The Passion: Religion and the Movies

A couple of my friends from the US have tipped me off that there is a documentary playing on the History Channel called The Passion: Religion and the Movies. It turns out that it's a rebranding of the Channel 4 documentary I was involved in The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury. In addition to my main review of that documentary I posted a few other items about the film prior to its initial broadcast here, here and here (before I had seen it).

There's a review of the US version of the film at Catholic Online. I understand it played twice on the 17th December, and is due to play again on the 2nd January (although I'm not entirely confident that that is still the case). Does anyone know who presented this documentary in the US version as these things often change as they cross the Atlantic? Over here it was presented by Birmingham University's Dr Robert Beckford.

A warm welcome to anyone who has found me through this programme.

Edit: The entire film can now be seen on YouTube

"The Passion: Films Faith and Fury" - Comments

I've been away over Easter, and so haven't had the opportunity to discuss the Channel 4 documentary on Bible Films The Passion: Films Faith and Fury, which I mentioned previously here, here and here before it was broadcast (and before I had seen it).

The marketing for the film (including quite an interesting TV ad) suggested that the film would primarily be concerned with the relationship between film-makers and the church over the last 100 years and this was certainly the main thrust of the documentary. After a brief introduction, presenter Robert Beckford took us back to the start of the film industry and charted the relationship between these two bodies across the last century.

One of the biggest strengths of the film was how it skilfully wove together an overview of the history of the main biblical films with the confrontation that accompanied them to give the programme a strong narrative arc which was far more engaging than that of other similar documentaries such as The Bible According to Hollywood which plod far more formulaically from epic to epic, without having much fresh information to impart.

Another of the strengths of the documentary was the impressive range of interviewees. The marketing had focussed on just four of them: Martin Scorsese, Willem Dafoe, Terry Gilliam and Robert Powell. In fact though there were somewhere in the region of 30 interviewees, from 4 main camps, directors, actors, film critics and Christians. Obviously there is a good deal of overlap here, but from memory the list included the following:

Directors
Martin Scorsese
Terry Gilliam
Franco Zefferelli
Norman Jewison
George Stevens' Son

Actors
Willem Dafoe
Robert Powell
Brian Deacon
Enrique Irazaquoi
Brian Blessed
Larry Marshall (Simon Zealotes in Jesus Christ Superstar)

Film Critics
Mark Kermode
Rich Cline (Radio 5)
Kenneth Turan (LA Times)
Peter Malone (author "Movie Christs and Anti-Christs")
W. Barnes Tatum (author "Jesus at the Movies")
...Plus at least a couple of others from US dailies...and me

Church Representatives
Ted Baehr (Movie Guide)
Bob Waliszewski (Focus on the Family)
...plus a number of others from newer and more traditional churches

There are quite a few I've not been able to recall, and won't be able to dig out exacat numbers and all names until I get the chance to watch this again. However, the interview snippets certainly added to the structure of the film, and many of the comment were insightful and helped develop the narrative, rather than simply having a handful of celebs repeating the same inane comments in order to make the show more appealing, as is often the case with programmes like this.

Another strength of the documentary was Robert Beckford whose presence alone gives the film theological credibility and cultural relevance at the same time, and is an ideal choice for a film seeking to weld those two aspects together. He also seemed to represent the middle ground between those Christians on the one hand that are now seeking just to do their own thing, and film industry potentially leaving bible films alone for the foreseeable future, and his pleas for Hollywood to keep making them were a particularly effective way to end the film. That said, whilst I share his concern that Hollywood might leave the bible to the Evangelicals to get on with filming, there have been a number of films commissioned since then, and I suspect that The Passion of the Christ will have made Hollywood realise that their is money to be made here again. The real plea needs to be to film-makers who are primarily making films for the sake of art, rather than profit. It was also a shame that Christian film critics seeking to take a more dialogical approach with the cinema (such as the Faith and Film Critics' Circle) didn't really feature in the discussion towards the end of the programme.

There were a few surprises as well. I for one, was amazed to hear about an Indian Jesus film called Dayasagar which was unknown to me previously (picture right). It fulfils a similar role in India to that of the Jesus film, although from the brief few snippets we were shown it was obvious that it is much more relevant to Indian culture than Jesus. If anyone has seen, or knows where I can hold of a copy I'd be very pleased to find out.

Finally, I should comment on my parts. There were two brief shots of me - a sound-bite on Intolerance (1916) and another on The Ten Commandments (1956). I was greatly relieved not to have mumbled, been heretical, ugly, excluded at the last minute, said something foolish or quoted out of context, and fairly pleased at what I said. I was surprised at the bits they used though. I didn't remember saying much about Intolerance and thought that they would have plenty of other material for The Ten Commandments. I also recognised part of the script as being similar to an article I wrote back in 2004. Given that the publication I wrote the article for never used it, it was nice to see the work I put into it bearing fruit.

Overall then it was well worth watching, and I was very happy to have been part of it. If you live in the UK, and missed it, you'll be pleased to know there is a repeat showing at 1:40 am on Saturday Morning (22nd April).

Edit: You can now see just my excerpts from this film on YouTube.

Channel 4 Web Page for "The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury"

I've already blogged info here and here on the Channel 4 Bible Films documentary which I'm featuring on Saturday (April 15th). However, Channel 4 have finally put their own web page up for it. "The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury".

There's also a slightly sniffy review of it at the Radio Times.

More on "The Passion: Films, Faith & Fury"

I've been searching keenly for a bit more information on Saturday's Channel 4 programme The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury, which I feature in briefly (at least that's what I've been told). When I discussed it last month there was only a small amount of information available. It was also unclear whether Christopher Eccleston or Robert Beckford would be fronting the programme.

Anyway information is gradually seeping out, and although I've not seen it myself, it apparently has been advertised on TV. It seems clear now that it will be Beckford and not Ecclestone, as I suspected all along. I'm really not sure where the Eccleston association came from, and I suppose it's still possible that he might feature (although I suspect that would be included in the publicity).

The biggest slice of information available so far (away from this site) is now on Channel 4 Sales' Programming and Schedules site

With the success of films such as The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia , and the imminent release of the movie version of The Da Vinci Code , the century-old relationship between Hollywood and the church is being thrust back into the spotlight. In a special two-hour Easter documentary Dr. Robert Beckford examines the complex connections between the two very different worlds and interviews some of the key players who have found themselves at the centre of controversy, including Martin Scorsese, Willem Dafoe, Terry Gilliam and Robert Powell. The documentary charts the rise of cinema and its uneasy relationship with the church, from the early filmed passion plays of the 1890s to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia , via The Ten Commandments and The Exorcist , and by way of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Life of Brian .

It is a complex courtship that has moved from control through animosity to a new realisation by studios that there is a huge, and previously untapped, audience to be catered for. The film also includes interviews with leading theologians and Christian figures and asks who really controls the imagery of the bible: the church or the entertainment industry? Prod/ Dir: Rory Wheeler; Exec Prods: Danny Fenton, Jes Wilkins; Prod Co: Zig Zag

Sadly the programme is up against the latest instalment of Doctor Who?, which also won't be starring Eccleston, and starts quarter of an hour later at 7:15. That said, I suspect my bit will probably be towards the start, so you never know your luck!

One thing I am glad about though is that the interviews were recorded months ago, rather than this week. I'm currently sporting 8 stitches in a gash across my forehead from a rugby match on Saturday.

The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury, will be airing from 7 to 9pm on 15th April on Channel 4.

The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury

This Easter, I'm due to be appearing as one of the interviewees on Channel 4's Bible films programme The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury. It's hosted by Dr. Robert Beckford (pictured right), who I met at this summer's Greenbelt Festival. The programme is showing on Easter Eve (15th April 2006) between 7pm and 9pm.

Information about it has just gone up at Channel 4's website, although you have to scroll down quite a bit to get the information on the film, so here's what it says:

The Passion will document how Hollywood and the television industry have dealt with the thorniest of subject matter: the Bible. Taking each decade in turn, the film explores the changing dynamic between the church, and the film and television industries. From the passion plays of the silent era to the blood and suffering of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and onto the supernatural world of Revelations. With interviews from the producers, directors and stars of the films as well as leading religious figures the film investigates how the political climate has often changed the portrayal of the Bible in films. The presenter lead programme (Christopher Eccleston TBC) asks what do these films and programmes tell us about our evolving views of Christianity?

I note that this says Christopher Ecclestone is involved as well / instead. I got an email from Dr. Beckford in January saying he was about to do the voiceover, so I assume he's still involved. I won't get to see it until it airs so I guess I'll have to wait until then to find out. I'm also not entirely sure how much I'll be involved. They have interviewed Martin Scorsese, Willem Dafoe, Terry Gilliam, Robert Powell, Brian Blessed, W. Barnes Tatum and Peter Malone, so I don't imagine I'll get much of a look in, but they have told me that I am in it, so who knows. I also don't know what I'll be saying. They interviewed me for about an hour, but I imagine they'll only use 10 seconds worth, so goodness knows what it will be.

Regardless of my personal involvement, it looks like being an interesting programme. The team that put it together were well researched, and its probably the longest broadcasted programme on this subject. I do remember catching the end of one about 10-15 years ago with Barry Norman (which was the first time I heard of Jesus of Montreal), but I believe that was only an hour. There is also a documentary called The Bible According to Hollywood available at Amazon, with very mixed reviews. I'm hoping The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury will be the pick of the bunch.

The Passion: Films, Faith and Fury, will be airing at 7pm on 15th April on Channel 4.