Dear
Reader,
In
connection with The Gospel of John; how many “Jesus films” have you seen? I
have been trying to recall the times I have seen a movie about Jesus and it
must be 5 during different times of my life.
As a child.
The Salvation Army came to
our village and had meetings in one of our village chapels; or “House of Prayer” as they were called = “Bönhus” in Swedish. The
Salvation Army was always fun for a kid that didn’t have much entertainment since
TV didn’t enter my home until I was 10. Salvation Army had lotteries called “oars”
in those meetings and at one time I won two glasses that were blue in color. It
was very exciting and besides the lotteries the home baked cookies and buns and
coffee with 2/3 milk in the cup was a treat.
In
one of those meetings they brought a movie projector and the film “Jesus of Nazareth”.
There was excitement in the air and when the lights were out and the projector
started with it’s sound of a smaller moped my heart beat raised a bit. I don’t
remember much of the film but I remember when the scene of crucifixion started
my mom whispered “you can close your eyes if it is too hard to see” but I watched
it and was so sad that Jesus had to going through such pain for me. The Bible and the stories about Jesus was
nothing new to me because of Sunday school, but it was a whole different
experience to watch the story than to read or listen to it.
As a teenager.
I was at school in the nearby
city and in religion class we were supposed to go to the cinema and watch Max
von Sydow playing Jesus in “The man from Nazareth”. There were discussions
among the Christian students if it was appropriate for us to go to a cinema. Since
it was requested by the school and was included in the time schedule it was
decided that Christian students should also watch the film in the cinema;
although by some looked upon as a very “ungodly place”. Von Sydow played, as I remeber,
a very unemotional Jesus; with a face as engraved in marble and the whole fuss
around the film and the film itself left me without any lasting feelings. I
think it was the last time that Swedish schools had a Christian film on the time
schedule. I think it was 1967 or 68. Things changed a lot after that.
As an adult.
Several years Swedish TV
showed at Easter Franco Zeffirelli’s film “Jesus of Nazareth” with Robert Powell as Jesus. I thought he was a more human Jesus; at times too detached and too “spiritual” for me,
looking upward and away in some kind of “trance”. I think it is hard for any
actor to portray Jesus and give justice to Jesus as a man and as God in human
form unless you have a personal relationship with Jesus as your savior and
a willingness to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit. This TV series got a lot
of response from people who had watched it and people visited churches seeking salvation.
In my home I tried to follow the film through Easter with my somewhat reluctant
family who said they already knew about the story of Jesus. Well it didn’t hurt
to tell it again.
Then
there was “The Passion”.
I
haven’t seen it and I don’t think I ever will.
But
my husband, son and his girlfriend at the time, went to the cinema one evening while
I stayed at home ironing curtains for my son’s apartment. I had seen trailers
and heard about the violence and knew I would not be able to stand it. Not in front
of the TV, not in front of the computer or in the cinema; ever. But never say never; now I have tried to watch bits and pieces on
YouTube and have watched interviews with
the actor who played Jesus; Jim Caviezel. Someday maybe …
Anyway …
I
was standing in my son’s kitchen ironing the last curtain when they all stormed
in seemingly exhausted. My husband’s first comment was “It was for the best
that you didn’t come” Second comment was “Jesus must have been a super human to
be able to survive all the violence and beating and still make it to Golgotha”.
For at least half an hour they talked over
and over about the violence and beating but nobody mentioned salvation. And it
saddened my heart because I had hoped for some sort of “Aha-experience “for
them. That it would have opened their eyes to Jesus – The Savior. It was a disappointment
to me and I wondered what could touch their hearts, if this couldn’t move them
in any other way than making them a bit agitated for an hour or two.
Nr.
4.
The
gospel According to Matthew.
The
story about how I came about this film is a story that would take too much
space here, but it is a film close to my heart and maybe one day I will tell
the story. If you want to know how it was made, you can turn to Marchiano Ministries
and send an e-mail to them and ask for the book that is a journey through the
making of the film; seen with the eyes of actor Bruce Marchiano who portrayed Jesus. In this film Jesus is a man who smiles
a lot; hugs a lot; but also at certain times doesn’t hesitate to tell the truth
about hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Despite technical
flaws and sometimes poor acting performance by some of the actors,
the film is worth seeing and it leaves a warm feeling. As my
husband said; “If Jesus was that kind of guy one might consider hanging out
with him”. It’s a good review from
someone who does not get impressed
by films in the
first place.
Nr.5
The
Gospel of John (2003)
