The main Jesus film released in 1927, just before sound, was The King of Kings. It was something of a spectacle. This somewhat melodramatic movie was captioned rather than having spoken words. Its Jesus was older and very, very dignified – often more suggestion of the divine rather than the human.
It is rather surprising (and with no satisfactory explanation) that for the next 34 years, except for films made by religious groups, there is no film with Jesus portrayed by an actor. Sometimes Jesus is glimpsed. The best example of this is the Charlton Heston 1959 blockbuster Ben Hur. All we see is Jesus’ hand giving a cup of water to Ben Hur, Jesus’ shoulder, the reaction of the centurion challenged by Jesus. And, later, Jesus is seen at a distance, during his passion.
KING OF KINGS
It was in 1961 that audiences saw an actor giving a full-on portrayal of Jesus – Jeffrey Hunter in King of Kings. Hunter had no precedent and his performance tends to be of the solemn kind, often with gestures like the statues of Jesus. There were two more films in the 1960s, the Italian Gospel According to St Matthew. It was a stark rendition – text taken directly from the Gospel, in black-and-white with a rather severe Jesus who rarely smiled (except when with the children). By contrast, the next Hollywood blockbuster, The Greatest Story Ever Told, is filled with well-known film stars. Jesus, however, as portrayed by Max von Sydow, remains rather stern and remote.
One of the advantages of the Internet, and especially of You Tube, is that some of the films are available but, if not, trailers are readily accessible as well as many specific scenes.
Fifty years ago, there was something of a surprise, when Jesus was seen in a rock opera, Jesus Christ, Superstar. The music is well-known and the drama chronicles the last weeks of Jesus’ life, his passion and death. Filmed in the Judaean desert, it is vividly presented, but is definitely a product of the 1970s. [Jesus Christ Superstar remains a popular musical and is often a staple of school productions. It has been remade several times there are several televised concert versions.]
Filmed around the same time as Superstar, was the religious novelty movie Godspell, presenting the life of Jesus in engaging songs, and enacting of the Gospel in comic and serious situations.
THE WHOLE STORY
After this, in the late 1970s, the film emphasis was on telling the whole story of Jesus. Protestant churches made a film, Jesus, which was fairly literal interpretation of the Gospel text (even to the visuals of a snake tempting Jesus in the desert). But, the film made Jesus very human, an ordinary man who connected with people. It was a Jesus with whom audiences could identify. And this was very much the case with Jesus of Nazareth, a more than six-hour television series from 1977. Its length gave time to develop a whole range of characters, bringing the story of Jesus vividly to life. In fact, for a time, British actor Robert Powell became the face of Jesus in many imaginations.
This way of presenting Jesus ‘realistically’ has continued. One of the best examples is the television film to celebrate the millennium, Jesus, with Jeremy Sisto. It is a version which many audiences have enjoyed, learning to appreciate Jesus; once again with the emphasis on his humanity even while he is seen as a man of devout prayer in union with his Father.
REALISTIC PORTRAYALS
Then there was The Gospel of John (2003). The complete text of the Gospel was dramatised, with events presented once again ‘realistically’. The movie was narrated by Christopher Plummer.
The next year (2004) saw Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, a rather grim realism that had a powerful effect on some audiences while being too much for others.
And there have been some other Jesus films which were different, and ‘fictitious’ interpretation of Jesus and his human struggles in The Last Temptation of Christ. The animated version of the Gospel, The Miracle Maker, is an entertainingly different way of looking at the Gospels. Worth tracking down is Son of Man, 2005, from South Africa, with a black Jesus in the contemporary world. And, in the 21st-century, several versions of the Jesus story made for television and, most popularly, for streaming, The Chosen.
Peter Malone has been reviewing movies for the past 50 years – first for the Australian Catholic Film Office and since 2020 for Australian Catholics. See the Australian Catholics website for a ‘History of Australian Catholic film reviews’, as well as reviews of the latest movies.