{"id":2220,"date":"2006-06-06T00:19:00","date_gmt":"2006-06-06T00:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor\/"},"modified":"2006-06-06T00:19:00","modified_gmt":"2006-06-06T00:19:00","slug":"jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus carries his cross — as a metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
I watched Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s I Confess<\/a><\/i> (1953) for the first time in years<\/a> today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be arrested for a murder committed by another man walks through the streets of Quebec City.<\/span><\/p>\n

The priest, played by Montgomery Clift, knows who the real killer is, because the killer told him this bit of info in the confessional \u2014 but the priest cannot reveal this information, because it would violate the sacrament. And so, in a very real sense, the priest is bearing the burden of another man\u2019s sin \u2014 just as Christ took the sins of the world upon himself when he went to Golgotha.<\/p>\n

I was reminded of a sequence in Charlie Chaplin\u2019s The Kid<\/a><\/i> (1921), which used similar imagery to a somewhat different effect \u2014 less religious, more humanistic. I don\u2019t have a photo or DVD handy, but to quote an essay<\/a> that I wrote several years ago:<\/p>\n

Chaplin was touched by Christ\u2019s \u201ctolerant understanding of the woman who had sinned and was to be stoned by the mob\u201d; when a despondent Edna carries her illegitimate child out of the hospital in The Kid<\/i>, the image dissolves to a statue of Christ carrying his own burden, the cross, perhaps empathetically.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I wonder, can anyone else think of any other examples of this sort of explicitly referential imagery? Note, I am referring specifically to movies which explicitly depict statues or paintings of Christ carrying his cross, and which connect these images to the protagonists of the movies somehow. This rules out films like The Son<\/a><\/i> (2002) which, unless I\u2019m forgetting something, make more allusive or merely implicit references to cross-bearing.<\/p>\n

Hmmm, if we count live-action flashbacks, then I guess the scene in A Clockwork Orange<\/a><\/i> (1971; my comments<\/a>) where Alex identifies with the soldier who whips Jesus sort of counts, too, albeit in a somewhat perverse and subversive sort of way \u2014 since the point of identification here is not Jesus, but the Romans.<\/p>\n

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

I watched Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be arrested for a murder committed by another man walks through the streets of Quebec City. The priest, played by Montgomery Clift, knows who the real […]<\/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-2220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus carries his cross -- as a metaphor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I watched Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be\" \/>\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\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus carries his cross -- as a metaphor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I watched Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-06-06T00:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/photos1.blogger.com\/blogger\/7991\/933\/400\/iconfess.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=\"2 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\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html\",\"name\":\"Jesus carries his cross -- as a metaphor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-06-06T00:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-06-06T00:19:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"I watched Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jesus carries his cross — as a metaphor\"}]},{\"@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":"Jesus carries his cross -- as a metaphor","description":"I watched Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be","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\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jesus carries his cross -- as a metaphor","og_description":"I watched Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2006-06-06T00:19:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/photos1.blogger.com\/blogger\/7991\/933\/400\/iconfess.jpg"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html","name":"Jesus carries his cross -- as a metaphor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-06-06T00:19:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-06-06T00:19:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"I watched Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) for the first time in years today, and was struck by the shot above, in which a priest who is about to be","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/06\/jesus-carries-his-cross-as-a-metaphor.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jesus carries his cross — as a metaphor"}]},{"@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\/2220","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=2220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}