Playing with Paradigms

The Christ-figure Genre in Contemporary Film

Authors

  • Adele Reinhartz University of Ottawa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i3.298

Keywords:

Christ-Figure films, Bible and Film

Abstract

Numerous mainstream films feature a plot line loosely based on the Gospel narrative and a protagonist who has some Christ-like features. This paper will argue that the Christ-figure motif is not a minor element in contemporary cinema; rather, Christ-figure films constitute a genre in their own right. After providing a brief overview of the Christ-figure film, as illustrated by The Shawshank Redemption (1994), this paper will engage in an analysis of two movies—the Quebecois film C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) and the American film Stranger than Fiction (2006)—that explicitly and humorously demonstrate the interplay of convention and innovation, familiarity and novelty that is the salient characteristic of the genre film.

Author Biography

  • Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa
    Adele Reinhartz is Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa (Canada). Her main areas of research are the Gospel of John, early Jewish–Christian relations, feminist criticism and the Bible and Film. She is the author of numerous articles and several books, including ‘Why Ask My Name?’ Anonymity and Identity in Biblical Narrative (1998), Befriending the Beloved Disciple: A Jewish Reading of the Gospel of John (2001) and Scripture on the Silver Screen (2003). Her latest book is a study of the Jesus movies, entitled Jesus of Hollywood (2007). Adele was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2005. For more information, see http://www.cla-srs.uottawa.ca/eng/faculty/reinhartz.html.

References

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Christianson, Eric S., Peter Francis and William R. Telford (eds.) 2005 Cinéma Divinité: Religion, Theology and the Bible in Film. SCM Press, London.

Deacy, Christopher 2006 Reflections on the Uncritical Appropriation of Cinematic Christ-figures: Holy Other or Wholly Inadequate? Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 13. Online: http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art13-reflectcinematicchrist.html (accessed July 28, 2008).

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Filmography

Being There (1979, dir. Hal Ashby)

Ben-Hur (a.k.a. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ) (1959, dir. William Wyler)

Cinderella Man (2005, dir. Ron Howard)

The Constant Gardener (2005, dir. Fernando Meirelles)

Cool Hand Luke (1967, dir. Stuart Rosenberg)

C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005, dir. Jean-Marc Vallée)

The Gospel of John (a.k.a. The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John) (2003, dir. Philip Saville)

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965, dir. George Stevens)

The Green Mile (1999, dir. Frank Darabont)

The Guardian (2006, dir. Andrew Davis)

Intolerance (1916, dir. D.W. Griffith)

King of Kings (1961, dir. Nicholas Ray)

Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979, dir. Terry Jones)

Pale Rider (1985, dir. Clint Eastwood)

The Passion of the Christ (2004, dir. Mel Gibson)

The Passion Play at Oberammergau (1898, dir. Henry C. Vincent)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, dir. Frank Darabont)

Sling Blade (1996, dir. Billy Bob Thornton)

Stranger than Fiction (2006, dir. Marc Forster)

The Truman Show (1998, dir. Peter Weir)

Walk on Water (2004, dir. Eytan Fox)

Published

2009-03-05

How to Cite

Reinhartz, A. (2009). Playing with Paradigms: The Christ-figure Genre in Contemporary Film . Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 21(3), 298-317. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i3.298