Book Review: Jesus Christ Movie Star

I suppose if I made myself think seriously about it, I would have realized that the image of Jesus Christ is central to the development of cinema, appearing in early silent and current projects. But it took Phil Hall’s new book, Jesus Christ Movie Star (Bear Manor Media), to make me think about it, with the result of learning a great deal more.

There are as many interpretations of Jesus in cinema as there are across the various Christian doctrines. Some films present Jesus as a spiritual conscience, some regard him as epic symbolism, others will depict him as accessible and human, and finally there are those who attempt to challenge his existence or explore the mythological trajectory of his life story. Phil Hall has investigated all of these, resulting in the definitive book on Jesus in cinema.

Naturally I was familiar with the DeMille epics and the Scorsese and Mel Gibson contemporary interpretations before I opened the book. But I was utterly fascinated by the fact that Jesus was depicted in cinema as early as the 19th century. Hall indicates that the earliest known films featuring Jesus were two 1897 productions, both of which are unfortunately lost. It is also frustrating that the early Lubin film The Passion Play (1898) and the George Méliès film Christ Walking on Water (1899) are also sadly lost. Perhaps it was Hall’s discussion of the Australian movie Soldiers of the Cross (1900) that I found most interesting from this period – thirteen 90-second stories of Jesus’ ministry filmed in 1899 combined into one production the following year.

As the silent era continues, I was surprised that Caligari filmmaker Robert Wiene did a film that Hall describes as “more profaned than sacred due to an emotionally frigid Expressionist presentation that is at odds with the spiritual and intellectual complexity of its holy inspiration.”

I was aware that during the early sound era there were some countries that banned the image of Jesus on film, and was fascinated by Hall’s detailed account of Maurice Elvey’s The Wandering Jew starring Conrad Veidt.

Of course the book certainly covers the well noted King of Kings, Ben Hur, and Ten Commandments in both their silent and sound versions, but it is the bypaths down which the author takes us that I found more interesting, and also believe gave me a greater appreciation of the more notable epics.

We are taken through the many varied interpretations all the way to the 21st century, when Jesus is effectively played by a black man (notably the 2006 movie Son of Man), and digital productions found on YouTube and social media.

When an author can take a single subject and explore it with so much richness in detail, it is an especially impressive endeavor. Phil Hall’s book Jesus Christ Movie Star is most highly recommended. It is available here: JESUS.