"Christology" is the area of Christian theology which concerns the identity of Jesus Christ, specifically the relationship between his humanity and divinity. As a foundational doctrine not explicitly laid out in the New Testament (few doctrines are), Christology has been a source of debate from the beginnings of the Church up to the present. The normative formulation appears in the Chalcedonian Definition (451), also called the Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union. In summary, the Chalcedonian Definition proclaims that Christ is fully human and fully divine, with neither separation nor mixture between the two natures. It functions more as a boundary than as a positive description, excluding positions that violate these essential tenets but allowing a great deal of freedom within the basic limits. My particular interest in viewing Jesus films is the way in which they attempt to portray a protagonist who is both human and divine. I will consider three very different films: The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Son of Man (2006).
Greatest Story
George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told strongly emphasizes the divinity of Christ. This suits the film's underlying message, which is a call to faith. It opens with a painting of the exalted Christ on a cathedral ceiling, accompanied by the prologue of the Fourth Gospel. The ending returns to the same painting, this time with Matthew's Great Commission (Mt. 28:19-20). The film draws heavily from the Gospel of John, which is known for its high Christology (emphasizing divinity). The Johannine motif of light versus darkness is prominent, as are Jesus' "I am" statements found only in John. Roman eagles appear frequently, especially at key moments (for example, behind Pilate's head when he questions Jesus and later when he pronounces judgment). I suspect these may be a homage to John, whose apostolic symbol was the eagle, connoting the loftiness of his gospel.
Unfortunately for Stevens, a divine protagonist is very difficult to portray. He casts von Sydow as Jesus, whose stern, morose expression, deep, slow speech, and slight European accent communicate distance. When other characters who attempt levity or familiar conversation, von Sydow's Jesus stifles their enthusiasm. The camera angles frequently look upwards at the already taller-than-average actor, intensifying the sense that this Jesus is above us but not really one of us. By exacerbating the gnostic tendencies in John, Stevens has given us an Apollinarian Jesus ("God in a Bod"), who has a human body but not a human mind. The content of his preaching is likewise super-human to the point of being un-human. The central message of love and mercy contrasts with a holier-than-thou teacher for whom followers' best efforts are never enough. At the same time, Jesus' stoic disregard for external troubles seems both impractical and irresponsible. When we hear his final command, "Love one another as I have loved you," we are likely puzzled; how has he loved his disciples? He does not even appear to like them! The film's poor reception was most likely due to its unlikeable protagonist. As one critic quipped, "God is unlucky in The Greatest Story Ever Told. His only-begotten Son turns out to be a bore." (John Simon, New York Magazine, cited at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Story_Ever_Told).
Last Temptation
I find Martin Scorcese's Last Temptation to be the most interesting and also most challenging film in terms of Christology. The opening screen quotes from the prologue of Kazantzakis's book: "The dual substance of Christ – the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God or, more exactly, to return to God and identify himself with him - has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me." Scorsese also includes a curious disclaimer that this is not a story about the Jesus found in the gospels. The move is clearly prudent, but it may be disingenuous; the film closely follows the novel of the same name by Kazantzakis, who unapologetically presents his narrative as a reflection on the Jesus of the gospels. (Amusingly, the publishers make a similar statement: "This book is a work of fiction...any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.") On the other hand, Scorsese's disclaimer is accurate in that what concerns both his film and its parent novel is not the historical life of Jesus in its details but with its significance for humans' existential consciousness. The film need not be read as an endorsement of a particular creed; it is more of a reflection, a Christology in progress.
The plot revolves around Jesus' own process of discovering who he is. He knows that he is the Son of God. He also knows full well that he is a human being subject to weakness and capable of sin. What he does not understand is how these two natures can coexist. Much of his suffering comes from the struggle to understand what the Father's will is; how should a God-Man live? Jesus describes himself as full of fear. I suggest that in the context of the film Jesus "fear" is fear of facing the enormous responsibility before him; if the salvation of the world rests on his shoulders, any moral stumbling could doom all of humanity. This idea fits well with Kazantzakis's existentialism, which stresses human responsibility in every moral decision. Existentialists were especially attentive to the ambiguity which complicates attempts to act justly; in the midst of a cosmos we cannot understand, faced with situations whose particularity makes an absolute moral law impossible, how can human beings determine the right course of action? Kazantzakis and Scorsese call on Jesus at this point, not only as Savior who dies in our place but as the "pioneer and perfector of our faith," who shows us how to live. The Christology not strictly Chalcedonian. Most significantly, the two natures of Christ appear in conflict (violating the limit "without separation"). While the film is not orthodox, it could be described as "reverently heretical."
Son of Man
The Christology in Son of Man seems to me relatively uncomplicated. In this reappropriation of the gospel, Jesus is completely human. Whether or not he is also divine matters little, if at all, for the plot and message. He appears indistinguishable from the people around him, except for his message. This Jesus never calls people to faith in him, but rather to commitment to his way of life. He is superior to other human beings only in that he has a vision they have not yet received, making him a leader among equals rather than the "my Lord and my God!" of Thomas's confession. By the end, when the community has made this vision their own, they do not need the teacher's presence. Thus, the climax occurs at the Pentecost moment, to which the Resurrection is an epilogue. His ultimate victory is to make his own presence unnecessary.
Evaluation
Christology is an unavoidable ingredient in any Jesus film, but it can be taken in countless directions. Viewers would do well to realize that a film is not the same as a theological statement. These films are more reflection than explication or normative interpretation. This allows for charity in viewing the films; we do not have to be on the defensive for orthodox Christology. In fact, a technically "heretical" film may be more helpful to spiritual growth because of its capacity to challenge previously unquestioned assumptions and provide new material for reflection.
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