Jesus on Screen

Posted on March 4, 2009 at 7:38 am

Entertainment Weekly has a list of 12 memorable cinematic portrayals of Jesus. After centuries of telling the story of Jesus in paintings, sculpture, and theater, the 20th century provided an opportunity to show him on screen and this list includes some of the most inspiring and some of the most provocative. The actors include Christian Bale in the made-for TV Mary, Mother of Jesus, Jim Caviezel in The Passion of the Christ, Victor Garber in Godspell, Jeffrey Hunter in the respectful King of Kings, and even Will Ferrell in the awful “Superstar.”
gospel of john.jpg The Entertainment Weekly list does not include my favorites, the Italian The Gospel According to St. Matthew and The Gospel of John, both starring little-known actors, which may be an advantage because familiarity with other roles is not a distraction. Though they are different in tone and approach, both films are sincere and inspiring and both are worth seeing.

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2 Replies to “Jesus on Screen”

Timely indeed!! I have just decided on a curriculum / study series for next Lent (’10) and the topic is Jesus in contemporary fiction. I am recommending the group (about 15 adults) read two of three contemporary fictional accounts of Jesus – Anne Rice’s, Deepak Chopra’s, and Christopher Moore’s (“Lamb” – my favorite). I also want to add a video or two and have a couple on my shelves. This list will help me determine which to show and which to avoid. Thanks for highlighting the EW list – I will be sure to find it. “Life of Brian” is likely to be one of the films we show (my favorite).

The Gospel of John is my favorite! The actor who portrayed Jesus did a wonderful job! If you haven’t seen it, you should.

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