The Gospel of John
by Philip Saville
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DVD details
Actor: Christopher Plummer, Daniel Kash, Henry Ian Cusick, Stephen Russell, Stuart BunceDirector: Philip Saville
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Chris Chrisafis
Producer: Clyde Wagner
Producer: Garth H. Drabinsky
Producer: Joel B. Michaels
Producer: Martin Katz
Producer: Sandy Pearl
Writer: John Goldsmith
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-15
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney
Product features:
- An epic in the spirit of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, this widely acclaimed motion picture is a meticulous recreation of the turbulent era of Jesus and the events that changed the course of history! Narrated by Golden Globe nominee Christopher Plummer (Best Supporting Actor, AMERICAN TRAGEDY, 2000), it s the bold and powerful story of Jesus as told by his disciple John. The best-loved but least unde
DVD Reviews of The Gospel of John
DVD Review: WHAT I WISH SOME ONE HAD HONESTLY TOLD ME BEFORE I BOUGHT IT
Summary: 2 Stars
The only worthwhile thing about this production which sought to ride the Passion of the Mel crest is the reading by Plummer. The rest as they say is history.
The tip off that this was cashing in on the Mel craze is the opening rather lengthy disclaimer which wriggles and squiggles to avoid accusations of anti-semitism by placing the Gospel of John in an historical context of sectarian struggle amongst the Jews including the followers of Jesus Christ, which is then followed by the narration and dialogue which continually condemns the Jewish authorities rather than a blanket reference to "the Jews". This of course will please no one, including those who are concerned about fine and traditional points of English translations. Mel sought to overcome this by using the original languages, including Aramaic.
And I wish someone would tell the producers and directors of this and any other film that Jesus not only did not speak English but also did not speak in a phoney upper crust decadent British accent in which all vowels say AH= Mah fahthah wahs ah'wahlkahn dahn thah gahdahn pahth ahn hahse ahnd ah brahnch hahd ah fahll ahn . . . etc. In fact considering the slave trade, the sepoys, the military empire with attendant merciless colonialism, the arrogance and the genocide of the Irish, that is probably the least Christian of language communities in all the history of humanity.
Please notice the alleged biblical and theological consultants cited by this production, using only the alphabet soup unspecified (and including BA's!) after their names, mainly from Toronto, and apparently mainly anglicans, as such important information as clerical state, observances, and even Faith are suppressed. We are left with no indication why these have any authority as Biblical consultants, aside from the unspecified alphabet soup.
And then look at the bug-eyed stand-ins for actors, who look mainly like a collection of the dregs from Canadian biker bars, who believe the height of acting and emoting is not restraint but twisting the eyes widely as when tweaking on methamphetamines. They all look like they have not spent much time in the sunlight, out of doors, or in sandals rather than boots. Their head shots were probably great on paper, but the execution is atrocious.
The Christ from first appearance comes across as smug and happy go lucky and arrogant, and so probably okay for the self-proclaimed evangelical sects currently in power in Washington, or for viewing by the Sunday school groups of young children first encountering the Gospel of John. In fact the first walk on by Jesus grinning to Himself by the stand'in Jordan reads more like a guy used to the frozen north enjoying a warm semi tropical vacation in sandals and no socks, wondering mischievously whether everyone else realizes he is not wearing underwear and loving it.
Any other sophisticated viewer will be rightfully and rapidly bored and throwing socks at the television monitor. Only the voice of Plummer salvages anything from this atrocious B-movie production.
I only got this to see how far we have gone beyond Pasolini. This production, like his, obviously does not employ trained actors. A SAG card does not an actor make. But Pasolini created eternal and solid art, truly and faithfully representing the Good News in the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. But after seeing all these Canadian actors popping their eyes, from Saint John the Baptist to the Samaritan woman at the well, I could look no more, and listened for Plummer instead. Yet the casual superficial supercilious reading by Our Lord's actor of the immortal Last Supper chapters from Saint John grew cold and long. Indeed Plummer could have phoned in his part, yet he delivers it with proper gravitas (not overdone) and inflection, emotion and wisdom. The actor who does Jesus, on the other hand, phones in his voice over of these Last Supper prayers with no indication he realizes what these central prayers really mean, without conviction, intelligence or feeling.
We often discover most about someone by the way they advertise or imagine themselves to be. Thus we must notice on the case of this DVD the only blurbs which appear are from the industry promoter Variety weekly, which is quoted only as saying "Dramatically Powerful" (or was it "powerfully dramatic"?) Variety is paid to provide such meaningless yet overblown adverbs and adjectives, stripped of their context, paragraph, sentence or even noun. FOr all we know the surrounding sentence might have read: "Pasolini's Gospel According to Saint Matthew is very dramatically powerful while this Book of John is soporific and sophomoric." The other blurb the producers chose for their case comes from the equally commercial Associated Press and, though again limited to two words (if we count the hyphen as creating one neologism), at least has a noun: "Thought-provoking entertainment." Again we do not know the context, not even the sentence, but we can see the operative word is ENTERTAINMENT. Whatever thoughts it may provoke are at variance with the producer's intent. Notice that no theologian stepped up to the bat to provide an endorsement of this product.
Beware, be very aware, and get the great Pasolini film instead. Or read the Book. It's way better.
By the way, if this is the Gospel of John, why are incidents only in the Synoptics included? This movie cannot please the careful and conscientious reader.
Description of The Gospel of John
An epic in the spirit of The Passion of the Christ, this widely acclaimed motion picture is a meticulous recreation of the turbulent era of Jesus and the events that changed the course of history! Narrated by Golden Globe nominee Christopher Plummer (Best Supporting Actor, American Tragedy, 2000), it?s the bold and powerful story of Jesus as told by his disciple John. The best-loved but least understood of the gospels, John presents a uniquely human portrait of courage and passion encompassing Jesus' entire three-year ministry, the final years of his life. Intimate and reflective, The Gospel of John offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience the incomparable life and times of Jesus Christ.Bestsellers in DVD
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