23^rd May 2014

Son of God (2014, M) - Film released 22 May 2014 in Australia
Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett brought the epic miniseries The Bible to life last year and created a significant amount of media and general public interest in the bible. I have no doubt that many readers viewed all of the ten episodes. Following on from the miniseries is a feature film about the life of Jesus which uses material from the mini-series as well as some scenes not featured. While the publicity refers to this as the first film about the entire life of Jesus since The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), I think the 1979 Jesus film could reasonably be referenced. Jesus is the 1979 docudrama that is available in many languages and has been widely used as an outreach tool. There are some similarities in the approach and the desire for outreach, though I see the Son of God as being a more visually contemporary film, utilising the digital age's stunning film capabilities.
Mark Burnett was always going to prepare a film focussing on Jesus as the material was there for a separate feature. The film could also be fashioned in a more contemporary film style, and Burnett has pointed to it partly as political thriller, and the elements of intrigue and the politics of the day certainly stand out. It is good background and provides the overall context to enable a secular audience to understand that Jesus will die, and given the level of knowledge today, perhaps to be genuinely surprised that he appears after death - raised!
Originally the film was to be about 3 hours, but the final version is 2 hours and 15 minutes. Many secular critics have commented it is a bit ponderous or laborious, and I can understand that they say it is one for the faithful. I think to capture the full attention of many (and younger) secular people today one would need to edit down to the standard 90 minutes, but personally I found many of the well-known stories moving and well-done. Some were wonderfully illustrative of the amazing answers that Jesus provided, especially to the Pharisees. 

Intriguingly at times I caught myself thinking that the portrayal of Jesus by Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado was so genuine that he captured the spirit of the person, but then (and as he has intimidated) who can really portray Jesus? When I reflected, I realised it was his words that are of course so stunning (and yes they are handled with grace and care) and they are (mostly) the words from the Bible. There is some historical ‘development' but the aim; like in The Bible mini-series is to be faithful to, and affirming of, an orthodox understanding of Jesus Christ.
There are extensive resources to use to promote or study the film. I believe it would be helpful for churches to show the trailer on a Sunday, and also encourage people to see and take people to see ‘at the movies' as this visual picture is meant for the big screen.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: click here
RESOURCES:  Click here