Jesus in the movies
Introduction
The Passion is the latest in a long line of films about Jesus, stretching back over a century. The 100 plus years since the birth of cinema have seen Jesus portrayed over 200 times on the screen, and there are no signs of things starting to slow down. If anything, recent depictions have grown more and more diverse: Jesus was played by a puppet in The Miracle Maker (1999), and as a modern day African in Son of Man (2006). Here's a rundown of the most famous "lives of Jesus" to have graced our screens.
King of Kings
The Gospel of MatthewThe first Hollywood movie in which Jesus has a speaking part (1961)
Made by an Italian Marxist using non-professional actors (1964)
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus of NazarethThe story of Jesus’ death reworked with electric guitars (1973)
A reverential portrait of Jesus that was iconic in its time (1977)
Jesus
The Last Temptation of ChristSaid to be the most-watched movie of all time (1979)
The most controversial film about Jesus, by Martin Scorsese (1988)
Jesus
The Passion of the ChristA human retelling of the story of Jesus in a TV mini-series (1999)
Mel Gibson’s box office triumph on the violent death of Jesus (2004)
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About this module
It’s “the greatest story ever told”, according to one famous movie title, and among these films is the alleged most watched film of all time. In these pages we review some of the most significant Jesus movies made over the past 50 years.
Written by Matt Page
Categories: Creativity, Biographical, Sound & vision,
Module contents
Introduction
King of Kings 1961
The Gospel of Matthew 1964
Jesus Christ Superstar 1973
Jesus of Nazareth 1977
Jesus 1979
The Last Temptation of Christ 1988
Jesus 1999
The Passion of the Christ 2004
Related modules
The Passion
BBC drama 2008
Faces of Jesus
Images through the ages
Jesus in books
Our book reading list
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