{"id":69517,"date":"2019-01-23T11:39:10","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T18:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=69517"},"modified":"2019-01-23T17:23:44","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T00:23:44","slug":"easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html","title":{"rendered":"Easter is still some distance off, but here’s an Easter-related movie suggestion."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sunset<\/a>
Sunset over the Sea of Galilee
(Wikimedia Commons photo, taken from the eastern shore near En Gev)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen<\/a>. \u00a0My wife never did \u2014 she was traveling at the time \u2014 but I would still like her to do so so that I can discuss it with her.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those who see the film and who are 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.<\/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 was happy to see a real Hollywood film that took 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":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did \u2014 she was traveling at the time \u2014 but I would still like her to do so so that I can discuss it with her. \u00a0 Those who see the film and who are familiar with the story of Christ\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1356,1363,2851,2848,873,2160,2625,1366],"class_list":["post-69517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christ","tag-easter","tag-empty-tomb","tag-fiennes","tag-film","tag-movie","tag-new-testament","tag-resurrection"],"yoast_head":"\nEaster is still some distance off, but here's an Easter-related movie suggestion.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did -- she was traveling at the time -- but I would still like her to do\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Easter is still some distance off, but here's an Easter-related movie suggestion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did -- she was traveling at the time -- but I would still like her to do\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-23T18:39:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-24T00:23:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/06\/800px-Almog_IL13_DSCN0720.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html\",\"name\":\"Easter is still some distance off, but here's an Easter-related movie suggestion.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-23T18:39:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-24T00:23:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did -- she was traveling at the time -- but I would still like her to do\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Easter is still some distance off, but here’s an Easter-related movie suggestion.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Easter is still some distance off, but here's an Easter-related movie suggestion.","description":"    Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did -- she was traveling at the time -- but I would still like her to do","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Easter is still some distance off, but here's an Easter-related movie suggestion.","og_description":"    Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did -- she was traveling at the time -- but I would still like her to do","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-01-23T18:39:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-24T00:23:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/06\/800px-Almog_IL13_DSCN0720.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html","name":"Easter is still some distance off, but here's an Easter-related movie suggestion.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-23T18:39:10+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-24T00:23:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    Back in early 2016, I saw the then-new film\u00a0Risen. \u00a0My wife never did -- she was traveling at the time -- but I would still like her to do","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/01\/easter-is-still-some-distance-off-but-heres-an-easter-related-movie-suggestion.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Easter is still some distance off, but here’s an Easter-related movie suggestion."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}