Faith-based movies may be all the rage now,
but in recent years they unfortunately have been divided into two distinct, unsatisfying
camps. On the one hand are big-budget Hollywood epics like Noah and Exodus: Gods and
Kings, made by non-believing filmmakers whose subversive treatment of the Biblical
source material has turned off Christian audiences. On the other are low-budget
independent efforts by believing filmmakers whose genuine reverence for the Biblical
material has been undermined by heavy-handed preachiness and cringe-worthy acting.
But two affecting new historical Christian films are bridging that gap and
elevating the genre to higher ground.
MILD SPOILERS AHEAD
Risen, written and directed by Kevin Reynolds of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Count of Monte Cristo fame (as well
as Waterworld infamy), premiered last
month. It is the story of a first-century, war-weary, Roman military tribune named
Clavius, masterfully underplayed by Joseph Fiennes, who seeks a respite from
slaughter – a “day without death.” He is charged with investigating the
disappearance of Jesus’ body from the tomb after his crucifixion. Pontius
Pilate and the local religious leadership pressure Clavius to help them suppress
the troublesome new Christian cultists for political reasons, by accusing them of
staging a fake resurrection of their Messiah.
But Clavius gradually comes to the
realization that Jesus’ followers are innocent and telling the truth – their
master has indeed risen from the grave. Clavius himself has seen evidence that shatters
his pagan worldview: “I cannot reconcile all of this with the world I knew,” he
complains, until he realizes that the “day without death” he craves can be
found in Jesus’ promise of eternal life.
Today is the premiere of the somewhat more
family-friendly The
Young Messiah, a film directed
by Cyrus Nowrasteh and co-written
with his wife Betsy [full disclosure: the Nowrastehs are friends of mine and I
have assisted Cyrus on other projects]. Based on an Anne Rice novel and focused
on the emotional dynamics of Jesus’ family, the movie depicts a very human
seven-year-old Son of God struggling with the budding awareness of his own
divine nature, which causes him to question who he really is and why he is here.
Like Joseph Fiennes in Risen, The Young Messiah’s
Sean Bean (a familiar face from Game of
Thrones and countless others) plays a war-weary, unbelieving Roman soldier
whose personal confrontation with Jesus shakes him to the core. Tasked with
finding and killing the young boy, whom the decadent King Herod perceives to be
a threat, Bean tracks Jesus down in the Jerusalem temple, but is awed – and
redeemed – by the child’s undeniable spiritual power.
As Rice herself put it, the film “invites the viewer to reflect on
what it might have been like for Jesus to put aside His Omniscience as God and
grow up amongst us. The film is an engulfing and entertaining and edifying
depiction of the Son of God as a child.” Indeed it is. Rice added that she is “grateful for countless emails from readers telling me [that
her] novel deepened their sense of the reality of Jesus, or made Him real for
them in a way that was entirely new,” and now the film version will make that
same impact on a much wider movie audience.
Even low-budget indie Christian films today
tend to do well financially because Christian audiences are hungry for movies,
regardless of their quality, that affirm their values. But in Risen and The Young Messiah, faith-based films have finally come into their
own as high-quality cinematic storytelling that Christians don’t either have to
reject for theological reasons (such as director Darren Aronofsky’s
environmentalist revision of Noah and the Ark) or be embarrassed by (Kirk
Cameron’s earnest but amateurish Fireproof).
Both Risen
and The Young Messiah feature
top-notch storytelling, production values, and acting. Both engage audiences
with understated, character-driven emotional punches rather than rely on
bombastic special effects. Despite their somewhat fictionalized premises, both exhibit
a clear reverence for the Biblical message and a respect for the Christian
audiences at whom these movies are largely aimed. Both skillfully and
powerfully portray unique perspectives on Jesus that we haven’t seen onscreen
before – his early years and post-resurrection – and both successfully capture
Jesus’ humanity as well as his divinity.
One of the production companies behind The Young Messiah is 1492 Pictures, run
by Chris Columbus, the producer and director of blockbusters like the Harry
Potter films. He calls the movie “the greatest story never told” and believes that “there’s a huge audience out there for faith based movies.” Having
a powerhouse like Columbus behind such a superlative, respectful film as The Young Messiah will help it find that
huge audience and encourage Hollywood support for other faith-based projects –
and that bodes well for the future of Christian films.
From Acculturated, 3/11/16
