Christology on the Silver Screen

"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.

Eye Has Not Seen Nor Camera Filmed…

How can the medium of film respond to the ineffable? The ineffable cannot by definition be said so how can film acknowledge this and point towards this unspeakable dimension, affirming that it is in some sense real? To do justice to this question would far exceed the capacity of this blog entry and so I narrow it to focus upon one particular motif that challenges the capacity of language. How has the Resurrection of Christ been addressed in three selected Jesus movies and what is the significance of some specific choices in terms of the theology conveyed?
For each of the movies addressed I will offer some comments on their “Resurrection scene” or lack thereof, but also the motif of resurrection as indirectly reflected throughout the film.

My rationale is two-fold: (1) The canonical gospels were written through the lens of faith in the Resurrection. If there had been no Resurrection faith, there would have been no canonical gospels as we know them. Therefore the entire gospel narrative is affected by this central faith-claim. Some gospel passages such as the transfiguration account and, arguably, nature miracles may be concerned with the Risen Christ who is conflated with the Jesus of Nazareth. That is, it may be overly simplistic to assume that the gospels are chronological biographies of Jesus’ life, and that everything recounted before the burial of Jesus is concerned with a pre-Easter Jesus. The gospels do not neatly distinguish between the flesh and blood Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ of Faith. For the Gospel-writers, Christ was risen and they could not view Christ except through Easter-tinted spectacles. Therefore to whatever extent Jesus movies are influenced by the gospels, long before an empty tomb scene if indeed there is on, they depict choices with implications as to how Resurrection is to be understood. (2) A strain of Christian thought since the enlightenment conceives of Resurrection not in terms of an event in a tomb on a particular date in history but rather as a transformation of perspective that is ever-available. Kant divests Jesus of a virgin birth, miracles, substitutionary atonement and Resurrection. Subsequent voices in biblical criticism (Bultmann) and of Jesus scholarship (Crossan, Borg) have continued this tradition of demythologization. While such thinkers may deny the historicity of Jesus’ bodily Resurrection in 30-33AD, they do not necessarily deny the doctrine of Resurrection per se. This broad understanding of Resurrection makes more complex the question as to how a movie portrays “the Resurrection”. What follows are reflections on three of the more innovative renderings of Resurrection in Jesus movies.

(I) Jesus of Montreal (Denys Arcand, 1989): The movie’s protagonist is named Daniel, his name evoking the biblical book wherein the author recounts an apocalyptic vision of “one like a Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven” (7:13) Daniel “resurrects” a passion play which had become tired and unappealing. However his reinvigorated version of the play falls foul of the ubiquitous Catholic authorities. It could also be argued that Daniel prompts Resurrection as a transformation in perspective on the part of his fellow actors, prompting them to challenge institutional authority and demand human dignity. Having committed assault and destruction of property in protest against the degradation of an actress by the sleazy producers of a beer commercial, Daniel incurs the interest of the civil authorities. However, it is neither the ecclesiastical or civil establishment that brings about Daniel’s death. Rather, the cause is a tragic accident during a performance of the play. It could be argued that callous incompetence and a failure to treat Daniel at St. Mark’s Catholic hospital contributed, through sin of omission, to this tragedy. In a surreal subway scene an impliedly brain-damaged Daniel yells apocalyptic warnings along the lines of the visions recounted in the biblical book bearing his name. The Book of Daniel envisages “One like a Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” (7:13) Such apocalyptic imagery is evocative of the Second Coming and a general Resurrection. After Daniel later expires at a Jewish hospital, one of his co-workers, shocked by this death, murmurs consent to the donation of his organs. While Daniel’s heart and eyes, it is implied, will bring a new lease of life to their recipients, this is a problematic Resurrection. Daniel’s death was neither at the hands of the forces of evil not chosen by Daniel so as to fulfill a mission. So too his “Resurrection” is difficult to attribute to any intention of his part. Neither does this Resurrection seem capable of inspiring authentic continuation of any mission Daniel may have had. The prospect of a theater company founded in his honor seems ill-fated and is cynically portrayed in this movie in which all institutions are viewed as evil. At best, the Resurrection implied is one guided by an unseen hand that transcends the intentions of Daniel or his disciples. Such an interpretation would suggest the agency of apocalyptic forces beyond human intentionality.

(II) The Last Temptation of Christ (Scorsese, 2004): If one were to consider the Resurrection only in terms of a specific event in Jesus’ tomb, then this movie does not portray the Resurrection at all. Indeed, the encounter between Jesus and Paul of Tarsus evokes doubt as to whether Jesus rose from the dead. This said, the movie offers glimpses of the afterlife as Jesus receives several visitors from beyond the grave: the master of a monastery, John the Baptists and Isaiah, as though to signify that Jesus exists at the portal of life and death. If Resurrection can take the form of a change in perspective and the awakening of eternal life within, it could be argued that this movie offers an exquisite study of the topic. I suggest that Resurrection in this movie is constituted by death to self and rising to other-centeredness. In a paradoxical sense, spiritual death is this movie would be for Jesus to accede to the temptations presented in his reverie of escape from the cross. In this vein of thought, Resurrection ironically takes the forms of Jesus’ transformation of perspective wherein he embraces his crucifixion. That is to say, within the world of this movie, Jesus’ cross is Resurrection whereas evading the cross would constitute spiritual death.

(III) Son of Man (Dornford-May 2005): The film set in land identified as Judea but clearly steeped in the culture, languages, vistas and struggles of southern Africa. The movie exhibits a tension between a gospel of supernaturalism, represented by the presence angels and Satan, and a gospel of liberation. David Jenkins writes of the rise of supernaturalist, evangelical Christianity that thrives in Africa, a faith more concerned with apocalyptic concerns than with justice in the here and now. Before embarking upon a mission of liberation, Jesus tells an angel, ‘This is my world”. This Jesus is concerned about the struggle for earthly justice. It is he who has been incarnated into the midst of a desperate struggle for liberation. I argue that the Resurrection in this movie is most powerfully conveyed through the actions of Mary the Mother of Jesus who exhumes the battered corpse of her murdered son, exhibits it on a cross for all to see and defies armed soldiers poised to gun down the band of Jesus’ followers chanting a song of protests before his cross. Jesus also lives on in colorful murals depicting scenes from this ministry, perhaps an equivalent to the “oral tradition” and the eventual committal of the Christian scriptures to writing. At the movies end however, Jesus is seen celebrating with the angels, perhaps in an indication that he has returned to the supernatural order. His incarnation in this world is continued in the witness of Mary and his followers. “Son of Man’ drives home the point that the Resurrection is not complete without Pentecost and Ascension. At Pentecost, the mission of the incarnate Christ is passed on to the Mystical Body of Christ made incarnate in the emboldened Church that is empowered to continue his mission. Also, as Jean-Luc Marion proposes, the incarnate Jesus must in some sense ascend so his disciples can become the face of charity. On a related notion, Peter Trachtenberg refers to the “presence of absence”, the bitter-sweet sense in which a deceased loved one is more present than ever they were, no longer subject to spatiotemporal limits but mysteriously and, perhaps, painfully present in all that is.

In conclusion, the portrayal of Resurrection in Jesus movies can permeate the mise-en-scène beyond an explicit “Resurrection scene”. None of the three movies considered in this piece include a reconstruction of an empty tomb scene yet all convey a perspective on Resurrection. In Jesus of Montreal, Resurrection is an instance wherein a mysterious providence prevails in the affairs of humanity, largely beyond the agency of any of the characters, including the Christ-like Daniel. In The Last Temptation of Christ, Resurrection is a transformation of perspective, whereby Jesus recognizes his temptation as evil and comes to embrace the will of God as best he knows it. In Son of Man, Resurrection is made manifest in human courage and integrity in the face of oppression. Each perspective may validly identify a dimension of Christian belief in Resurrection, perhaps representing aesthetically aspects of Resurrection that cannot be rendered in the prose of doctrinal propositions. Resurrection carries apocalyptic overtones that agencies beyond human control are operative in the world. Resurrection may be a transformation of perspective wherein self-centeredness dies to other-centeredness in an act of sacrifice. Equally well, Resurrection is witness to justice, defying the forces of oppression. Each of these movies can challenge viewers to think beyond Resurrection as resuscitation and stone-rolling.

"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.