8 April 2014

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

HOLY WEEK CYCLE

The Passion of Christ in film

D. Pablo Pérez López.
University of Navarra

Introduction
The biblical topic narrative has been one of the earliest and most frequented narratives in cinema. There was an important reason for resorting to biblical stories as topic for cinematic storytelling - it was a massively shared element, which facilitated understanding of the narrative and tapped into a shared interest. After all, a basic human desire is to see history as if one had been there, and that is one of the virtualities of cinema.

In our exhibition a survey of the productions that have dealt with topic was carried out according to the following outline:

The first films (1897-1912)
From the Lumiére's Life and Passion of Jesus Christ to 1915 and the turn of the big feature films.

The American turn, Griffith, DeMille, 1916-1926
Spectacle film productions and their effect on the telling of the story of Jesus Christ.
 

Still from Intolerance, D.W. Griffith, 1916
 

Sound: Gospel dialogues
They incorporate dialogues that had been the cradle of the theatre in the Middle Ages average.

Hispanic initiatives
Mexican and Spanish productions, specific features and most notable productions.

Spectacle cinema
The changes of cinemascope in the 1950s: The Holy Robe, Ben Hur, etc.

The beginning of the interpretations
From King of Kings to Pas olini's The Passion, a whole range of films opened up that no longer sought to recreate history or take it as an occasion to link it to other stories, but to interpret it.

The 1970s, transgressions and other contradictions
The legacy of '68 in cinema could be summed up as a vision that considers itself liberating, and which constitutes a repression of history. It was the occasion for an attempt at Christianity without supernatural faith.

The turn of the century, again looking at Jesus and especially at the Passion
From The Man Who Worked Miracles to Mel Gibson's The Passion, a new look at the life of Jesus Christ.
 

Still from The Passion of the Christ, M. Gibson, 2004

Conclusions
They can be summed up by stating that the cinema is an exceptional medium for the portrayal of a figure who is always interesting, the most interesting in history, and at the same time always controversial. The different visions offered are therefore a good indication of the characteristics of the moment of production.