Risen (released earlier this year) is directed by Kevin Reynolds (of Waterworld fame) and stars Joseph Fiennes. It tells the story of Clavius, a Roman tribune tasked with investigating the rumored Resurrection of Jesus.
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| Clavius fishing with the apostles |
Risen opens with an attack on Jewish Zealots by a Roman legion lead by Clavius in which Barabbas is captured and killed. Clavius is then summoned before Pilate, who sends him to see that Jesus, who is being crucified as they speak, is dead. My immediate thought during this scene was "if Jesus is still on the cross, Barabbas really didn't waste any time after being released to start an uprising". This is the one of many ways the film plays with the biblical narrative of Christ's death and resurrection. The main change is that Clavius' quest to find Jesus' body creates a sense of tension and danger for the apostles which is not present in the story we all know. In addition to this, his presence during many biblical scenes later in the film is somewhat distracting. I also find it odd that the Blessed Mother is not seen at all in the film outside of the Crucifixion, though , to be fair she is not explicitly mentioned in the bible during the events of the Resurrection. In my review of Noah I defended many of its departures from the text. But, while that film loosely followed the biblical narrative to create its own unique world and story, Risen follows these events much more closely, making the changes that are present much more jarring. Despite this Risen is still able to tell a fairly compelling, faith based story.
The Roman world this film portrays is a nihilistic one. Looking at a corpse that Clavius says may be Jesus' Pilate proclaims "That's us in but a few short years" (*I may be misquoting). Clavius hopes, through his service to the empire, to attain "a day without death", to attain some peace. His journey to find this peace changes him from a nihilistic skeptic, trying to come to terms with events that are beyond his comprehension, to a more charitable man who believes that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. It works in part but, once Clavius meets Jesus he seems stuck in a perpetual mood of ponderous questioning, effectively stopping his character arc mid-narrative. This is the films biggest flaw. It is fairly compelling in the first act, as Clavius struggles to find Jesus' body and round up his followers, but falls apart in the second.
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| Yeshua and John |
Reynold's direction is, mostly, competent. The films portrayal of the Crucifixion is especially well done, effectively conveying a somewhat disinterested view of a truly savage act. Joseph Fiennes' stoic performance works well in the first half of the film , as Clavius struggles, more and more despairingly, to uncover the "conspiracy" surrounding Jesus' death but after he comes into contact with the apostles this stoicism works less well (this may be due to the actor not having much to work with). The supporting cast is an equally mixed bag. Peter Firth is good as the jaded Pilate as is Tom Felton as the ambitious Lucius (no relation Lucius Malfoy). Stewart Scudamore and Maria Botto put in solid performances as Simon Peter and Mary Magdelene respectively. Joe Manjón's Bartholomew is, perhaps, less convincing, coming across like some kind of 1st Century Charismatic. I appreciate that Cliff Curtis, who plays Jesus (referred to as Yeshua throughout the film), is not a white European but of Polynesian descent, after all Jesus himself was Hebrew not Aryan. With that said Curtis' portrayal of Jesus is one of the weaker one's I've seen. He comes across as "nice" but there isn't much else there.
In the end, Risen's strong first act makes up enough for its weak second act that I would recommend it.
Score: 8/10
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