Not every filmmaker in his work decides to film biblical stories, especially if they relate to the earthly path of Jesus Christ.
A religious person is afraid to “fall short” of the ideal, since he understands that it will be very difficult for an actor to reliably translate the image of the perfect God-man on the screen.
The atheist, who decided to show his audience a materialistic view of the Gospel stories, is afraid to face a barrage of criticism from religious leaders and Christians.
However, there are several art paintings depicting the life of the Messiah, which have become a real event in the world of cinema. Some of them were subjected to fierce criticism and, on the contrary, caused delight, while each of them is an author’s view of the Savior’s personality.
We present our rating of the best paintings - this is a list of the 10 most famous films about Jesus Christ, some works are even suitable for children to watch.
List
- 10. The Miracle Worker, 2000
- 9. The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988
- 8. Jesus, 1979
- 7. The Gospel of Matthew, 1964
- 6. The Son of God, 2014
- 5. The Gospel of John, 2003
- 4. The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965
- 3. Jesus of Nazareth, 1977
- 2. Jesus Christ - a superstar, 1973
- 1. The Passion of Christ, 2004
10. The Miracle Worker, 2000
“Miracle Worker” - This is a full-length puppet animated film about the life of Jesus Christ and his miracles that he performed during his earthly journey. He did good, preached love and hope, until the Roman authorities decided to kill him.
This story known to everyone appears in this form for the first time. With the help of 3-D animation, a sense of reality and the scale of what is happening on the screen is achieved and this allows you to more fully feel the main message of the picture.
9. The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988
This film adaptation of the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis “The Last Temptation” shot the legendary Martin Scorsese. The picture is considered one of the most significant works in the work of the director.
The idea of the film is based on the study of the duality of Jesus Christ - the divine and human principles. The picture touches on topics that are very controversial for the religious world, which has attracted mass criticism from its representatives from official representatives of the church and believers of various faiths of Christianity.
Here Christ is a simple carpenter from Judea. He earns by making crosses on which state criminals are executed. He is constantly visited by voices and visions - he understands that he is chosen for a high mission, but cannot understand what his true mission is and who chose him: the Lord or Satan.
Trying to answer all these questions, Jesus sets off on a pilgrimage with his friend Judas. He has to go the hard way of the Savior: he saves Mary Magdalene from cruel reprisal, visits a mythical Jewish monastery, then John baptizes him and blesses him, addresses the Jewish people with the Sermon on the Mount, retires to the wilderness, being tempted by the devil, expels merchants from the temple of God provoking unrest in the city with his sermons on love.
As a result, Jesus understands what his true purpose is to cleanse the human race from sins by accepting a painful death on the cross. He voluntarily asks Judah to turn him over to the authorities. Judas tries to dissuade him, but he remains firm in his decision.
After meeting the Last Supper, Judas goes to the teacher of the Roman legionnaires, and they take Jesus into custody. Judean Procurator Pontius Pilate, succumbing to the will of an angry mob, pronounces the death sentence on Jesus.
Christ crucified on the cross. At the moment of the most severe suffering, a beautiful girl appears before him, a guardian angel, who calls him after him. She helps him get off the cross. Then Jesus descends into a beautiful flowering valley, where he is met by a wedding ceremony. He is married to Maria Magdalene, they have children.
He lives a long life. At the bed of an aging and dying Christ, his elderly disciples appear. They accuse the teacher of exchanging the Savior's mission for the ordinary life of an earthly person. Judas says that the very girl who saved him was actually Satan.
Jesus effortlessly shakes off the dope of temptation and returns to reality. He is again on the cross, and a barely noticeable smile appears on his lips.
8. Jesus, 1979
The film shows the life of Christ in accordance with the Gospel of Luke.
The famous director John Hayman had a reason enough to take up the adaptation of biblical stories. He set the goal to convey the News of Jesus as accurately as possible, which would most accurately depict Palestine in the first century.
After a painstaking preparatory period, the director decided that the Gospel of Luke would be the best basis for building the plot.
By the way, before him, none of the filmmakers undertook to translate on screen exactly this description of life Of jesus. According to Hayman, Luke had a lot of undoubted advantages. Firstly, he took the details quite seriously (since the apostle lists the social and cultural features of the time), so his words deserve more trust from a historical point of view. But, most importantly, Luke gives the most complete description of the ministry of Jesus Christ and quite clearly sets out the very essence of His teaching.
7. The Gospel of Matthew, 1964
“The Gospel of Matthew” was shot by the famous Italian director Pierre Paolo Pasolini. The creator of the picture offers a look at the biblical narrative of the life of Christ from a Marxist-Catholic point of view.
This film caused a flurry of criticism from religious communities and ordinary believers around the world, while to this day it is one of the most famous historical works.
6. The Son of God, 2014
An epic film based on a biblical account of the life of Jesus Christ, sequentially shows the gospel story from birth The son of God, until the betrayal of one of the disciples, crucifixion and the resurrection from the dead.
5. The Gospel of John, 2003
Film “The Gospel of John” tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ, based on the descriptions of one of the apostles-evangelists - John.
The entire earthly path of Jesus Christ extended within the "people of Israel." Thousands of people, abandoning their former lives, accepted the words of Christ as truth and believed in them, but there were also those who were very hostile to the teachings of Jesus.
These were the Pharisees and Sadducees - they expected the Messiah as a king who would give them unlimited power, reverence and superiority over all nations. However, Christ's words about love and mercy did not match their concept of eternal bliss.
4. The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1965
A film about the earthly life of Jesus Christ, created by director George Stevens. The plot of the picture “The greatest story ever told” based on gospel stories, as well as on the Fulton Ursler novel of the same name.
The film was presented in five nominations for the prestigious Oscar (for camera work, the work of the artist and decorator, costumes, musical design and graphics).
The film shows the life of Christ from birth to death on the cross, resurrection and ascension. All events are presented in accordance with the canonical religious understanding, so the tape did not cause complaints from the clergy. However, at the same time, the image of the Son of God as an ordinary person is shown quite realistically.
3. Jesus of Nazareth, 1977
This is the television mini-series “Jesus of Nazareth,” co-produced by the Italian and English film studios, directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
The picture is an adaptation of the New Testament. There is a version that the film was created by order of the Vatican.
Some authoritative experts (representatives of the clergy, cinema, historians, etc.) consider this picture the most successful and most complete adaptation of the Gospel.
2. Jesus Christ - a superstar, 1973
Tape Canadian Director Norman Juison "Jesus Christ Superstar" was created on the basis of the musical of the same name, which to this day is considered one of the most popular in the world.
The film adaptation of the world famous rock opera by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was made in the form of a play played by modern artists against the backdrop of authentic Middle Eastern views.
In addition to amazing music and vocals, the film was remembered for a very original interpretation of the Gospel texts, which is an alternative to extremely orthodox views on Christianity.
In the end, the picture turned out to be quite a visual image for great music. Spectators are attracted by episodes introduced by Juison in the main theme of the biblical story: the “film in the film” motif, when actors invade scenic views of the desert on a bus to play scenes from the Gospel.
It is also worth noting the original interpretation of the image of Judah, whose role in the film is embodied by black artist Carl Anderson.
1. The Passion of Christ, 2004
“The Passion of Christ” - A drama dedicated to gospel revelations, filmed by the famous Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson. The picture tells about the events preceding the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and its resurrection.
The film's actions cover the last twelve hours of Jesus' earthly journey, beginning with the Supplication in the Garden of Gethsemane and a schematic designation of his resurrection. In addition, episodes depicting some of the childhood and youth memories of Jesus are depicted here. It also describes the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper.
Interesting: all the dialogues in the picture are not in English (the mother tongue of its creators), but in the reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin with off-screen translation or subtitles.