Adaptation Of Jesus

In the 21st century, religious expression has expended into the mass media. In this expression, the subject of Jesus life has been widely and artistically portrayed in film, directors ranging from extremely figurative to literal adaptations of the Gospel narratives. These adaptations have not been without controversy, as religion and creative license are not always well received. This paper will examine significant adaptions of Jesus’s life through silent movies such as The King of Kings, musicals such as Godspell and controversial interpretations such as The Last Temptation of the Christ. While the adaption of Jesus’s life to film is a relatively new concept, it is important to realize that the performance aspect of the Bible is an ancient …show more content…
At 40 minutes long, it is the shortest film that will be examined but at its making was one of the first feature length narrative films. This film is further significant as it is one of the first film ever made to be focused on Jesus Christ. Due to the limited technology of filmmakers, this film is very fragmented. Scenes are individually shot, at a few minutes each, with a title card at the beginning of each segment giving the scene’s context, such as “Baptizing Christ” and “Mary Magdalene at the Feet of Jesus.” While the scenes are given roughly in the narrative order of the Gospel stories, this fragmentary storytelling comes across more as many short films based on biblical stories rather than one complete narrative …show more content…
However it’s two occasions of special effects are especially interesting. In the scene titled, “Christ Put on the Cross” Jesus is placed on the crucifix after carrying it on his soldiers before a large mob. After he has been nailed on the cross, there is a second in which this black-and-white film becomes even darker and lightening bolts are seen around the figure of Jesus as he dies. Further, in the last scene of the film called “The Ascension,” after Jesus is seen by the women he steps on a platform of clouds and is slowly raised to the sky as a star burst appears behind him. As he ascents further, a cloud platform with God and an empty throne appear surrounded by angels. In the final seconds of the film, Jesus sits in the empty throne by God signifying his place as God’s right hand and joining his father in heaven. The next film, “The King of Kings, ” resembles “The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ” as it is also a silent black-and-white film. This 1927 American silent film is directed by Cecil DeMille focuses mainly on the last weeks of Jesus life as part of DeMille’s trilogy on Jesus. It is technologically more proficient than the “Passion” as it uses intertitles to display dialogue throughout the film. It is interesting to note that