"Who is this 'Son of Man'?"

(John 12:34)

Under the unassuming title "Son of Man," South African director Mark Dornford-May presents a powerful retelling of the story we all thought we knew. Son of Man (2005) relocates Jesus in modern-day Africa, with lively local music and refreshingly commonplace characters. Though the basic plot follows the biblical account, the setting and style effectively defamiliarize the gospel story. With the grave-clothes of familiarity cast aside, the gospel is resurrected for a modern world in desperate need of "good news."

From the start, the audience knows this will not be the average Jesus film. It opens, unconventionally, with the temptation narrative. This confrontation between Jesus (Andile Kosi) and Satan (Andries Mbali) establishes the film's central theme – "good versus evil," or, more accurately, "justice versus injustice." This programmatic scene reaches its climax as Satan claims, "This is my world" and Jesus objects, "This is my world." The film progresses as a trial of these competing claims. Dornford-May has thus subtly altered the significance of the temptation. In the gospels, Jesus rejects temptations of worldly dominion in order to proclaim the kingdom of heaven. In Son of Man, he rejects Satan's power over this world and begins his ministry of bringing justice on earth.

The colors white and black function symbolically throughout, making the conflict visible. At the temptation, Jesus appears dressed in white and covered in white paint, while Satan is clothed in black and resembles a dark shaman. Beyond the cliche white-black dichotomy may lie a contrast between light and darkness (c. Jn. 3:20-21; Eph. 5:8-14; 1 Jn. 2:8-11). Darkness implies deception, which is satanic (Jn. 8:44b). The so-called "Democratic Coalition" presents a facade of legitimacy through duplicitous rhetoric. Acts of violence are denied and literally covered up (the massacred boys are covered by a blanket, people "disappear," Jesus' body is hastily buried). In contrast, the movement around Jesus "brings to light" injustices which have gone unchallenged because they are hidden. Thus we see Mary turn her son's face to witness the murder of his peers and later hear Jesus repeat "when...evil still exists in the world." Most striking is the reversal of cross-burial; in this telling, Jesus is murdered at night, in secret, and placed in an unmarked grave. Mary uncovers his body and places it on a cross, lifted high in broad daylight for all to see. The cross is transformed from a symbol of redemptive suffering to a proclamation that violence cannot bring peace. Injustice draws power from lies and fear; when the community unites under the cross with the courage to face the truth, their victory has already begun.

The message is decidedly this-worldly and human; the absence of "God" or "heaven" in Jesus' preaching is noteworthy. The revised Sermon on the Mount (an address in a shanty-town hut) diverges from Matthew's version (Mt. 5-7): People must not get bogged down by "moral trivialities" (personal sin) or they will lose the struggle against "real sin," which is institutional evil. Dornford-May's Jesus proclaims faith in "the inherent goodness of man" and calls people not to believe in him as Savior but to join in his mission: "We lead ourselves to glory or destruction." Likewise, the divinity of Jesus is essentially insignificant. He is the leader of a movement, not the savior of the world. The real triumph occurs after his death (and before the resurrection!), when his followers embody his commitment to non-violent resistance. By placing the Pentecost moment before the Resurrection, the film suggests that human rather than divine action is the cause (and significance?) of the resurrection.

The prominence of the supernatural in Son of Man seems at first incongruous with its anthropocentric message. Beneath the surface level, however, the way the supernatural elements function may actually suggest their irrelevance. The angels watch but never interfere. In one of the most poignant scenes, Mary (Pauline Malefane) angrily confronts an angel for allowing the massacre she has just witnessed. The angel remains silent. The child Jesus then rejects the angel's summons as he rejects Satan: "This is my world." From that point on, angels appear only on the periphery. Satan never acts directly either, despite frequent appearances. The goat staff he carries appears in the hands of a corrupt leader, suggesting that "Satan" is merely the abuse of power by human beings. Satan looks upon Jesus' brutalized body with glee, but the violence was perpetrated by human beings. In a similar way, Dornford-May portrays miracles only indirectly, through the videos of Judas and the murals of the community. Judas's colorless film conveys the literal events, which "prove nothing," while the fanciful murals demonstrate true understanding. Even the most miraculous gospel events, the Incarnation and the Resurrection, are bound to human action – Mary's display of solidarity with the victims of violence and the community's courageous act of nonviolent resistance. This portrayal suggests that whether or not supernatural forces are present, the struggle for liberation rests solely on the shoulders of human agents.

The biblical quotation at the end of the film plays off of the title screen at the beginning, for a framing effect which drives the message home. The post-script - "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image'" - explains the significance of the title: Here, "Son of Man" is not synonymous with "Son of God," but with "Man" (i.e., a member of humankind). The title stands out because "Son of Man" is never applied to Kosi's character in the dialogue. Even the name "Jesus" is explicitly mentioned only at the Annunciation. This "Jesus" may be viewed as a sort of Everyman. His clothing and demeanor do not distinguish him from the crowds in any way, nor does he draw attention to himself. He is a (mostly) ordinary person whose message of unity and non-violence empowers other ordinary people. The implication is that if the Kingdom of God is to come on earth, God's image-bearers must bring it.