Faithful to the script

Christian Century, Oct 5, 2004 by William H. Willimon

That Jesus is presented as truly human and truly divine is the film's great strength. One reviewer complained that Jesus lacked an appropriate "gravitas," but hey, it's the Gospel of John. Why should we complain if Jesus is not only Word Made Flesh but also a fire guy to walk around with? (The wedding at Cana turns out to be a real brawl once Jesus gets there.)

An opening disclaimer notes in bold print that Christ and all of his followers were Jews. I thought that was just right. I expect this was one of the fruits of having New Testament scholar Peter Richardson (University of Toronto) as the lead adviser on the film. Richardson has written an insightful book on Herod. Alan Segal, a Jewish New Testament scholar (Barnard College), was also an adviser. Would that Gibson had sought out advisers like these.

One of the strengths of the Good News rendition is that it usually refers to the Ioudaioi as "the Jewish authorities" rather than as, insidiously, "the Jews." True, the film depicts the Jewish authorities with sunken eyes and sinister looks. But the Anti-Defamation League, which found so much to dislike in Gibson's Passion, praised The Gospel off John for at least sticking with the biblical text. The movie's producer, Garth Drabinsky, is Jewish. Rabbi Eugene Korn of the ADL saw the film and judged it to be a "responsible" telling of the story. Korn is also reported to have said, "It's difficult and some of it is offensive, but that's the Gospel of John."

English actor Henry Ian Cusick is just right as the Christ--understated, enigmatic, appealing, somewhat distant, but completely human--a firebrand and rabble-rouser when provoked, self-assertive to the point of arrogance, warm and genuine. There are some great moments when Jesus looks at his followers with a smile almost breaking out, as if he finds them more endearingly comical than disappointing. Nancy Polk as the Samaritan woman is wonderful. Here is a woman who has definitely been around the block a few times, and her engaging, funny interaction with Jesus brings out the best in him. Christopher Plummer's voice-over narration is golden, majestic, portentous mad, Mien the need arises, ironic. But there are times when it is annoying to have the narrator tell us what is obvious. We watch the blind man kneel before Jesus while the narrator says, "The blind man knelt before Jesus."

Though the lack of poetry and dignity in the Good News translation is sometimes tiresome, the decision to go with this translation was, in the end, infinitely better than Gibson's use of Aramaic in his Passion. The Aramaic gives that film a pseudo-documentary quality, deluding viewers into the "Gee, I guess this is the way it really looked" response. The use of colloquial English reminds us that this is a work of art, an interpretation, a sermon--and a good one at that.

William H. Willimon is the newly appointed United Methodist bishop of Birmingham, Alabama.