death of Jesus. You should be able to find several on television this weekend.
Christ has been depicted in a variety of ways on film over the last six decades. Some depictions have been better than others. Some of these movies made headlines and some did not. The debate over which portrayal of Jesus was most realistic, authentic or powerful has raged on for years.
In 1997, James Martin came up with his own list, republished two years ago in America magazine. In it, he made some controversial picks, ones that keep this debate going every Easter. For many, movies about Jesus allowed many people who would otherwise not have an interest in Christianity or faith and awaken some religious curiosity.
Easter — Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection — is the most significant event of the Bible, one that changed the course of history. There are a number of movies that have captured that moment in both a touching and stirring manner. At the same time, several actors have portrayed Jesus to great public acclaim. The movies, appealing to Christians of all denominations, are a wonderful way to celebrate Easter and educate younger people to the life and times of Jesus.
This list doesn’t consider edgy pop-culture phenomena such as Jesus Christ Superstar or sacrilegious ones like The Last Temptation of Christ, with its mentally unbalanced and rather depressed messiah who calls himself a sinner. Instead, I have focused on serious interpretations through the years of the life of Jesus. As Christians prepare for Easter, here are five movies about Jesus, both in theaters and on TV, that rise above the rest:
* The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the film (it’s Italian title is Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo) is a 1964 drama of the story of Jesus based on Saint Matthew’s account. The film starts at the Nativity and runs through the Resurrection.
Why did the Italian director choose Matthew? For Pasolini, Matthew was best because “John was too mystical, Mark too vulgar and Luke too sentimental.” Jesus is played by little-known Spanish actor Enrique Irazoqu and depicted largely as a barefoot peasant. In 2015, the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano called the neorealist film the best ever made about Jesus.
* The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
A year after Pasolini’s film, The Greatest Story Ever Told is one of those epic movies popular in the 1960s. While Pasolini’s film was simple and low-budget, The Greatest Story Ever Told retells the Biblical account of Jesus life in grandiose style and cost $20 million at the time.
The ensemble cast featured the recently-deceased Max von Sydow, famous also for playing a priest who takes on the devil in The Exorcist, as Jesus. The movie, directed by George Stevens, also features Charlton Heston in the role of John the Baptist. It remains the only Hollywood-made film that — from my point of view — tackled the life of Jesus in a sober and serious way.
* Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
A TV mini-series about the life of Jesus featuring some of the biggest names in movie history wasn’t just a dream, but it was actually made into one of the best representations regarding the life of Jesus. The stellar cast included Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene, Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus, Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas, Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate, Michael York as John the Baptist, James Earl Jones as Balthazar and Robert Powell in the film’s main role playing Jesus.
The film, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, became the gold standard for what a production about the life of Jesus until the release of The Passion of the Christ. The film captured the essence of Jesus’ life and the suffering and sacrifice he ultimately had to endure during his final days. Powell’s Jesus, tall and blue-eyed, has been criticized by some as an unrealistic version of the Christ. Nonetheless, Zeffirelli’s film is beautiful in so many ways in the way it presents Jesus as both gentle and forceful.
The masterpiece movie, which aired on TV in two parts around the world, is so famous that, four decades later, it continues to be shown on TV during Easter season. Zeffirelli, who died last summer at the age of 96, is famous for another religious-themed film released five years earlier that focused on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. The movie, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, starred British actor Graham Faulkner as Francis and recounted the saint’s humble life.
* The Passion of the Christ (2004)
The Mel Gibson film takes all four gospels and recounts the final 12 hours of Jesus’ life, highlighted by the Passion. It begins with Jesus in Gethsemane, includes the betrayal of Judas Iscariot and the ultimate crucifixion and death of Jesus. Christ was played by actor Jim Caviezel. Gibson, a traditional Catholic, has said he adheres to the Roman Catholic faith before the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965.
Continue reading “Five films about Jesus you should watch this Easter” by Clemente Lisi, at Religion Unplugged.