• 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.












    Monday, January 28, 2008

    Churches Media Council on The Passion

    (See all posts on this film)
    A couple of further points on HBO/BBC1's The Passion. Firstly, the Churches Media Council has set aside a dedicated section of their website to cover the series. So far it includes the four "principles" they are commending ("We welcome this production; This is a BBC series; This is a work of drama;" and "Let's talk about Jesus") as well as an FAQ, information on what the national church is doing, and advice for local churches.

    Two things caught my eye from the FAQ. Firstly, that the first episode will be going out in the UK on Palm Sunday (16th March 2008). I think I had expected the Monday for some reason, but Palm Sunday makes a good deal more sense. Secondly, that Peter will be played by Darren Morfitt who played Jesus in 2006's Manchester Passion.

    The other piece of news I have is that the official première is taking place on the 28th February in London. More details on that to follow.

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    2 Comments:

    • At 6:29 am, January 29, 2008, Blogger Steven Carr said…

      Why are there never any programmes made about the Ascension?

      Has the Ascension ever been depicted in a TV programme or in a film?

       
    • At 7:19 am, January 29, 2008, Blogger Matt Page said…

      Hi Stephen,

      Thanks for your questions. I guess there are a couple of reasons why a programme has never been made solely about the ascension. Firstly, it's only a very short passage, which actually only features in one of the four gospels (Luke 24:50-53), it would be quite difficult to draw that out into a full programme even if you incorporate the text from Matt 28:16-20 (which doesn't mention an ascension but seems to function in a similar manner).

      The other reason, I guess is that it's quite hard to depict. Filmmakers have given it a try over the years. In answer to your second question lots of films have covered it. Notable examples include Life and Passion of Jesus Christ, Greatest Story Ever Told, Dayasagar, Jesus and one or two more. I may pick this up and do a feature on it sometime.

      The thing is though that whilst it's possible to do the ascension as the epilogue to a film, where people are less picky with questions and so on, it would be harder to visualise if that was the main focus of a film. Questions such as "where exactly is Jesus's body now" become more pressing if this is the whole purpose to the story rather than its end.

      I've not explained what I mean there, but hopefully you get the idea.

      Matt

       

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