• Bible Films Blog

    Looking at film interpretations of the stories in the Bible - past, present and future, as well as preparation for a future work on Straub/Huillet's Moses und Aron and a few bits and pieces on biblical studies.


    Name:
    Matt Page

    Location:
    U.K.












    Thursday, July 20, 2006

    30 Film Scene Guide Spreadsheet Available to Download

    Anyone who regularly finds themselves flipping through Cassettes or DVDs of various Jesus films might find this useful. I have finally posted my spreadsheet giving a side by side comparison of the episodes in 30 Jesus films. For ease of use I've also segmented this into the three main chunks in the life of Jesus (at least according to the movies) - Birth & Childhood, Ministry, and Passion Week. The lists of films included are as follows:
    La Vie du Christ (1899?) La Mort du Christ (1902?) Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1902-8) From the Manger to the Cross (1912) Son of Man (1915) Jesus of Nazareth (1916/1919) The King of Kings (1927) Golgotha (1935) Living Christ Series (1951-52) Day of Triumph (1954) King of Kings (1961) Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964) Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) Son of Man (1969) Godspell (1973) Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) Gospel Road (1973) Il Messia (1975) Jesus of Nazareth - long (1977) Jesus of Nazareth - short (1977) Dayasagar / Karunamoorthy (1978) Jesus (1979) Life of Brian (1979) Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Jesus of Montreal (1989) The Revolutionary (1999) Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999) The Miracle Maker (1999) Jesus - Mini Series (1999) Jesus Christ Superstar (2000) The Passion of the Christ (2004)
    There are a couple of notable emissions. Firstly, I've ignored the three word for word films adaptations of the gospels, The Genesis Project's version of Luke (1979), The Visual Bible's version of Matthew (1994), and their more recent Gospel of John (2003). As all three of these are word for word, I figure people can just follow them with a copy of the relevant gospel in front of them instead. I also haven't been able to include The Day Christ Died (1980) as, sadly, I have never seen it. Anyone who knows how I can get hold of it I would love to know! There are also two different guides for the two cuts of Jesus of Nazareth available at the moment. In the UK we can only get the four and a half hour version at the moment (or at least last time I looked), whereas the longer six and a half hour version is the standard version in the US (and hey, what's an extra two hours when you're that far through!) A few acknowledgements. Although this is almost entirely my own work, there are a few places where I've utilised other people's work to patch up a few holes in my records. So in one or two places I used Stern, Jefford and Debona's Savior on the Silver Screen, plus I referred to a guide Alan Thomas did for the longer cut of Jesus of Nazareth (available here), and a scene-by-scene guide that Darell Bock did for The Passion of the Christ. I've tried to use consistent names for the same incidents, although there are plenty of examples where I haven't, but hopefully that makes searching for various representations of the same event Yancey-style a bit easier (use Excel's "Find" feature). I've also included some of the key extra-biblical episodes, but not every incident, and again this is a bit inconsistent from film to film. These are marked in pale grey. In terms of printing it out I suggest you use Excel's "Hide" function to hide any columns for film's you're not interested in. Please feel free to download this guide and use it as you wish. I do however ask that if you are reproducing it you give me the appropriate credit as author, and do not use it for something you're charging for without asking me first. I've fairly laid back about such things, but it's nice to be asked.

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    10 Comments:

    • At 4:05 am, July 22, 2006, Blogger Unknown said…

      "The Day Christ Died" . . . I've been desperately looking for a copy for ages! I've seen it on TV twice when I was just a kid. Jonathan Pryce's Herod gave me the creeps -- maybe it was his eye make-up or the way he coldly portrayed the tetrarch. I also remember a scene where Chris Sarandon's Jesus and some of the disciples in loincloths playing a basketball-like game. I really thought that scene was awesome, as it portrayed a very human and very masculine Christ! I really wish to have it on DVD.

       
    • At 9:56 am, August 01, 2006, Blogger Matt Page said…

      Yeah me too, as I say, I've never seen it. Nice to have you pop in Edmund.

      Matt

       
    • At 11:11 am, January 17, 2010, Anonymous Anonymous said…

      Thank you. As an RE teacher this is VERY useful!

       
    • At 12:24 am, March 30, 2010, Anonymous Bert said…

      Hi, I've been looking for a Jesus film. I don't remember the title but some scenes only.

      The opening scene showing a lot like football/soccer being played (the ball made out of small figs) by Jesus and the Apostles except Judas who's sitting and watching. The ending scene just showing the hand of Christ being nailed to the cross.
      The hairstyle of Jesus and some Apostles are thick similar to an afro.

      I've seen this film in the late 80's, the language is in English.

       
    • At 5:58 am, March 30, 2010, Anonymous Bert said…

      Oh it is "The Day Christ Died", and its made-for-television movie.

       
    • At 10:09 am, March 30, 2010, Blogger Matt Page said…

      You beat me to it Bert. Glad you worked it out.

      Matt

       
    • At 11:39 pm, March 28, 2011, Anonymous Jake said…

      Where can i find the "Day of Triumph" film online? PLEASE RESPOND!!! I cannot find it for sale or to watch online ANYWHERE!!!

       
    • At 1:28 pm, April 05, 2011, Blogger Matt Page said…

      Hi Jake

      Sorry for the slow reply. As far as I'm aware there's no where that sells a DVD nor is it available on line.

      If you do hear anything, please let me know.

      Kind regards


      Matt

       
    • At 4:48 am, August 04, 2011, Anonymous Jamescarretev@yahoo.com said…

      hello i have a copy of the movie The day Christ died 1980. i will share with you so you can all agree with me. i personally had nightmares as a child looking at Chris Sarandons jesus and i still feel the same. that is not the face i pray to every night. this movie was so bad that Jim Bishop demanded his name be removed from the credits. the film ends with jesus being nailed to the crossbar. no resurrection. this movie is depressing and i wonder what was going thru Chris sarandons mind as he filmed this. his jesus is cynical normal human being without any form of divinit. if jesus had been that way no one would ever listen to a word he spoke more so follow him. physically he is also one of the most ugliest jesus on screen. bad hair beard nothing like the excellent Jesus of Nazareth or Passion of the Christ where the presence of Jesus comes out human yet divine and the physical apperance is the face you feel warmth and your prayers sent to. i dislike everything from the movie the day christ died. only thesets were passable as they shot in tunisia and morrocco it what was remains of JON sets and costumes. this film gives us a helpless jesus with no divinity who is riddiculed despised and defeated.

       
    • At 4:53 am, August 04, 2011, Anonymous Jamescarretev@yahoo.com said…

      as for Day of Triumph. it is an excellent 1950's production with Robert Wilson giving a very moving perfirmance as a gentle saviour. i too own this and would love to share this dvd. it comes as a 2hour film with the above titke or as a 12part 30 minutes segments titles the Living Christ series. i would love to share all this. eveymovie about Jesus i have from the silents until today

       

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