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Movies about Christ

Films that affirm "Traditional" Christian Values or depict characters who believe, devoutly, in traditional Christian values.

Films That Deal Seriously With Religion but Sometimes in Unsettling Ways

Elmer Gantry	There are still a lot of Elmer Gantry's around.
Breaking the Waves	I don't really recommend this: the bouncing camera will irritate most viewers, but the concept is very provocative.
Resurrection	Very unusual movie-- can you have a spiritual experience without a church?
Matewan	Like Grapes of Wrath, challenges traditional evangelical teachings on social justice.
Cool Hand Luke	Luke is a Christ figure... which means we sometimes expect him to carry the wrong burden.
GroundHog Day	This movie is really about the persistence of grace.
Therese	The searing authenticity of the spiritual devotion of Therese may shake you up.
Inherit the Wind	Questions the political and social issues Christians have sometimes supported. The depressing news is that some of us are still fighting this same absurd battle over and over again, trying to get "creationist" text books into the classrooms.
Grapes of Wrath	The itinerant preacher my challenge your assumptions about Christianity and economic justice.
Spenser's Mountain	The TV show "The Walton's" was a watered-down, sanitized version of this story: note especially the character of dad Walton.
Edward Scissorshands	Another parable about a man with Christ-like innocence colliding with a cold-hearted society.
Crimes and Misdemeanors	Woody Allen raises fundamental questions about justice and meaning.

Films that Deal Seriously With Questions about the Meaning of Life

Grand Canyon	How do we build bridges to our neighbors?
Seventh Seal	Is there a God? Is there a devil?
Wings of Desire	Can love heal alienation?
Six Degrees of Separation	Who is our neighbor?
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life	Interesting as an exposition of Classical humanism with Python's usual vulgar humour.
The Third Man	Written by Catholic Graham Greene, a very compelling look at a moral and spiritual wasteland: post war Vienna. To what extent does naive good intentions do more harm than good?
Heavenly Creatures	Highlights the complexity of discerning good and evil in our time, when we know so much about the circumstances of a horrifying crime.

Biblical Dramatizations

Jesus of Montreal	Interesting modern version of the gospels set in Montreal.
King of Kings	Pietistic, pompous, and boring.
The Greatest Story Ever Told	Awful. Awful. Awful. Did I say it was awful?
Ten Commandments	Nice special effects for it's day, but melodramatic and just plain dumb. Classic example of Hollywood film that is all pretend piety while titillation abounds.
Jesus of Nazareth	Better than most, but excessively solemn and characterless.
Last Temptation of Christ	Martin Scorcese's low-budget controversial take on the gospels. Asks what would have happened if Christ had chosen to live an ordinary life (the real "temptation"). Not really as unorthodox as critics think.
The Gospel of St. Matthew	(Italian, sub-titled, severe, black and white, hard to find, but one of the most purely authentic of the Jesus films). Oddly, the most faithful rendering of the gospel I know of. It tells you something important about American culture that most Christians in the U.S. have watched "Will and Grace" and ""Dancing with the Stars" but not a single really authentic movie about Christ.
Robe	Shlop.
Ben Hur	Big shlop.
Godspell	Give it points for originality, but this is really low, low budget.
Jesus Christ Superstar	I still like this one more than any other Jesus film. It's energetic, original, provocative, and well-filmed. Leaves you with a question rather than an answer, but it asks the right question.

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