• 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.

    Home               

    About Me


    Name:
    Matt Page

    Location:
    U.K.

    Labels (Titles)

    My books/TV work












    Free Downloads

    Relevant Links

    Thursday, October 11, 2007

    Article on Jesus Films and The Redeemer

    Brendan O'Regan dropped me a line to say hello and to let me know about his site Faith Arts. It also has a blog associated with it which I think I'll be keeping tabs on from now on. Lots of stuff about religion in popular culture, including some things I've not come across before.

    There's also an article on Jesus films which I've added to my sidebar. In it it mentions a film I'm not really familiar with - The Redeemer (1965). Here's what Roy Kinnard and Tim Davis have to say about it in "Divine Images":
    The Redeemer (Empire Pictures, 1965) was a Spanish production filmed in 1959 under the title Los Mysterios Del Rosario (The Mysteries of the Rosary). Produced by Rev. Patrick Payton, it was shot near Madrid and examined the last three days of the life of Christ (Luis Álvarez). Jesus' face is never shown on-screen, and the familiar voice of Hollywood veteran Macdonald Carey overdubbed Jesus's dialogue in the re-edited American version, which was narrated by Sebastian Cabot
    I did get another email recently asking me about this film / group of films. It seems this film was also known as El Redentor in Spain as well as several other titles listed on the IMDb. I don't know a great deal about them. The name Luis Álvarez does ring a bell, but I'm not at all sure why. It is available from Amazon on VHS as part of The Life of Christ: The Amazing Trilogy For what it's worth I suspect that the film's producer is actually Father Patrick Peyton who is best known for coining the phrase "the family that prays together, stays together".

    posted at 12:48 pm   © Matt Page 2005-2023

    6 Comments:

    • At 10:11 pm, October 11, 2007, Blogger Kevin C. Neece said…

      Matt,
      This film is part of a trilogy directed by Joseph Breen and Fernando Palacios. IMDB says Father Peyton did indeed produce the series. The other two films in the trilogy are "The Savior" ("El Salvador") and "The Master" ("El Amo" or "El Maestro").

      You can find DVDs of the films here: http://www.getfed.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=15239
      http://www.getfed.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=15238
      http://www.getfed.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=15240

      Also, there are small pictures from the film on the packaging featured on the above website. These films were also recut for use in Sunday School classes. You can find those here:
      http://search.getfed.com/search?w=life+of+christ+mysteries&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0

      These also have images from the films on the covers and are called "The Mysteries of the Rosary."

      Interestingly, these films also feature some rare work by the late film composer David Raksin. Raksin actually used to show the crucifixion clip from "El Redentor" to his class at the University of Southern California as something he was particularly proud of.

       

    • At 7:59 am, October 12, 2007, Blogger Matt Page said…

      Brilliant - thanks Kevin

      Matt

       

    • At 8:16 am, October 15, 2007, Blogger Kevin C. Neece said…

      Anytime, sir! Glad you could use the image.

       

    • At 11:11 pm, June 23, 2010, Anonymous Anonymous said…

      Hi Matt,

      First of all, I would like to thank you so much for providing the link to these films. I've searched long and hard for these. I didn't like the other versions and the newer ones that came out similar to these, simply because the depictions of each scene are in themselves not powerful enough for me. Since I was a kid (about 30 years ago), we've been watching these films on our local tv channel here in the Philippines, and recently the programs shown were quiet different already and of different versions (Robert Powell, Jim Caviezel, etc...). I missed this version from my childhood, but now since I have my copy already from GETFED (fantastic service!Highly recommended!), I will impart this film to my nephews, niece and daughter as well for them to have a solid belief and understanding of the Life of Christ.

      Thank you again. I hope a can persuade many others to watch this version instead of the other ones.

      Gary

       

    • At 8:59 am, June 24, 2010, Blogger Matt Page said…

      Thanks for that Gary. Glad to help.

      Matt

       

    • At 8:17 pm, February 15, 2016, Anonymous Anonymous said…

      Hi Matt,

      Can you please help me how to get a copy of this film? Having problem getting it from the site you have shared.

      Thank you and looking forward to your kind reply.

      Sincerely,
      Au Endaya

       

    Post a Comment

    << Home