Let me know what you think of it when you get around to it. And what you thought of the ending. No spoilers here.
I'll try and do that :)
First step is to see if they have it downtown in my favorite used movies/music/books store.
I'm trying to make a list of other movies to look for too. I can never remember what I actually want to see when I'm standing down there.
Trollheart
08-30-2017 09:38 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MicShazam
(Post 1868713)
I'll try and do that :)
First step is to see if they have it downtown in my favorite used movies/music/books store.
I'm trying to make a list of other movies to look for too. I can never remember what I actually want to see when I'm standing down there.
Thanks for the help, but I got lucky and found it all new for cheap in the store I mentioned! I just finished watching it fifteen minutes ago.
I'll try to say something coherent about it, but a lot of thoughts and feelings were running through me as I watched it.
After it was over, I thought about how there was a constant feeling of uncertainty underpinning the entire movie. Is he really the Messiah? Does he believe it himself? Does his followers? What about Judas? Is that Satan or not? Did he really give up God, as he kept questioning his mission or how to carry it out, throughout most of the movie. It wasn't until the very last couple minutes I felt sure about what would really happen.
Spoiler for Spoiler territory::
I suspected that the Guardian Angel would be Lucifer, but I also repeatedly started believing that the movie really would take a different take on the Jesus myth and have God be merciful to him. When Jerusalem was burning and the sky was blood red as Jesus lay dying, I finally felt sure that Jesus being allowed to live a full life as a man was supposed to be the work of Satan.
When Judas tells Jesus that the girl is not the Guardian Angel and Jesus' facial expression changes to doubt and fear, the sound of screams from the citizens being slaughtered by the Romans outside rises while a blood read sky is visible through the half open door. Pretty chilling symbolism for the grave mistake that Jesus just realizes he's made. He then wakes up at the cross and accepts his plight. Don't know whether his life as a common man was a sort of dream vision or whether God rewinded time and let Jesus do his plight, now that his heart was free of doubt.
I guess that, thematically speaking, it doesn't even matter.
A very interestingly different take on Jesus; casting him as a faulty man with a heart full of doubt, which I guess is very fitting when he's supposed to be both the son of God, but also just a man. Judas was cast not as a betrayer, but as the one who believed in Jesus the most and was prepared to do anything for him, even if it went against everything he held in his heart. A pretty damn interesting way to treat both characters.
Out of spoiler territory again: When the credits revealed that Peter Gabriel did the soundtrack, I had just been thinking how massively inappropriate for the tone of the movie the music had felt at times - as it also did at the very end.
I was also surprised to see David Bowie as a Roman official!
Long story short, I really liked the movie a lot. I did get a little impatient somewhere in the middle of the movie when the uncertainties were really piling up on me, but that faded away eventually and I found the movie to be pretty fascinating. I think this one will get better with repeat viewings over the years.
This movie against Mel Gibson's take on Jesus: Not even a contest.
EDIT: I almost forgot. That loud noise and the weird colors seconds before the credits roll... I have no idea what that was about. Easily the weirdest thing about the movie.
Trollheart
08-30-2017 02:25 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MicShazam
(Post 1868814)
Thanks for the help, but I got lucky and found it all new for cheap in the store I mentioned! I just finished watching it fifteen minutes ago.
I'll try to say something coherent about it, but a lot of thoughts and feelings were running through me as I watched it.
After it was over, I thought about how there was a constant feeling of uncertainty underpinning the entire movie. Is he really the Messiah? Does he believe it himself? Does his followers? What about Judas? Is that Satan or not? Did he really give up God, as he kept questioning his mission or how to carry it out, throughout most of the movie. It wasn't until the very last couple minutes I felt sure about what would really happen.
Spoiler for Spoiler territory::
I suspected that the Guardian Angel would be Lucifer, but I also repeatedly started believing that the movie really would take a different take on the Jesus myth and have God be merciful to him. When Jerusalem was burning and the sky was blood red as Jesus lay dying, I finally felt sure that Jesus being allowed to live a full life as a man was supposed to be the work of Satan.
When Judas tells Jesus that the girl is not the Guardian Angel and Jesus' facial expression changes to doubt and fear, the sound of screams from the citizens being slaughtered by the Romans outside rises while a blood read sky is visible through the half open door. Pretty chilling symbolism for the grave mistake that Jesus just realizes he's made. He then wakes up at the cross and accepts his plight. Don't know whether his life as a common man was a sort of dream vision or whether God rewinded time and let Jesus do his plight, now that his heart was free of doubt.
I guess that, thematically speaking, it doesn't even matter.
A very interestingly different take on Jesus; casting him as a faulty man with a heart full of doubt, which I guess is very fitting when he's supposed to be both the son of God, but also just a man. Judas was cast not as a betrayer, but as the one who believed in Jesus the most and was prepared to do anything for him, even if it went against everything he held in his heart. A pretty damn interesting way to treat both characters.
Out of spoiler territory again: When the credits revealed that Peter Gabriel did the soundtrack, I had just been thinking how massively inappropriate for the tone of the movie the music had felt at times - as it also did at the very end.
I was also surprised to see David Bowie as a Roman official!
Long story short, I really liked the movie a lot. I did get a little impatient somewhere in the middle of the movie when the uncertainties were really piling up on me, but that faded away eventually and I found the movie to be pretty fascinating. I think this one will get better with repeat viewings over the years.
This movie against Mel Gibson's take on Jesus: Not even a contest.
EDIT: I almost forgot. That loud noise and the weird colors seconds before the credits roll... I have no idea what that was about. Easily the weirdest thing about the movie.
Yes, Bowie as Pilate was weird. The cultured London accent seemed totally out of place in Jerusalem, didn't it? I don't know what that was at the end either, unless it was meant to represent his death and then the ascension of his soul? Oddly, I looked at it completely differently:
Spoiler for Jesus H Christ!:
he definitely WAS Jesus, but he suffered, and eventually succumbed to, through mostly a combination of his doubts, his "hatred" of God, who plagued him with pain and visions, as he said at the beginning, and of course the intervention of Satan, who was trying to destroy God's attempt to save the world, his own fears and desires as a man. In the end, he realises he has been put here for a reason, even if he doesn't agree with or believe in that reason. He sees what the consequences of flaking out will be, and he bows to God's will. To me, everything that happens from the point that the "angel" floats up to him and he comes down off the cross is in his mind - God allowing him the ultimate free will, the chance to see what will happen if he decides to disobey and tries to change things.
Personally, I love the soundtrack and I have it. I think it really suited the mood and tone of the movie, but you're entitled to your opinion of course. Definitely my favourite movie about Jesus, and I've seen a few.
MicShazam
08-30-2017 03:12 PM
Interesting take on the movie. There's bound to be a few ways of interpreting it when it is as non-explicit about it's meanings as it is. The struggle of Jesus to be what he has to be is definitely a central theme.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trollheart
(Post 1868862)
Yes, Bowie as Pilate was weird. The cultured London accent seemed totally out of place in Jerusalem, didn't it?
I kept thinking about his accent through the whole scene, so that would be a 'yes' :laughing:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trollheart
(Post 1868862)
Personally, I love the soundtrack and I have it. I think it really suited the mood and tone of the movie, but you're entitled to your opinion of course.
It was only a handful scenes where it struck me as an odd fit. Most of the movie, it did work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trollheart
(Post 1868862)
Definitely my favourite movie about Jesus, and I've seen a few.
Any other you would recommend?
Chula Vista
08-30-2017 03:15 PM
The Host
Terrible movie that is so overated based on the fact that it's "foreign cinema".
Trollheart
08-30-2017 04:59 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MicShazam
(Post 1868880)
Any other you would recommend?
It kind of depends on what you're looking for. For your traditional Hollywood God-is-great sort of thing, you can't go wrong with either King of Kings or The Greatest Story Ever Told, both excellent movies. Naturally, if you're particularly interested and haven't yet seen it, the Franco Zeffireli mini-series Jesus of Nazareth is a must-see, though it's very long (5 or 6 hours, split into four episodes) and of course the musical Jesus Christ Superstar is great too, with an interesting take on Judas. If you want a laugh, and have not yet seen it, Monty Python's Life of Brian is a hilariously irreverent take on the whole story. There was also a miniseries called I think just The Bible a while back, which was very good too.
Justthefacts
08-30-2017 05:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chula Vista
(Post 1868881)
The Host
Terrible movie that is so overated based on the fact that it's "foreign cinema".
I think we need an explanation Chula, that's a bold statement.
Frownland
08-30-2017 05:16 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justthefacts
(Post 1868930)
I think we need an explanation Chula, that's a bold statement.
He didn't catch the subtext. Common mistake.
Chula Vista
08-30-2017 07:39 PM
Subtext, smugtext. It's simply just a bad movie. Horrible acting, terrible special FX, and really stupid storyline.
