“Risen”

Last updated on: February 19, 2016 at 10:17 pm by Dan Peterson

“Risen” 2016-02-19T22:17:22-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Magdalena Penitente
Domenico Tintoretto (ca. 1600)
Wikimedia CC; click to enlarge

My wife is still in Hawaii — I’ve been seamlessly replaced there by a neighbor and by her sister — and I’ve spent the whole day back here in the real world creating two midterm examinations with which to torment and afflict my students. So I decided that I needed to go out for a burger at Five Guys and then to step across the way for a movie.

I’ve just returned from seeing the new film Risen.

Those familiar with the story of Christ’s death and resurrection (just about everybody here, I expect) will instantly recognize that Risen has changed things around a bit — notably the introduction of a wholly fictional Roman tribune, the movie’s jaded and troubled protagonist — and there are undoubtedly reasons to criticize it.

Some will find Joseph Fiennes’s Clavius too grimly expressionless — especially toward the end, where his failure to join the witnessing of the Eleven (he would have been fully qualified to replace Judas!) was more than a bit puzzling, in my judgment. I myself thought the apostles (Bartholomew, in particular) a bit too giddy; but then, they’ve just been given the best news that any human could ever have received, so perhaps they should be pardoned. Moreover, I wish the scriptwriters hadn’t chosen to reinforce the image of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute — apparently still practicing that trade right up until almost the time of Christ’s crucifixion, no less — an image that is based on legends that apparently go back no earlier than the Middle Ages.

However, candidly, everybody will find something jarring, not how they pictured it, in a movie’s retelling of so important and famous a narrative. That’s probably unavoidable.

I thought the film offered a very fresh take on this very old, very well-known story, and plenty of things to discuss. I liked the portrayal of the apostles as astonished by the Resurrection and not yet even remotely sure of what it was they were supposed to do. I liked Cliff Curtis’s Mediterranean-looking — non-blond, non-Swedish! — Yeshua. I also liked the way the film avoided glamorizing first-century Palestine: Things looked small, on the whole, and rocky and dirty and fairly simple, and the Romans came across as a relatively human occupation force, not (as they often do) as either ancient Mediterranean Nazis or as regimented and robotic imperial storm troopers. (I’m not claiming that the geography was portrayed altogether accurately. Those who know Israel at all well will see the inaccuracies: The filming was apparently done in Spain and Malta, and it was quite clearly not done on the real Sea of Galilee. And Caesarea Maritima? Well, I go there at least once a year, and the Caesarea where the movie’s Pontius Pilate nervously awaits the historically fictional visit of Tiberius Caesar shortly after the Resurrection looks absolutely nothing like the gorgeous beach-resort-quality real place.)

That said, I liked the film, and I recommend it to others. When my wife returns from Hawaii, I plan to take her. It will be fun to talk it over with her.

Here’s a fairly mixed review:

http://www.avclub.com/review/risen-imagines-gospel-roman-cop-movie-232372

Here’s a quite positive one.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/02/18/its-miracle-hollywood-finally-tells-great-bible-story.html

I probably come down somewhere between the two reviews, perhaps a bit closer to the second than the first.

I’m happy to see a real Hollywood film that takes a religious/biblical story seriously. May those execrable 2014 abominations, Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings, never be repeated.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 19, 2016

"I love Mormons"

Next Post

February 19, 2016 New book: "Lehi and Sariah in Arabia"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "My soul magnifies the Lord"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elizabeth Hannah Mary Deborah