Film: Risen
Director: Kevin
Reynolds
Producers: Patrick
Aiello, Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon
Writer: Kevin
Reynolds & Paul Aiello
Starring: Joseph
Fiennes, Tom Felton, Cliff Curtis,
Release date: February 19,
2016
Running Time: 107 minutes
Risen retells the story of death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as told from the point of view of a Roman centurion Clavius Aquila Valerius Niger who is assigned to investigate the disappearance of his body.
Written by Kevin Reynolds & Paul Aiello and produced by Affirm Films, which is the “faith-based” arm
of Sony Pictures, the film offers a different twist to the age old story of
Easter. Helmed by Kevin Reynolds, who is more famous for directing the
much maligned Kevin Costner film Waterworld (1995), Risen is an
old-fashioned Biblical epic with some fresh ideas flowing through it.
The movie follows Clavius, played by Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid's Tale, Shakespeare
in love), a committed
but morally indifferent soldier who experiences a devine epiphany while doing
an ugly job. Following the killings of numerous Hebrew prisoners, including Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth), he is assigned to secure the cave
where the claimed messiah's remains are kept by Pontius
Pilate (Peter
Firth). However the two sentries he assigns to stand guard at the tomb decide
to partake in some strong drink and fall asleep. Lo and behold when morning
came the body was gone. This obviously was not a good look for the Romans
because it now gave credibility to the idea of Yeshua being the messiah. So Clavius, helped by his wide-eyed assistant Lucius Tyco
Ennius played by
Tom Felton (Harry
Potter Series, Against the Sun), embarks on an investigation
interrogating witnesses, cohorts and anyone who came into contact with the
“so-called” saviour in order to uncover what happened to the body. However,
interview after interview, Clavius hears of mystical and spectacular
tales about Yeshua which make
him start questioning his polytheistic beliefs and wonder if he is on the wrong
side.
Jesus (Cliff Curtis) with Mary (Maria Botto) and James (Selva Rasalingam) on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
The usual trend with faith-based films is to attract B-listers, virtual
unknowns or former A-listers looking for the next pay check, when it comes to
the acting talent. I was pleasantly surprised to find a critically acclaimed
cast of “brand names” and performers. One choice that stood out for me was of Cliff Curtis (Colombiana, The Meg) playing the role of Jesus Christ. Curtis, a Maori actor who at least resembles
what Jewish Galileans most probably looked like 2,000 years ago, gets my praise
for his casting. It was a welcome deviation from the blue eyed, straight haired
and Caucasian Jesus that has been
mainstream since American artist Warner Sallman painted the Nordic and extremely
non-historical “Head of Christ” back in 1940. Everyone else, Judean
and Roman, is, of course, British.
As a fan of investigative and police procedural shows, I found the new take on the age old “Death and Resurrection” story quite engaging. In the vein of
novels like A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by Julian Barnes, the well-known story is told from the
point of view of a side character. Despite its creative liberties with Biblical
history, Risen captures the awe, passion, and
inspirational essence of faith better than many of the other films that I have
seen. Risen, thankfully, does not take the
highbrow evangelical route when handling the story. The almost baffling love,
acceptance and gentle tenacity Yeshua shows even after practically all of
the apostles had deserted him reminded me of why most people follow Christ in the first
place.
