Abstract
Being invested with Christian and evangelical themes, Christian films are likely to seriously impact the spiritual being of audiences. They are generally conceived as having a direct or indirect link with the Bible, even when they include disdainers warning viewers on their directors’ departure from the Holy Scriptures. In tandem with this, a fair critique of this category of films will inevitably consider the biblical perspective. Following such a logic/premise, this paper presents a critique of three famous Christian films (<i>The Last temptation of Christ, The Passion of the Christ</i> and <i>The Bible: Joseph</i>), principally from a biblical perspective. Hinging on the autheurist, structuralist and encoding/decoding theories, the paper shows to what extent these three Bible films artfully interpret and deconstruct the Holy Scriptures. It argues that the two first films present contradictory versions of the life and mission of Jesus Christ on earth and contain a high deal of ideological and doctrinal coloration. This coloration tends, at a relatively high degree, to obscure or totally distort the evangelical message of the films. The paper also argues that the third film (Roger Young’s <i>The Bible: Joseph</i>) is highly sexualized, contrarily to the Bible which depicts sex in a mostly implicit way. From these observations, the paper concludes that, at varying degrees, the various directors are mainly non-scripturalist filmmakers. They seem bent on deconstructing biblical realities.
Highlights
Film Interpretation as a Complex and Subjective ExperienceReading a film – be it religious or not – in a systematic and purposeful way is a somehow tasking and complex exercise
This paper has critiqued three famous Christian films (The Last temptation of Christ, The Passion of the Christ and The Bible: Joseph) principally from a biblical perspective. It showed to what extent these three Bible films artfully interpret and deconstruct the Holy Scriptures
The paper argues that the two first films present contradictory versions of the life and mission of Jesus Christ on earth and contain a high deal of ideological and doctrinal coloration
Summary
Reading a film – be it religious or not – in a systematic and purposeful way is a somehow tasking and complex exercise. Experience varies from one person to the other, due to differences in socio-cultural backgrounds, educational, religious, ideological or professional affiliations and orientations and the like Based on this premise, O’Sulivan et al contend that the interpretation or reading of a (media) text – notably a film – will theoretically depend on the audience or reader’s experience [11]. O’Sulivan et al contend that the interpretation or reading of a (media) text – notably a film – will theoretically depend on the audience or reader’s experience [11] As they insightfully put it, “we must pay deference to experience, whether our own or that of a group we wish to study and understand. The critique will be based on a certain number of theories of film criticism and media text reception or reading
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