Jesus, the Gospels, and Cinematic Imagination

Introducing Jesus Movies, Christ Films, and the Messiah in Motion

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by Richard Walsh and Jeffrey L. Staley

Type: Film Reviews
Subject: On Films > Film selections
Keywords: religion
Publishing date: 2021
Publisher: T&T Clark
Language: English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 400 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-567-69384-6

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Book Presentation:
Jesus films arose with cinema itself. Richard Walsh and Jeffrey L. Staley introduce students to these films with a general overview of the Jesus film tradition and with specific analyses of 22 of its most influential exemplars, stretching from La vie du Christ (1906) to Mary Magdalene (2018). The introduction to each film includes discussion of plot, characters, visuals, appeal to authority, and cultural location as well as consideration of the director's (and/or other filmmakers') achievements and style. Several film chapters end with reflections on problematic issues bedeviling the tradition, such as cultural imperialism and patriarchy.

To assist teachers and researchers, each chapter includes a listing of DVD chapters and the approximate “time” (for both DVDs and streaming platforms) at which key film moments occur. The book also includes a Gospels Harmony cataloging the time at which key gospel incidents appear in these films. Extensive endnotes point readers to other important work on the tradition and specific films. While the authors strive to set the Jesus film tradition within cinema and its interpretation, the DVD/streaming listing and the Gospels Harmony facilitate the comparison of these films to gospel interpretation and the Jesus tradition.

About the authors:
Richard Walsh is Womack Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Co-Director of the Honors Program at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA, and is the author of Reading the Gospels in the Dark and editor of the T&T Clark Handbook of Jesus and Film.Jeffrey L. Staley is the author of numerous essays on Jesus and film, and co-founder of the SBL Bible and Film Program Unit. He taught a variety of theology and film courses for many years in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University, USA, and is now retired.

Press Reviews:
"With this revision of their excellent 2007 handbook to Jesus on DVD, Richard Walsh and Jeffrey Staley have added an indispensable reference work to the groaning shelf of books on movies about Jesus. Not only have they added several films – old and new – but they have extensively revised the entire book, addressed the move from DVD to streaming platforms, and added a new introduction that makes sense of the diverse films they treat without homogenizing them. A must-read for both seasoned Jesus-movie-watchers and those who are newcomers to this corpus of films, this book will also work well as a textbook for college and adult-education courses on the Jesus movies." ―Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, Canada

"This fully updated and revised version of Jesus, the Gospels and Cinematic Imagination showcases twenty-two Jesus films, spanning silent cinema through to present day. Each chapter's erudite analysis immerses readers in relevant scholarship as it situates the films within cinematic and cultural history. The attention to techniques such as cinematography, location, and casting is particularly elucidating, and sections highlighting problematic issues (e.g. orientalism, violence, androcentrism) facilitate important discussions about these films as cultural products. Written in a lively and engaging style and imbued with the field-leading expertise of Staley and Walsh, this is set to become an essential volume for anyone teaching, researching, or just plain interested in Cinematic Jesuses." ―Michelle Fletcher, King's College London, UK

"Walsh and Staley's Jesus, the Gospels, and Cinematic Imagination is the most accessible, informative, and insightful book on Jesus films. Reflecting their decades of expertise, each of the twenty-two chapters is a dense tapestry of insight and illumination. In addition to expected classics (The Last Temptation of Christ, The Passion of the Christ), the authors also examine lesser known (La vie du Christ, Il messia, The Miracle Maker, Son of Man) and more recent films (Mary Magdalene). Walsh and Staley respect cinema enough to take it seriously on its own terms, rather than subsuming films within biblical narratives. Especially helpful is the material on each film's cultural location/genre, director, and problematic issue. The valuable material in the endnotes of each chapter is alone worth the price of the book. Walsh and Staley's book is ideal for undergraduates and anyone interested in Jesus films." ―Matthew S. Rindge, Gonzaga University, USA

"This revised version offers a decidedly different take on Jesus films, shifting the focus from message to medium, from the interpretation of (mostly) biblical texts to their visual incarnations. Walsh and Staley do not limit themselves to what these films reveal about Jesus, but also address issues related to Jesus film genres, their specific characteristics and characters, actors and makers. As such, it offers fresh perspectives on a century of Jesus film-making." ―Caroline Vander Stichele, Tilburg University, The Netherlands

See the publisher website: T&T Clark

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