Religious Movies

Growing up, my mom and I had a tradition each Lent of watching a specific religious movie every Sunday.

The first week would be the 1965 movie “The Greatest Story Ever Told”.

On the second week we would watch “King of Kings”, from 1961.

I didn’t like these first two movies very much, so I would watch somewhat impatiently, awaiting the other weeks, when we watched some of my favorite movies of all time.

The movie for the third Sunday was “The Robe”, a 1953 film starring Richard Burton as the tribune Marcellus, who was in charge of the crucifixion of Christ. He won the robe that Christ wore when the soldiers cast lots for the garments of the men they executed. Upon touching it, a change came over him, and he believed himself cursed. He was then commissioned by the Emperor to find the robe and destroy it, and find all the followers of Jesus, as well, under the belief that sorcery was involved. However, when Marcellus finally does encounter the robe again, he undergoes a profound conversion experience and becomes quite literally the first Roman Catholic, even to the point of martyrdom. I always enjoyed that movie because it provided a unique view of the early Church in a fairly believable way.

The fourth Sunday featured the classic movie, “Ben Hur”, made in 1959, and starring Charlton Heston in the title role. The movie is perhaps most famous for its chariot scene, and the soundtrack is wonderful, but one must not overlook the themes of conversion, and of a search for peace that only Christ can satisfy.

The fifth movie also starred Charlton Heston and also is considered a classic, “The Ten Commandments” (1956). The special effects are pretty awesome, given the time when it was made. It is a fairly accurate portrayal of the events of the first Passover, and a great way to lead up to the events that the Church would be commemorating the week after, as Christ became the Passover lamb. It is always important to remember that link between the Old and New Testament, and so watching that movie at that time served, in my mind, to make that connection.

Starting on Palm Sunday, and continuing through Holy Week, we would watch my absolute favorite movie of all time, “Jesus of Nazareth”. It aired as an NBC miniseries during Holy Week in 1977. Again it has an AMAZING soundtrack, and an all-star cast, under the direction of the great Franco Zeffirelli. The portrayals of all the characters are thought-provoking and believable. Astonishingly enough, the portrayal of Jesus easily communicated both the divine and the human natures of Jesus, which is something that I have rarely seen in any film about Jesus. It served as a great basis for meditation as we celebrated the Triduum and Easter.

Another movie of note that I saw the year it came out is Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” (2004). It was an extremely graphic and vivid portrayal of the sufferings of Christ. There are images from that that I will never forget.

The reason I mention all of this today is because this month, on Sunday nights, History Channel has been presenting a miniseries entitled “The Bible.” It has led me at several points to actually go back to Scriptures and look up the stories they portrayed, to see the accuracy of it.

So I wanted to ask you, what is your opinion of the movies I mentioned above? Do you have any others to add? Have you been watching “The Bible” on History Channel and what are your thoughts on that?

Please leave any questions or comments you may have, I would love to discuss this with you! But remember, any hateful comments will be deleted!