20th February, 2004

DAVID ADAMS

While there has never been a mainstream film about Jesus which stands to reap the sort of commercial success The Passion of the Christ is expected to, the life of Jesus Christ has been the subject of scores of films over the years, ranging from the first silent films ever made through to the “swords and sandals” epics of the mid-Twentieth century and the release last year of Philip Saville’s The Gospel of John.

Others have included:
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965): Starring Max Von Sydow as Jesus and (in)famous for its cameos - including Charleton Heston as John the Baptist, John Wayne as the centurion and Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene.

• Jesus Christ, Superstar (1973): The film version of the Broadway musical came complete with the feel of the Sixties.

• Jesus of Nazareth (1977): Directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Robert Powell as Jesus, this made for TV mini-series traced the story of the life of Christ and stirred controversy over Zeffirelli’s desire to portray a more human Jesus.

• Jesus (1979): Known to many as The Jesus Film, this has been dubbed in hundreds of languages, had more than a billion viewers and helped lead millions to Christ. Says writer Mike Hertenstein in a recent survey of Jesus films: “It is without doubt both the most viewed, and most translated, motion picture of all time.”

• The Last Temptation of Christ (1988): Highly controversial, this Martin Scorsese-directed film starred Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Judas and Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene.

• The Gospel of John (2003): Directed by Phillip Saville, this is presented as “word for word” from the Good News Bible with narration by Christopher Plummer.

Sources: With information from Mike Hertenstein: “Epic Survey of Jesus Movies: From La vie et la passion de Jesus Christ to The Passion of the Christ” on Flickerings Film Showcase.