SamSpade
Well-Known Member
Along with other Biblical epics - the Robe, Ben-Hur for example - this was on this weekend. I hadn't seen it in MANY years, so I thought I'd look at it again this time around.
There have been SO many depictions of Jesus in film and stage, and other than sympathetic or unusual portrayals - there's obviously not much you can change, because the story hasn't changed.
But unlike as I remembered - it was truly awful. Not the least of which was von Sydow's terrible portrayal of Jesus. But the dialogue, the imagery, the pace, the script and unlike a lot of Biblical movies - a virtual Who's who of actors from the 60's. There was barely a single role not portrayed by someone rather famous - even John Wayne uttering his single line in EXTREMELY Waynish sing-song pattern "surely this man was the Son of God".
So I looked it up. I always remember old movies like "King of Kings", "Jesus of Nazareth" and "Jesus" being pretty good, the last one being the best, because unlike its predecessors, it strove for authenticity and consists mostly of narration while the actors act out the roles. I found that the movie was panned, critics hated it and it bombed at the box office.
But I was disappointed to see how badly this one was done. I have to admit, von Sydow would definitely be very low on my list for casting Jesus.
There have been SO many depictions of Jesus in film and stage, and other than sympathetic or unusual portrayals - there's obviously not much you can change, because the story hasn't changed.
But unlike as I remembered - it was truly awful. Not the least of which was von Sydow's terrible portrayal of Jesus. But the dialogue, the imagery, the pace, the script and unlike a lot of Biblical movies - a virtual Who's who of actors from the 60's. There was barely a single role not portrayed by someone rather famous - even John Wayne uttering his single line in EXTREMELY Waynish sing-song pattern "surely this man was the Son of God".
So I looked it up. I always remember old movies like "King of Kings", "Jesus of Nazareth" and "Jesus" being pretty good, the last one being the best, because unlike its predecessors, it strove for authenticity and consists mostly of narration while the actors act out the roles. I found that the movie was panned, critics hated it and it bombed at the box office.
But I was disappointed to see how badly this one was done. I have to admit, von Sydow would definitely be very low on my list for casting Jesus.
