For the last several years it has been my custom to watch “Passion of the Christ” on Good Friday. It is a masterpiece in my opinion, an opinion that when it comes to cinema is worth less than Steven Greydanus but probably more than Roger Ebert. I love the film and in particular, I love Jim Caviezel as Jesus.
At first I thought that Caviezel is definitely my favorite Jesus, and he may well be. But to be fair, I thought we should take a look at some of the other Jesuses.
“Beatnik Jesus”
Max portrayed Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). That’s the movie in which Charlton Heston played John the Baptist. I am sorry, but Max’s Jesus is a little creepy. And creepy is not what you want in a Jesus. I wouldn’t leave my kids alone with Max’s Jesus. And what is with that beard? I know it was 1965 and all, but Max’s Jesus is just a little too beatnik for me. However, Max made up for it just 8 years later when he played Fr. Merrin in the Exorcist.
“Back of head Jesus”
Speaking of Charlton Heston, Claude Heater played Jesus in Ben Hur. Not that anyone would know that because all we ever saw of Claude’s Jesus was the back of his head. That said, he had nice Jesus hair.
April 4, 2011 at 9:12 am
Jim Caviezel definitely, Robert Powell did justice to the part with his beautiful voice and by fasting, but Caviezel prayed and fasted. He was the right physique, and he even looks like the icon of Pantocrator. What's more, his mysticism doesn't stray into the region of the effeminate, which was Mel Gibson's complaint about so many previous Jesuses.
I have a question though, where is Ralph Fiennes's Jesus? Granted that 'the Miracle Maker' has many flaws and is clay animated, I still think it's a great introduction for children. You have to love the apostle Andrew being voiced by a Scot, too.
Oh, and the worse version of Jesus of all time is that clown from 'Lost' playing him in 'The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John.' The part where he drove the money changers out of the temple was so ridiculuous that my little sisters, my mother, father, and I were too busy bursting our sides laughing to be offended. If other Jesuses were stuffy, Henry Ian Cusick's was just the reverse…in a really baaad way.
April 4, 2011 at 9:12 am
*the worst version
April 4, 2011 at 10:01 am
I use the Visual Bible; The Story Behind the Cross, to teach my young RCIA children about the Passion. Bruce Marchiano does a really good job as Jesus (It is from the movie The Gospel of Matthew). But we know Jim Caveziel is the best, I just can't show the Passion of the Christ to 7 year olds.
April 4, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Editor:
If your whole reason for being is to make what you imagine to be hip, flippant remarks about various subjects then perhaps you should do everyone a favor and say so. However, if you want to offer serious criticisms of this or that then you need to forego the flippancy.
You are an admirer of the Gibson movie. That's fine with me, even though I cannot share your enthusiasm for it. However, your "take" on Max Von Sydow's performance as Christ is hardly helpful to anyone trying to have a serious discussion. Perhaps you have never bothered to watch the film. Perhaps you have allowed yourself to be swayed by the Junior High School-level criticisms of the Stevens film by such luminaries as the two Jewish film "critics", the Medved Brothers. Perhaps you simply don't care for the picture at all. Again, that's perfectly fine with me. But please allow me a few observations.
Despite some flaws in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (namely: the then-popular custom in Hollywood to get name actors to appear in brief "cameo" roles, and the director's misguided tampering with Alfred Newman's gorgeous score by inappropriately substituting some Handel and Verdi here and there)it is a lovely and beautiful film on all accounts. Director George Stevens chose Von Sydow due to his resemblance to the Shroud of Turin and had him made up accordingly (You will forgive me, I hope, for not commenting on your remark about the beard). Von Sydow's performance is near perfection, one the actor can never be ashamed of. Equally superb performances were turned in by Claude Rains, Telly Savalas, Jose Ferrer and many others. You apparently feel, if I am reading you correctly, that Mr Heston's performance as John the Baptist is something amusing (For some odd, esoteric reason Mr Heston has been the subject of much ridicule of late, mostly by people who think that Johnny Depp is a great actor. I rest my case). Many have commented on the John Wayne one-liner at the end of the film. A little research will tell you that neither Stevens nor Wayne wanted him to speak any dialog but that the line was demanded by the studio, United Artists, because some idiot there said "Nobody will know it's Wayne if we don't hear him!" So Wayne, under contract, had to dutifully go back to the studio, record the line to make UA happy who then had it inserted into their re-cut version of the film.
Stevens turned in a 240 minute film. Within two weeks UA was screaming that they could not get a third showing of the film in on a single day and demanded cuts. Stevens trimmed it down to 220 minutes. The battle raged on and after several months somebody at the studio recut it to 195 minutes, thereby removing vital scenes necessary to the story continuity. When it finished its initial road show engagements the studio cut it again – to 122 minutes!
This is not to absolve Stevens of some poor judgements, most notably what he did to the achingly beautiful Newman music score, but you can imagine what was done to the reputation of that film by studio meddling.
But with all that, it is still to this reviewer the most satisfying version of the story on film. Yes, it pulled its punches a little during the Crucifixion scene, which could have been more powerful. But the movie makers had enough taste not to subject their audience to a 17-minute flagellation scene, something that apparently did not occur to Mr Gibson (Someone should remind Mr Gibson that one of the most horrific scenes in film history was the murder of Janet Leigh in Hitchcock's PSYCHO, which lasted precisely 45 seconds on the screen and never once showed the knife actually touching the body).
In closing let me say that there are countless movies you could make fun of (shall I list them? Let's start with AVATAR, TOY STORY, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, HARRY POTTER, etc., etc., etc., etc……) without ridiculing something that was a sincere attempt at doing something worthwhile and truthful.
April 4, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Dude
U crazy.
April 4, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Must be a first time visitor.
April 4, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Jim Caviezel gets my vote.
April 5, 2011 at 1:56 am
I do love Caviezel…my 5 year old requests the Greatest Story…My teenage self loved "Jesus Christ Superstar", but never liked what's his name…Neely?…too "alto"…
My all time favorite is Ralph Fiennes in The Miracle Maker…though the gaelic accents of Peter and Andrew are anoying…
The family watches LOTS of different versions during Lent.
April 5, 2011 at 7:54 pm
The Best Jesus is in the Matthew Movie, handsdown…If you have never seen it here is the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Bible-Matthew-Gerrit-Schoonhoven/dp/B0002UBX54/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1302029513&sr=8-2
At the very end Jesus is walking away and he turns and gives a gesture to come along…It is priceless…Who wouldn't want to go?