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| Courtesy of Sony |
A
few months back, I discussed my concerns with some Christian-themed movies that
hit multiplexes in the last few years. I won’t derail this week’s column by
repeating my entire argument, but I basically said it frustrates me that films
like God’s Not Dead and War Room aren’t interested in realistic characters
or telling stories in unique, creative ways. Instead, the filmmakers are content
to preach to the converted. Quite literally, in some cases – they begin with a
sermon they want to deliver and reverse-engineer a thin plot around it.
The
result is usually a collection of tired platitudes couched in churchy buzzwords
that viewers only understand if they grew up in Sunday school. For other
moviegoers, it can feel like they accidentally crashed a party they weren’t
invited to. I took some heat for those comments,
but I stand by them.
In
fact, I believe them even more now that I’ve seen Risen. It’s like director
Kevin Reynolds (who co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Aiello) has been spying
on my conversations. This refreshing new spin on the wonder surrounding Jesus' resurrection proves there
are still imaginative, entertaining ways to convey an ancient story while
engaging believers and secular audiences alike.
Often,
films about Jesus’ life frame the narrative from the disciples’ perspective, or
perhaps someone on the receiving end of one of his miracles. (Again, preaching
to the choir.) That’s not the case with Risen. Instead, viewers see the
familiar tale through the eyes of Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a Roman military
officer who takes delight in suppressing the recent surge of religious zealots
raving about their Messiah (Cliff Curtis).
After
Pilate (Peter Firth) has the troublemaker – known as Yeshua –
crucified, he orders Clavius and his young aide Lucius (Tom Felton) to ensure
that the tomb stays sealed. Pilate is worried about Yeshua’s followers stealing
the body in order to perpetuate the prophecy that he would rise from the dead
after three days.
Sure
enough, the tomb is soon empty and rumors begin to fly about the Messiah’s return.
Clavius, humiliated that this happened on his watch, vows to track down
Yeshua’s body and punish the people who made him look foolish. Over the course
of his journey, viewers get to imagine what this astonishing period must’ve been
like for someone who once viewed Jesus and his disciples as dangerous, raving
lunatics.
Granted, Risen is basically a real version of the fake movie prominently featured in Hail, Caesar! (a funny bit of coincidental scheduling, I’m sure), but I was
impressed and relieved that Reynolds and Aiello weren’t interested in just
reenacting the same scenes we’ve watched in Jesus movies for decades. Instead,
they manage to modernize a narrative that often comes across as stale or
inaccessible to contemporary audiences.
Fiennes,
in an unexpectedly shrewd performance, plays Clavius as a proto-detective
investigating the disappearance of a prominent criminal. Of course he sees
himself as one of the good guys; he’s Pilate’s right-hand man. That’s why the
character’s inevitable transformation works as well as it does. (If anyone
thinks that’s a spoiler, they’ve never seen a movie before.) The film is basically
an episode of Law and Order: Jerusalem with some Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead thrown in.
Felton
is also good in a fairly thankless role, playing a by-the-book rookie who just
wants to please his boss. Lucius is technically one of the bad guys, but Felton
plays him with such straightforward resolve that you can’t help but see where
he’s coming from. (Brief nerd tangent: I definitely chuckled when I realized Draco
Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies was playing someone named Lucius and
standing next to Voldemort’s brother.)
We
get to know a couple of Jesus’ disciples – mostly the wise, cantankerous Peter
(Stewart Scudamore) and Bartholomew (Stephen Hagan), who comes off as an
early-A.D. surfer dude – but the other nine (we don’t meet Judas, considering
he’s removed himself from the narrative at this point) are nameless tag-alongs
with zero personality. They’re basically a smaller band of the 47 dwarves that
accompanied Bilbo Baggins on his boring, never-ending journey in The Hobbit.
Curtis
only has a few scenes as Yeshua (I thought it was an interesting historical
touch that no one in the movie ever calls him Jesus), but he makes them count.
His warm, accessible version of the Messiah – not the aloof, unknowable figure
we’ve seen in other movies – makes you understand why these guys would uproot
their entire lives to follow him. I also appreciated that Curtis, while from
New Zealand, bears a closer resemblance to what historians think Jesus actually
looked like than the blond-haired, blue-eyed Jesus depicted in media for so
long.
The
only real missteps are Firth as Pilate – he seems to be in a much campier movie
than everyone else – and an inexplicable dream sequence that sticks out due to
some cheap, terrible CGI. It doesn’t add anything to the narrative and could’ve
been cut to the film’s benefit.
While Risen absolutely treats Jesus and his teachings with respect, it doesn’t put
the characters on a self-serious pedestal that prevents the audience from
relating to them. It even (gasp!) dares to use a bit of humor to convey its
message. As such, it succeeds far better than its predecessors in the Christian
genre at presenting an uplifting story that church folks and general moviegoers
can both enjoy.
Risen is rated PG-13 for biblical violence including some disturbing images.
Grade:
B
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