The "Other" Jesus Movie

That wasn't shown in our area Kiffin. I'd love to see it or own it.

Diane

 

Kiffin, I had been told by one person who saw it that it wasn't very good overall, but it wasn't bad, either. I'll probably rent it if it comes to my local rental place. But I don't "seek out" movies of a bible-themed nature any more than I avoid them. There have been a few "stinkers", namely, the recent "Miracle Worker" claymation (which stunk only a little), and the live action "Noah's Ark" which stunk big time, imo. The recent "Jesus" film on CBS was pretty good, though, but lacked some of the "periodness" of 2000 years ago. Perhaps that was their intent.

TBN also has a depiction of the life of Jesus on VHS/DVD, but the acting is more akin to a college production than a proffessional one. They use excerpts from it as "ads" on TBN frequently.

 

Here's a link anyone wants to order it:
http://www.gospelofjohnthefilm.com

Kim

 

The Gospel of John was in our area for a long time. One of the local multiplex theaters was showing it and it drew good crowds. We went to it and I was impressed. It is long, 3 hours, but I lost track of time while I was watching it.

Jesus was not a wimp in this one, and he showed a good sense of humor at times. I give it two thumbs up!

 

i wonder why The Gospel of John got passed over, why there were no rave reviews fr the Pope, Billy Graham, Rick Warren, or Dobson? why didn't they get everyone to rush out to watch it? why didn't they fork over thousands of dollar$ in sponsored tickets?

was it too, er, biblical?

is it not as it was?

was it not violent or gory enuff?

perhaps not Romish enuff? or the crew didn't eat Jesus' transubstantiated flesh n blood every morning during the filming?

was it merely written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the SOn of God, n that believing we might have life thru his name?

why?

 

FSiH, yes, prob it wuz 2 biblically accurate, not enuff Special Effects, not slick enuff, no famous talent behind it, no Free screenings to all the "great" evangelical Higher Ups, not enuff door hangers, not enuff "good music", etc.

To satisfy the curiosity of many, I guess, maybe few, anyway...

My fave spiritual movies are:

>Late One Night (Dave Christiano films)
>Gospel According to Matthew (Pier Paolo Passolini)...not sure, saw it 15 years ago.
>Jesus of Nazareth (the long catholic classic)
>Paul the Emissary
>Luther (the new one that bombed recently)
>Fly Wheel (christianfilms.com)
>Saint Augustine
>Teresa of Avila (old black & white w/subtitles)
> John on Patmos (John Dean{?} long monologue film) or "John in Exile" ? mostly quotes from St. John of Gospel of John and Revelation.

 

Apparently, one can only speculate why.

My guess is that not many people even know about it. Hard to promote and buy tickets for a movie you didn't know existed.

 

There was a movie out last year about if Jesus were here today and how a town changed because of it. I think it was named Joshua. It didn't show around here and I did see it advertised on Lifeway back then but it was pretty expensive for VHS.

Anybody see that one?

Diane

 

Sounds great. We have a half catholic half protestant center that lets public check out up to 6 video films at a time for FREE. They have tons of movies. Thanks. I'll see if they have that. Good info Diane.

 

If you find it, would you let us know the actual name?

Thanks!
Diane

 

http://www.joshuathemovie.com/


© COPYRIGHT EPIPHANY FILMS
(Director: John Purdy, 90 min)

Joshua (Tony Goldwyn) comes to a small town as a stranger and sets up a woodcarving shop in an old barn. He starts rebuilding the Baptist church that was destroyed in a storm and people come out to help - in doing so they become a community. This disturbs one of the local Catholic priests, the jealous and suspicious Father Tardone (F. Murray Abraham). Joshua performs small miracles and a flock gathers around him. He seems to be everywhere at once, touching the lives of Theo (Eddie "Bo" Smith) the stutterer, the widow Maggie (Stacy Edwards), his landlord (Colleen Camp), a troubled youth Kevin (Matt Zeigler), and the fishing priest Father Pat (Kurt Fuller). Then a really big miracle occurs that even Father Tardone can't ignore. Joshua is invited to Rome to visit the Pope (Giancarlo Giannini) and revels his great secret.

If you've read the "Joshua" books, then the big secret won't be a surprise - if not, we won't give it away. It's enough to say that it comes out of left field in the movie.

Joshua starts out doing little things, mending wooden statues that are broken, turning broken glass into fine art, so you get used to the idea that he's a miracle man. Then he begins to fix the people of the town, and by then the audience is ready to go down that road. Tony Goldwyn is such a gentle soul, soft-spoken with caring eyes; he fits this part very well.

Maggie represents the next to the last temptation of Christ - but she reaches out with such genuine need for compassion that we're as disappointed as she is when Joshua tells her she's going to love again, just not with him.

There are a couple of times when you know your emotions are being manipulated, most of the time you don't mind. This is an interesting story that pulls a huge turnaround at the very end that detracts a little from the movie. Not that I have a problem with what the big surprise is, just that it doesn't fit with the story to have this wrench thrown in a minute before the credits roll. I think it would have been better storytelling if we had known sooner or not at all.

http://www.themoviechicks.com/apr2002/mcrjoshua.html

 

The Visual Bible: Matthew is also an excellent watch. It uses ONLY the text from the KJV Matthew as the dialogue and goes through 99 different scenes.

 

KJV? maybe they need to subtitle it, too!


anyways, it's sad to see biblically authentic movies passed over for the sensational--NOT by the secular media but by those that call themselves Christian.

 

It uses the NIV Brother just as the Acts does.

BTW, I have a copy of the Gospel according to John. It is done in the Gods News Translation. It is not subtitled with Chapter and verse as the two aforementioned movies are.

Maranatha,
Rodney

 

Yep, I have it on DVD. I also have Spielberg's "The Prince of Egypt" and DeMille's "The Ten Commendments". I watch these at least once a year each. Funny, though, how those who pick apart Mel's "Passion" for his use of dramatic icense seem to leave these flicks alone.

 

Diane, I saw Joshua. It was ok, nothing spectacular, but worth watching as a family movie or something if you have a night free.

Vaspers, when I went I didn't see anyone eating or drinking anything during the movie. And after the movie it was just a stunned silence. Total silence in the theater, you just couldn't talk, and could hardly move. The only sound was an occasional sob. when I finally could get up to leave, I noticed a couple dozen people sitting in their seats crying.

 

crying and silence due to reverence, I sincerely hope, not just due to visual violence assault.

Thanks for replying JDT, see my poll on this.