My book is out!

My book finally arrived, 15 years after I first had the dream of writing it. I'm mega pushed for time today, but it's all very exciting. You can find out more my looking at my other posts here or my going to the Bloomsbury website.

It's available in lots of the usual places including Amazon (UK/US) where it's been sitting near the top of their Historical Films Books Bestsellers list (in the UK).

My Book is Available for Pre-order

The official UK/US publication date for my book, "100 Bible Films", is this week – 19th May – but I understand it may be a while before it appears in bricks and mortar stores. 

However, just this week it's become available for pre-order from the BFI shop online. In some ways this is a relatively small step as various online retailers have been taking pre-orders for a while, but it also feels significant to me that it's in a curated bookshop by a respected name (even if thay are also, sort of, the publishers). Plus for the part of me that is still struggling to believe this is all actually happening, this feels like another firm indicator that everything is going to be OK. 

Secondly, the publication date for getting a UK/US ebook versions is also this Thursday.  However, you can already view the book's text electronically via Bloomsbury Collections. This is probably something that of more relevance to those who already have access, perhaps via an academic institution, particularly if you are wondering whether it would be a good option for your Jesus films or Cinema and the Bible type courses. It doesn't really capture the essence of the book however and certainly not the fantastic work done by Tom Cabot, Sophie Contento and Louise Dugdale on the visual design, display and range of images.

Lastly, if you are in Australia / New Zealand unfortunately you are going to have to wait until the 14th July, but you can still pre-order.

Here are some links:

BFI Shop
Bloomsbury (Cheapest) UK | USA | Can | Aus/NZ)
Bloomsbury Collections (ebook access)
Amazon (UK | USA | Can | Aus/NZ | JP | IT)
Blackwells (UK)
Walmart (US)
Waterstones (UK)
WHSmiths (UK)

Of course other retailers are available and if you want to buy it from your local shop, you probably can, you will just have to go in to order it first. Despite my desire to sell this in local, bricks and mortar bookshops, it's just not that much of a popular title – it's peaked at 67,000 on the Amazon list. Most physical bookshops don't house that many books, sadly.

BBC Radio 4's 'Sunday' Interview Me

I've really enjoyed working on the publicity for my book "100 Bible Films", but this will definitely be one of the highlights. Yesterday I had a short spot on BBC Radio 4's "Sunday" programme. They wanted me to talk about 3 films in particular so I went for Pasolini's Il vangelo secondo Matteo (pictured, 1964), La Genese (Cheick Oumar Sissoko, 1998) and Darren Aronofsky's Noah (2014) as I feel these give a reasonable impression about the book itself.

You can catch the interview from the 7:45 mark here.

Special thanks to the shows producer Olive Clancy for coaxing some good answers out of me and putting together the music etc. that really make the piece work so well. Thanks also to Mollie Broad and her colleagues at Bloomsbury for their work on bringing this piece together as well.

Which is the Best Book About Jesus Films / Bible Movies?

There are so many books that discuss Jesus movies or cinema and the Bible, that it's hard to decide which is the best. I have over 30 books on those subjects specifically and many many more where Bible films form a substantial part of the publication. There is a bewildering choice for those looking to buy one. Which will work best for you?

Full disclosure though, I'm biased, because I've written my own book on the subject: 100 Bible Films.

Yet, that doesn't disqualify me as much as some might think. Reading and regularly using so many of these books has given me a lot of time to really figure out what goes in to making a really good book on the subject and then finding a publisher that was able to fulfil that vision. I channelled all I've learnt from 20 years pouring over those 60+ books (and many, many more!) into writing "100 Bible Films". I looked at what made these books good or bad: how interesting, accessible, useful, academic, credible or helpful were they.

So instead of pretending to be objective on this question I'm going to explain some of the things I focused on when trying to write what I thought would make the best book I could produce on the subject of the Bible on Film.

Affordable
Many of the books in this field are, sadly, very expensive, even in 2nd hand or electronic format. This isn't a criticism. It's a niche area so Academic publishers often have to charge high prices to recoup their costs. Nevertheless, where there's a book in this field that I don't have, it's nearly always due to its price. 

Well researched
I've been researching and writing about Cinema and the Bible for over 20 years now and writing this book for about 15 of them. As a film critic I've sought to write about each film in its own context, typically looking at other relevant works by the director, but I've also run various kinds of teaching on the Bible over the years as well.

Peer Reviewed
The hallmark of quality for any book these days is peer review - a process whereby an independent expert in the field examines the book to see whether is it well-researched, coherent, etc. While this book is produced by the BFI a lot of the production has been done by Bloomsbury Academic who have given it a thorough peer review. And the finished product is far stronger as a result of the the changes that were suggested at this stage. I'm really grateful for the academics who gave their detailed analysis and helped me make the book even better.

Accessible
While "100 Bible Films" passes the test for academic rigour, I've also sought to make it accessible for those outside of universities. The 100 films format makes it easy to dip into, and just read about a specific film. Because film lovers and Bible fans are rarely experts in both fields I've tried not to assume too much, or resort to too many technical terms or acronyms.

While I'm talking about accessibility, I should also mention that the book is also available electronically, which means it should be compatible with assistive technology like screen readers or refreshable braille displays. There isn't an audio-book version, yet... but if this is a genuine accessibility requirement for you, please contact me (email, Twitter) and I'll see what can be done.

Student-friendly

"100 Bible Films" is particularly good for students for two reasons. Firstly, because the price works for those on limited budgets – I've been there trying to stretch a limited budget to pay for text books. Secondly though, because word limits are so tight, I really had to boil down the content to the good stuff. It was a painstaking process, going through sentence by sentence trying to make the contents as lean as possible. A positive consequence of this, though, is that if you're a student trying to include quotes in essays or exams you can do that without blowing your word count or giving yourself too many words to recall in an exam.

World Focus
The Bible's influence is so widespread that it has permeated into cultures worldwide. As a result there are Bible films from across the world. I've really sought to bring out the international nature of the subject and move the focus from 'Hollywood'. There are films by filmmakers from 6 continents. Hollywood still accounts for roughly half the films, but over 20 countries are represented.

Full History 
Too many film books these days focus too greatly on recent film history and short-change the silent era. While many of the other books in this field do give the silent era decent consideration, 19 of the 100 films are from that first thirty years of cinema history. There's a slight bias to newer films but I've sought to stress the obvious importance of that first quarter of film history. Moreover, I cover each of the 14 decades from the birth of cinema to today.

Beautiful
The BFI were my first choice of publisher, in part because they have such a strong track record of creating books that are beautiful as well as from top authors in their fields, but also because they have an archive of photos which we've been able to draw on. And the team that helped me pick out an image for each film, and that designed and laid-out the book have done an amazing job. I'm very fortunate to have worked with them.

Expertise in both Film and the Bible
Over the last 20 years I've been paid both to work in & speak to churches and to write as a film critic. I'm not a film scholar who dabbles in the Bible, or a theologian who appreciates film, I have knowledge and expertise in both.

BFI published
It really is an honour to write for the British Film Institute. For decades they have encouraged a deeper understanding and fuelled readers’ passion for film with their books. They're a highly respected institution, and their good reputation across the UK cinema scene is well deserved. Hopefully that offers some reassurance!

===
So there it is. Yes, this is a pitch, but I really hope you can catch the heart of what I've tried to do with "100 Bible Films". 

If you're interested you can already order a copy.

If not, that's fine!
There are a lot of other great books on the subject. This post is not to denigrate them – I've learnt loads from reading them and would recommend most of those in the above picture barring one or two.

Cover Art For My Book

As I mentioned back in January, I have a book due out next year - "100 Bible Films" which I'll be mentioning more of as the publication date draws in. For now, though, I'm delighted to share with you the cover art.

The book is part of the BFI's "Screen Guides" series so much of the look is determined by that, but I recently got hold of a hard copy of Barry Keith Grant's "100 Science Fiction Films" and it made me very excited it's so beautifully designed. The book is roughly 20cm sq. and has lots of nice pictures in as well as the discussion about each film. I'm pleased with the use of Aronofsky's Noah (20140, it's both one of th emore thoughtful Bile films in recent years and one of those I've enjoyed the most.

Anyway, apologies there's not been much content from me recently but I'm working on the finishing touches. Normal service will resume shortly...

An Anouncement

 

Apologies to regular readers that it has been so quiet around here of late, but I have been writing my first book. 

"100 Bible Films" is to be published by the British Film Institute as part of their screen guides series. It's a project I've been dreaming about for 12 years since I came across the series in the BFI's bookshop in London. 

The text is being peer reviewed at the moment and in the meantime we've been looking at cover designs and so on. While the text is written there's still a lot that needs to happen to make that text into a book. We're currently looking at a publication date of February 2022. 

 I'll be posting more information about the book here and on my Twitter feed as the publication date draws closer. Until then thank you, as ever, for all the support.

Where to See the 100 Bible Films

If you're reading this you've probably found the URL from my book "100 Bible Films", if so, thanks for reading!

While it was a point of the book to focus on films that still exist in some form some are difficult to track down, there are even one or two in archives which I'm hoping to do something about in the future. For now though this is where you can see the films. If you find any where the links have gone dead, or you know a better /alternate source, please let me know.

If you've found this some other way, you can view a sample or buy my book here.

1. La vie et la passion de Jésus-Christ (1898)
(Louis Lumière, Georges Hatot, IMDb)
Freely available via the US Library of Congress..
Link
Alt text.
Link

2. Martyrs Chrétiens (1905)
(Lucien Nonguet, IMDb)
One of the films featured on the BFI's "Fairy Tales: Early Colour Stencil films from Pathé" DVD.
Link

3. La vie du Christ (1906)
(Alice Guy, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link
Also on DVD.
Link

4. Vie et Passion de N.S Jésus-Christ (1907)
(Ferdinand Zecca, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link
Also on DVD.
Link

5. Jephtah's Daughter: A Biblical Tragedy (1909)
(Stuart Blackton, IMDb)
Not currently available, but email me if interested as a kickstarter campaign may be starting in the future

6. L'exode (1910)
(Louis Feuillade, IMDb)
Not currently available, but email me if interested as a kickstarter campaign may be starting in the future

7. Jaël et Sisera (1911)
(Henri Andréani, IMDb)
Can be viewed in the BFI's Reuben library.
Link
A kickstarter campaign may be starting in the future.
Link

8. From the Manger to the Cross; or, Jesus of Nazareth (1912)
(Sidney Olcott, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link
Also on DVD.
Link

9. Judith of Bethulia (1914)
(D.W. Griffith, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link
Alternate version on YouTube.
Link

10. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
(D.W. Griffith, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link
Also on DVD.
Link

11. Blade af Satans bog (1920)
(Carl Theodor Dreyer, IMDb)
DVD.
Link
Also at Daily Motion.
Link

12. La Sacra Bibbia (1920)
(Pier Antonio Gariazzo, Armando Vey, IMDb)
DVD

13. Der Galiläer (1921)
(Dimitri Buchowetzki, IMDb)
Available free via Internet Archive.
Link

14. Salomé (1922)
(Charles Bryant, Alla Nazimova, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube

15. Sodom und Gomorrha (1922)
(Michael Curtiz, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube
Also on DVD.
Link

16. The Ten Commandments (1923)
(Cecil B. DeMille, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube
Also on DVD.
Link

17. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
(Charles Brabin, Christy Cabanne, Rex Ingram, Fred Niblo, J.J. Cohn, IMDb)
Included in this DVD box set.
Link
Can stream via Amazon & Apple.
Link

18. The King of Kings (1927)
(Cecil B. DeMille, IMDb)
Lobster Bluray/DVD
Also on YouTube.
Link

19. Noah's Ark (1928)
(Darryl F. Zanuck, Michael Curtiz, IMDb)
US DVD

20. Lot in Sodom (1933)
(Melville Webber, James Sibley Watson, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube

21. Golgotha (1935)
(Julien Duvivier, IMDb)
Available free via Internet Archive.
Link

22. The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)
(Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper, IMDb)
DVD

23. The Green Pastures (1936)
(Marc Connelly, William Keighley, IMDb)
DVD
Also at Vimeo.
Link

24. Jesús de Nazareth (1942)
(José Díaz Morales, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link

25. Samson and Delilah (1949)
(Cecil B. DeMille, IMDb)
Bluray

26. David and Bathsheba (1951)
(Henry King, IMDb)
DVD

27. Quo Vadis (1951)
(Mervyn LeRoy, Anthony Mann, IMDb)
Bluray

28. The Robe (1953)
(Henry Koster, IMDb)
Bluray
Rent on YouTube.
Link

29. Sins of Jezebel (1953)
(Reginald Le Borg, IMDb)
DVD

30. The Prodigal (1955)
(Richard Thorpe, IMDb)
DVD

31. The Ten Commandments (1956)
(Cecil B. DeMille, IMDb)
Bluray

32. The Star of Bethlehem (1956)
(Lotte Reiniger, Vivian Milroy, Jan Sadlo, IMDb)
Extra on BFI "Adventures of Prince Achmed" Dvd
Also on Gospel Films Archive DVD.
Link

33. Celui qui doit mourir (1957)
(Jules Dassin, IMDb)
Available on YouTube (in French with Eng subtitles).
Link

34. Solomon and Sheba (1959)
(King Vidor, IMDb)
Bluray

35. Ben-Hur (1959)
(William Wyler, IMDb)
Bluray
Rent on YouTube.
Link

36. Esther and the King (1960)
(Raoul Walsh, Mario Bava, IMDb)
DVD

37. The Story of Ruth (1960)
(Henry Koster, IMDb)
DVD

38. Barabbas (1961)
(Richard Fleischer, IMDb)
DVD
Available on YouTube.
Link

39. King of Kings (1961)
(Nicholas Ray, IMDb)
Bluray
Rent on YouTube.
Link

40. Il vecchio testamento (1962)
(Gianfranco Parolini, IMDb)
DVD (German one is best)
Various versions free on YouTube (here best visuals but Italian audio).
Link

41. Il vangelo secondo Matteo (1964)
(Pier Paolo Pasolini, IMDb)
Bluray
Also free on YouTube - chose subtitled & black & white.
Link

42. The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
(George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco, IMDb)
Bluray
Free on Amazon Prime or rent on YouTube.
Link

43. I grandi condottieri (1965)
(Marcello Baldi, Francisco Pérez-Dolz, IMDb)
DVD

44. The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966)
(John Huston, IMDb)
DVD

45. Les Actes des apotres [Atti degli apostoli] (1969)
(Roberto Rossellini, IMDb)
Available on YouTube

46. La voie lactée (1969)
(Luis Buñuel, IMDb)
DVD

47. Son of Man (1969)
(Gareth Davies, IMDb)
Not currently available

48. Jesús, nuestro Señor (1971)
(Miguel Zacarías, IMDb)
US DVD

49. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
(Norman Jewison, IMDb)
DVD
Free on Amazon Prime.
Link

50. Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1973)
(David Greene, IMDb)
DVD

51. Moses und Aron (1975)
(Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub, IMDb)
Bluray

52. Il messia (1975)
(Roberto Rossellini, IMDb)
DVD
On YouTube (Italian w Eng subs despite video title).
Link

53. The Passover Plot (1976)
(Michael Campus, IMDb)
DVD
Currently on YouTube.
Link

54. Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
(Franco Zeffirelli, IMDb)
DVD

55. Karunamayudu (1978)
(A. Bhimsingh, Christopher Coelho, IMDb)
DVD
Free on YouTube.
Link

56. Jesus (1979)
(Peter Sykes, John Krish, IMDb)
DVD

57. Life of Brian (1979)
(Terry Jones, IMDb)
DVD
Free on YouTube.
Link

58. Camminacammina (1983)
(Ermanno Olmi, IMDb)
DVD

59. Je vous salue, Marie (1985)
(Jean-Luc Godard, IMDb)
DVD

60. King David (1985)
(Bruce Beresford, IMDb)
US DVD

61. Esther (1986)
(Amos Gitai, IMDb)
DVD

62. Samson dan Delilah (1987)
(Sisworo Gautama Putra, IMDb)
French DVD

63. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
(Martin Scorsese, IMDb)
Bluray
Rent on YouTube.
Link

64. Jésus de Montréal (1989)
(Denys Arcand, IMDb)
DVD
Free on YouTube.
Link

65. The Garden (1990)
(Derek Jarman, IMDb)
DVD

66. The Visual Bible: Matthew (1993)
(Regardt van den Bergh, IMDb)
DVD
Also on YouTube.
Link

67. Al-mohager (1994)
(Youssef Chahine, IMDb)
DVD
Streaming on Netflix.
Link

68. Jeremiah (1998)
(Harry Winer, IMDb)
DVD

69. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
(Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, IMDb)
DVD

70. The Book of Life (1998)
(Hal Hartley, IMDb)
DVD
Streaming on Vimeo.
Link

71. La genèse (1999)
(Cheick Oumar Sissoko, IMDb)
DVD

72. Jesus (1999)
(Roger Young, IMDb)
Bluray

73. The Miracle Maker (2000)
(Stanislav Sokolov, Derek W. Hayes, IMDb)
DVD
Rent on YouTube.
Link

74. The Real Old Testament (2003)
(Paul Hannum, Curtis Hannum, IMDb)
Occasional DVD on eBay
Clips on YouTube.
Link

75. The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John (2003)
(Philip Saville, IMDb)
DVD

76. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
(Mel Gibson, IMDb)
Bluray available but seems to have a problem. DVD
Free on Amazon Prime.
Link

77. Shanti Sandesham (2004)
(P. Chandrasekhar Reddy, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link

78. Color of the Cross (2006)
(Jean-Claude La Marre, IMDb)
DVD
Free on YouTube.
Link

79. Jezile [Son of Man] (2006)
(Mark Dornford-May, IMDb)
DVD
Free on YouTube.
Link

80. The Nativity Story (2006)
(Catherine Hardwicke, IMDb)
DVD

81. Mesih [Jesus, Spirit of God] (2007)
(Nader Talebzadeh, IMDb)
Available free on YouTube.
Link

82. The Passion (2008)
(, IMDb)
DVD

83. El cant dels ocells (2008)
(Albert Serra, IMDb)
Available on Mubi

84. Oversold (2008)
(Paul Morrell, IMDb)
Download from Amazon

85. Year One (2009)
(Harold Ramis, IMDb)
DVD

86. Io sono con te (2010)
(Guido Chiesa, IMDb)
DVD

87. Su re (2012)
(Giovanni Columbu, IMDb)
DVD

88. The Bible (2013)
(, IMDb)
Bluray

89. Noah (2014)
(Darren Aronofsky, IMDb)
Bluray

90. The Savior (2014)
(Robert Savo, IMDb)
Rent on Amazon.
Link

91. Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
(Ridley Scott, IMDb)
Bluray

92. The Red Tent (2014)
(Roger Young, IMDb)
DVD

93. Os Dez Mandamentos: O Filme (2016)
(Alexandre Avancini, IMDb)
Brazilian DVD/Bluray.
Link

94. Risen (2016)
(Kevin Reynolds, IMDb)
DVD

95. Get Some Money (2017)
(Biko Nyongesa, IMDb)
Director to make available soon

96. Mary Magdalene (2018)
(Garth Davis, IMDb)
DVD
Rent on YouTube.
Link

97. Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018)
(Andrew Hyatt, IMDb)
DVD

98. Seder-Masochism (2018)
(Nina Paley, IMDb)
Free online download via director.
Link

99. Assassin 33 A.D. (2020)
(Jim Carroll, IMDb)
Available from Amazon.
Link
Also released as Black Easter.
Link

100. Lamentations of Judas (2020)
(Boris Gerrets, IMDb)
Currently unavailable