{"id":31078,"date":"2016-02-19T22:14:02","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T05:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=31078"},"modified":"2016-02-19T22:17:22","modified_gmt":"2016-02-20T05:17:22","slug":"risen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/risen.html","title":{"rendered":"“Risen”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tintoretto's<\/a>
Magdalena Penitente
Domenico Tintoretto (ca. 1600)
Wikimedia CC; click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My wife is still in Hawaii \u2014 I\u2019ve been seamlessly\u00a0replaced there by a neighbor and by her sister \u2014 and I\u2019ve spent the whole day back here in the real world creating two midterm examinations with which to torment and afflict my students. \u00a0So I decided that I needed to go out for a burger at Five Guys and then to step across the way for a movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just returned from seeing the new film\u00a0Risen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those familiar with the story of Christ\u2019s death and resurrection (just about everybody here, I expect) will instantly recognize\u00a0that Risen<\/em> has changed things around a bit \u2014 notably the introduction of a wholly fictional Roman tribune, the movie\u2019s jaded and troubled protagonist \u2014 and there are undoubtedly reasons to criticize it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some will find Joseph Fiennes\u2019s Clavius too grimly expressionless \u2014 especially toward the end, where his failure to join the witnessing of the Eleven (he would have been fully qualified to replace Judas!) was more than a bit puzzling, in my judgment. \u00a0I myself thought the apostles (Bartholomew, in particular) a bit too giddy; but then, they\u2019ve just been given the best news that any human could ever have received, so perhaps they should be pardoned. \u00a0Moreover, I wish the scriptwriters hadn\u2019t chosen to reinforce the image of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute \u2014 apparently still practicing that trade right up until almost the time of Christ\u2019s crucifixion, no less \u2014 an image that\u00a0is based on legends that apparently go back no earlier than the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, candidly, everybody<\/em> will find something jarring, not how they pictured it, in a movie\u2019s retelling of so important and famous a narrative. \u00a0That\u2019s probably unavoidable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I thought the film offered a very fresh take on this very old, very well-known story, and plenty of things to discuss. \u00a0I liked the portrayal of the apostles as astonished by the Resurrection and not yet even remotely sure of what it was they were supposed to do. \u00a0I liked Cliff Curtis\u2019s Mediterranean-looking \u2014 non-blond, non-Swedish! \u2014 Yeshua. \u00a0I also liked the way the film avoided glamorizing first-century\u00a0Palestine: \u00a0Things looked small, on the whole, and rocky and dirty and fairly simple, and the Romans came across as a relatively human occupation\u00a0force, not (as they often do) as either ancient Mediterranean Nazis or as regimented and robotic imperial storm troopers. \u00a0(I\u2019m not claiming that the geography was portrayed altogether accurately. \u00a0Those who know Israel at all well will see the inaccuracies: \u00a0The filming was apparently done in Spain and Malta, and it was quite clearly not<\/em> done on the real Sea of Galilee. \u00a0And Caesarea Maritima? \u00a0Well, I go there at least once a year, and the Caesarea where the movie\u2019s Pontius Pilate nervously awaits\u00a0the historically fictional visit of Tiberius Caesar shortly after the Resurrection looks absolutely nothing like the gorgeous beach-resort-quality real place.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, I liked the film, and I recommend it to others. \u00a0When my wife returns from Hawaii, I plan to take her. \u00a0It will be fun to talk\u00a0it over with her.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a fairly mixed review:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.avclub.com\/review\/risen-imagines-gospel-roman-cop-movie-232372<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quite positive one.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/2016\/02\/18\/its-miracle-hollywood-finally-tells-great-bible-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I probably come down somewhere between the two reviews, perhaps a bit closer to the second than the first.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy to see a real Hollywood film that takes a religious\/biblical story seriously. \u00a0May those execrable 2014 abominations, Noah<\/em> and Exodus: Gods and Kings<\/em>, never be repeated.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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