{"id":1855,"date":"2006-12-07T17:17:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-07T17:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files\/"},"modified":"2006-12-07T17:17:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-07T17:17:00","slug":"world-trade-center-the-jesus-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html","title":{"rendered":"World Trade Center — the Jesus files"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
I got a review copy of World Trade Center<\/a><\/i> today, and I\u2019ve only had time to check out a few of the extras, but \u2014 given my interest in Bible movies and the like \u2014 I thought it was worth noting that the featurette \u2018Closing the Wounds\u2019 pays special attention to the brief scene in which Will Jimeno (Michael Pe\u00f1a) sees Jesus<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The featurette begins with this statement from Oliver Stone, which I can\u2019t quite figure out because I\u2019m not sure what \u201cit\u201d refers to:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been bulleted as an interesting, interesting document, and there\u2019s been many re-interpretations of it, and variations on it, and it\u2019s really important. So, certainly they deal with end states, extreme states. Some people have, in fact, died and come back, and have talked about, in similar terms as the Buddhists, about the colors, things that are seen at the end.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then there is some discussion about the hours that John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) spent in the dark all by myself. After that, the featurette turns to Jimeno, and Stone says:<\/p>\n

And with Michael, his visions, death visions, are based on the truth of Will\u2019s story about seeing Jesus, which becomes a big issue for him and kept him going, \u2019cause he was drifting off, and he was about to die, and the vision of Jesus really gave him re-inspiration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then there is some talk about the lighting and the costume design for the Jesus footage. After that, Stone says:<\/p>\n

The idea works because that\u2019s the way Will saw it, you see. And as long as you\u2019re faithful to the truth, that\u2019s what matters to me. I mean, I\u2019m sure there\u2019s gonna be cynics, who\u2019ll say, you know, \u201cBlah, blah, blah,\u201d who make fun of faith, and these things. The metaphysical is what kept them alive. I think we don\u2019t give it enough\u2013 its\u2013 we don\u2019t give it its due in American films.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The film comes out on DVD<\/a> on Tuesday, December 12.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DEC 8 UPDATE: Just finished listening to the commentary track where Jimeno himself discusses this scene. In his own words:<\/p>\n

This is the part that I get questioned about. I don\u2019t know. I was born Catholic, you know, I believe in God and Jesus, and yes, I did see Jesus. I want to let everybody know, because at that point, like I said, I was just drained. I was drained, and this vision that I had, actually happened. I mean, you know, it took a lot of courage for Oliver to put this in, because I guess people can criticize him for being religious or whatever. But you know what? I\u2019m just a guy. I\u2019m Catholic, that\u2019s what I believe in. I don\u2019t care if you believe\u2013 what you believe in, I feel that at the moment of you\u2019re about to die, you\u2019ve got to believe in your faith or believe in something, and the water bottle actually happened, because we were caked in concrete, and I said to God, I said, \u201cWhen I may get to Heaven\u201d \u2014 I think where we all were going \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m thirsty, will you give me something to drink.\u201d And I see this vision of Jesus, and you\u2019re going to see later, when I woke up, I mean, I was rejuvenated. It gave me the strength to fight. And I think that the only thing I could give you as a human being is that when you\u2019re in a position of death and you have a choice of giving up, don\u2019t. Because you owe it to yourself and your family and all those around you to keep fighting. If you\u2019re gonna die, at least go out fighting. And I came very close to just giving up. I really did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I haven\u2019t listened to the Oliver Stone commentary in its entirety yet, but I checked it at this point, and he doesn\u2019t comment on the spiritual content of this in any particularly meaningful way; he basically just summarizes what Jimeno already said.<\/p>\n

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

I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I\u2019ve only had time to check out a few of the extras, but \u2014 given my interest in Bible movies and the like \u2014 I thought it was worth noting that the featurette \u2018Closing the Wounds\u2019 pays special attention to the brief scene in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Trade Center -- the Jesus files<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I've only had time to check out a few of the extras, but -- given my interest in Bible movies and the\" \/>\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\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Trade Center -- the Jesus files\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I've only had time to check out a few of the extras, but -- given my interest in Bible movies and the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-12-07T17:17:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/photos1.blogger.com\/x\/blogger\/7991\/933\/400\/689010\/worldtrade-jesus3.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\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\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html\",\"name\":\"World Trade Center -- the Jesus files\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-12-07T17:17:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-12-07T17:17:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I've only had time to check out a few of the extras, but -- given my interest in Bible movies and the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"World Trade Center — the Jesus files\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"World Trade Center -- the Jesus files","description":"I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I've only had time to check out a few of the extras, but -- given my interest in Bible movies and the","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\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"World Trade Center -- the Jesus files","og_description":"I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I've only had time to check out a few of the extras, but -- given my interest in Bible movies and the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2006-12-07T17:17:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/photos1.blogger.com\/x\/blogger\/7991\/933\/400\/689010\/worldtrade-jesus3.jpg"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html","name":"World Trade Center -- the Jesus files","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-12-07T17:17:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-12-07T17:17:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"I got a review copy of World Trade Center today, and I've only had time to check out a few of the extras, but -- given my interest in Bible movies and the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/12\/world-trade-center-the-jesus-files.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World Trade Center — the Jesus files"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}