I missed this the other day, but Daniel tagged me in the Bible movie meme. Honestly, I can’t think of all that many Bible movies that I have seen and remember enough to list them. Here’s my list, in no particular order, included for a variety of reasons.
Life of Brian – There is so much here. “Did he say ‘blessed are the cheesemakers?’” But the best scene is “What have the Romans ever done for us?” A brilliant commentary on the ambivalence of Judean feeling towards their Roman occupiers.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSELOCMmw4A]
Prince of Egypt – Unforgettable. Great music.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – This may be cheating. I haven’t seen the DVD version. But I saw Donny Osmond play Joseph twice on the stage in Boston while I was in high school. The guy’s got lungs! Again, great music.
Gladiator – Okay, so this isn’t a “Bible” film as such. But if we consider themes of imperialism, Roman spectacle, and the arena — particularly when discussing Revelation — then this actually is a pretty cool movie to show some of that social world.
The Miracle Maker – Claymation Jesus. Need I say more?
Jesus – All I remember about this movie is that there was a scene of Jesus laughing with a bunch of playful children. I liked that. I seem to remember there being some psychological takes on Jesus trying to understand his identity and mission. I’m not crazy about that stuff, but it’s interesting to see people try.
The Gospel of John – I don’t recall being that enthused about the film itself. But it deserves a mention just because I didn’t see it until after Henry Ian Cusick became a star as Desmond Hume on Lost. I was just imagining him saying, “I am the way, brother.”
I actually never saw Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, so I don’t have anything to say about that one. One of these days maybe.
I’m going to skip the tagging part of this one, except to say, feel free to do it if you feel so inspired.
