“Word
for Word based on the Good News Bible translation of
the American Bible Society”
From Visual Bible International, Inc. in association
with Garth H. Drabinsky and Joel B. Michaels
Of the four Gospel accounts in
the New Testament the one according to the disciple
John is the most mystical.
At the very beginning it speaks of the Word as becoming
flesh, of being one with God, of being the creator
of the universe. Jesus as the “Word made flesh” and
the “light of the world” are familiar concepts
to most Christians. I also think those are extremely
difficult concepts for believers and non-believers
alike. Thus, to make a movie out of a single gospel
account is more challenging with John than with Matthew,
Mark or Luke.
A faithful recreation of a particular gospel as a major
motion picture is not the usual way moviegoers have seen
the Jesus story. Typically we have seen Hollywood
treatments that make Jesus out to be mostly soft and
westernized (“King of Kings” and “The
Greatest Story Ever Told”), controversial
(“The Last Temptation of Christ”), or brutalized
and long-suffering (“The Passion of the Christ”).
The Gospel of John gives us a big-screen treatment
of a very human Jesus who over and over again states, “I
am telling you the truth!” Sometimes that line
is shouted, other times nearly whispered, but the point
is that Jesus spoke with the inner authority and knowledge
that he was sent for a specific purpose, to do the
will of his Father.
The performance by actor Henry Ian Cusick is wonderful.
He emotes with his gestures, voice and especially his
face in a way that helps us flesh out (pun intended)
the poetic scripture of the Gospel of John. Most of
the rest of the cast have impressive Shakespearean
credits. The movie is also beautifully filmed and the
sets have authenticity. The screenplay by John Goldsmith
uses the wide-appeal of the Good News Bible. The costumes
are authentic, the pacing of the film is deliberate,
but not sleepy, and the direction comes from acclaimed
British director, Philip Saville. Christopher Plummer,
in the role of the narrator, has just the right tone
throughout in speaking the non-dialogue parts of the text.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the reactions of the disciples to Jesus’ calling and teaching. John
the Baptist tells his followers, “there is the
Lamb of God” and Andrew and John take that as
an urging to go after Jesus. When the Lord turns around
and sees them he has a knowing smile as they embarrassedly
ask him where he lives. You also see Philip rushing
from a doorway almost headlong into Jesus and he’s
stopped dead in his tracks by Jesus’ warm and
welcoming smile. At first Philip appears surprised,
but then breaks into an awed grin and immediately accepts
the invitation to follow.
One of the most moving encounters is the first between Jesus and Nathaniel
(“…an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" – John 1:47).
The look on Nathaniel’s face when Jesus tells
how he knew him from seeing him earlier praying under
the fig tree is priceless. The movie takes the liberty
of showing a flashback of Nathaniel in rapturous prayer
as he gazes heavenward and, thus, helps us better make
the connection of Jesus “seeing” him.
This gospel does not relate the account of the transfiguration
or of James and John wanting to sit in positions of authority
at the side of Jesus in heaven, but it does
show disciples who were yearning for a Messiah. Peter
is well illustrated as struggling at times and his
denial of Christ the night of his arrest is prominent,
but we also see Peter’s great love of the Lord.
On the other hand, John’s closeness to Jesus
is more inferred.
Throughout this film you see great attention to detail,
both visually and in the mission of Jesus. We see the
conflict between those who accept Jesus as a loving prophet
of God and those who are threatened by his message
and continually want to condemn his
perceived blasphemies.
Are there any flaws? Well, the casting of Diana Berriman as Mary, mother of Jesus,
is questionable, just because the actress’ age seems a bit advanced. From what
I would surmise from scriptures she was just a young
girl when she gave birth to him and maybe mid-forties
by the time of Jesus’ ministry. With due respect
to Berriman, she appears older than that. Admittedly,
there’s no age reference in John’s gospel text.
There’s also not much room for the character
development of Judas. Although he’s not “out-and-out” evil,
I felt he was too detached — looking as though he’s
just biding his time until the opportunity for betrayal.
More interesting is how Cusick’s “Jesus” continues
to show both love and sadness when speaking about and with his betrayer.
And, once again, we see Mary Magdalene introduced visually as a harlot, although none of
the Gospel accounts say she was a prostitute. It’s always assumed
that one of the seven demons she was freed from was
lust, but the gospels never say that. Still, Magdalene
is shown as a faithful follower of Christ, with him
during the Last Supper and when he prays for his disciples,
as well as the first to the empty tomb on the Sunday of the Resurrection.
Anyone who is looking for a movie about the life of Jesus
that has the proper context of a Gospel, in this case
John’s, will be moved and fulfilled by this
film. The full story of Jesus is here, from the beginning
of his ministry through his dramatic expelling of the
moneychangers in the temple (the beginning of his direct
challenge to the Jewish authorities), his magnificent
teaching, his demonstration of servant hood and healing,
and, of course, his arrest and passion. The appearances
by Christ after the Resurrection are so important because
they show that Jesus died for a purpose and that he
is calling all of us, especially those who will believe
even though they have not seen (John 20:29).
The Gospel of John will be
released on DVD and VHS in rental stores on April
6th, but can be ordered now
through the film’s official web site, www.gospelofjohnthefilm.com.
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