ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Easter

Is THE TEN COMMANDMENTS an Easter Movie?

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Director Cecil B. DeMille’s ultimate masterpiece and final film The Ten Commandments, which received a beautiful new 4K UHD Blu-ray release this week, has long been considered an Easter favorite. Since the 1970s, the film has been a television staple for the season. That tradition continues to this day, as the film airs tonight on ABC (check local listings).

This has sometimes proven a head-scratcher for viewers puzzled by why this particular movie gets that honor. After all, Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, and there are a number of excellent films which more directly ruminate on the Passion of Jesus. One need look no further than 1959’s wonderful Ben-Hur, which also stars Charlton Heston and is very similar in style and tone to The Ten Commandments, while more directly reflecting on Christ’s ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. Not to mention its staggering 11 Academy Awards remains tied for the all-time record.

So what gives?

Perhaps most obviously, the celebration of The Passover, which serves as the setting for Jesus’ final days, speaks to the entire Judeo-Christian sphere, a much larger audience than exclusively Christians. Moses and his writings (The Torah, or Pentateuch, which comprise the first five books of the Bible) are also highly revered in Islam, where he is one of the most important figures of the Qur’ān.

Appeasing ecumenicalism might seem a cynical or unsatisfying answer for Christians whose entire worldview hinges on the meaning of Easter, but we’d be remiss to fail to acknowledge the theological importance of both the Passover (the first of which is strikingly depicted in The Ten Commandments), and the story of Moses, as a direct reflection and representation of the Gospel.

Among the most critical tenets of the Christian faith is man’s fallen nature and need for salvation, summed up biblically in the statement, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and answered in simplicity a few chapters later, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (10:9)

If we understand the Bible as a work of both history and prophecy, then in the plight of the Israelites we can see both: a parallel for the human condition. Enslaved by Egypt and in need of a Deliverer, just as humankind is in bondage to sin, and in need of a Savior.

This thematic cycle also plays out in the form of the Passover itself, as depicted in one of the film’s key sequences. As the final Plague sweeps throughout the land threatening death, those believers who followed the instruction to post lamb’s blood on their doorway are saved from God’s wrath. Even the threat to firstborn sons, a theme which plays out twice in Moses’ history as seen in the film, serves as a direct reference to God’s “only begotten”.

Central to the Passover is the concept of a blood sacrifice. Later scriptures will return to the analogy of a lamb as representative of Christ, most notably in the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 53.

The Ten Commandments takes some careful liberties with the story of Moses by adding extrabiblical content in areas where the matter-of-fact scriptures don’t provide much detail (particularly in Moses’ youth and personal life), a fact which DeMille himself acknowledges in the film’s introduction. But it does a pretty terrific job of keeping the scriptural themes intact. And as the history of Moses and the first Passover hold up a mirror to Christ, so too does the film.

The film culminates (more or less) with the depiction of its title: God gives Moses the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai.

Through Moses, we were provided with both prophecy and the Law. Through Christ, the fulfillment of that prophecy and redemption from the condemnation of that Law.

Is The Ten Commandments an Easter film?

Absolutely.

The Ten Commandments is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray. You can read this author’s review of the new edition here, courtesy of our friends at Cinapse. You can purchase it here – the author may receive a commission for sales made using this referral link.

Puzzle – Constructing Happiness

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“Life is random, but when you finish a puzzle you know you’ve made all the right choices.”

My wife enjoys jigsaw puzzles. I help a (very) little bit from time to time, but they aren’t really my thing. But in Marc Turtletaub’s film Puzzle, this pastime becomes a force for self-discovery and self-actualization in a woman’s life. Adapted from an Argentinian film (Rompecabezas), this is a film about a life coming together, sort of like the way a puzzle eventually is completed.

Agnes (Kelly MacDonald) is a quiet, submissive wife and mother. Her days are filled with taking care of her family and being part of her church. (Much of the film is set in Lent, with its movement from “Dust thou art” to resurrection.) She receives a jigsaw puzzle for her birthday and one day as she works around the house, she begins and finishes it. It is something she loves doing and is good at.

When she travels into the city to find more puzzles, she sees a poster about someone looking for a puzzle partner. When she answers the ad, she connects with Robert (Irrfan Khan), a dark and somewhat depressing (and depressed) man who has won a singles championship and is looking for someone to partner with in the doubles competition. When he sees how gifted Agnes is, they set a practice schedule to get ready for the National Championship.

But what of her family? She hides all this from them because she perceives they wouldn’t approve. Her husband Louie (David Denman) thinks they’re something for children. He and their sons rely on her to do everything around the house. (Although the eldest wants to cook, rather than work for Louie in an auto shop.) There are fractures in these relationships, much like the cuts in a puzzle. As we watch we wonder if Agnes’s life is being put together or coming apart. All of these issues multiply as Robert and Agnes become attracted to each other.

The obvious metaphor a viewer might expect is that this is about finding how to fit all the pieces of one’s life together to make a beautiful picture. But that isn’t what we get. Instead, this film takes things a bit deeper. We see that Agnes and Robert have different approaches to puzzling. Robert wants to organize everything. Agnes just starts in putting things in their place. At one point Robert explains that all of life is random. For him, putting a puzzle together is an escape from the chaos of life. But it doesn’t seem that Agnes sees it the same way. She doesn’t buy into his nihilism. She believes things have meaning. What she is discovering in particular is that she has meaning separate from the roles she has inhabited in her family and church.

There is also a side of Agnes that some may or may not find problematic. As I noted above, much of the film is set in Lent. Before going to meet Robert for the first time, Agnes goes to Ash Wednesday service and receives the imposition of ashes. This is a time when we are called to consider our sins as we move toward Good Friday and Easter. Yet during this time, Agnes avoids going to confession, even though she has a few things worthy of confessing. A part of her journey to independence is to step away from the guilt that often fills in the crevices of our lives. For Agnes escaping the guilt is an important part of finding her voice and her joy.

Photos by Linda Kallerus, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

The Young Messiah: A Life Filled With Purpose

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Jesus in the TempleNow that we’re a few weeks from Easter, it’s about time for a feature-length film about the life of Jesus. And sure enough, one has arrived on the scene—The Young Messiah.  There is a twist, however: Jesus doesn’t die in this one.  Instead, we get to see a glimpse of his life “inspired by Scripture and rooted in history,” as the introduction notes. But it’s a glimpse that may ruffle the feathers of long-going churchgoers and theologians alike.  More about that later in the review. The film itself is well-done, with nice production values and good acting performances from the lead characters.  More than likely, it will do as well or better than the recent film Risen featuring Ralph Fiennes.

The Young Messiah (no relation to Handel’s masterpiece; this is based on the Anne Rice novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt) begins in an odd place for a film featuring Christ—Alexandria, Egypt. Joseph (Vincent Walsh) has heeded the command of the angel and taken the family out of Israel due to Herod’s plan to worship Jesus by killing him. When we first see him, something is different. He’s . . . a 7 year-old kid. He’s also being picked on and beat up by his cousin Eleazar, who walks away, slips on an eaten apple, hits his head on a rock, and dies. The eaten apple is provided by a demon in black (Rory Keenan, looking like the stereotypical Jesus in Sunday School materials), who follows Jesus (Adam Greaves-Neal) around throughout the film. When nobody is looking, Jesus goes into the room where Eleazar’s body is located, asks him to get up, and the dead boy comes to life—but not before kicking Jesus a few times.  It seems Jesus has brought things to life before—in a flashback, the viewer sees a bird return to life in his hands.

Joseph, Mary, and JesusHerod dies and the family returns to Israel, but not before Joseph and Mary (Sara Lazzaro) have a discussion that involves the line, “How do we explain God to his own son?”  Yes, Jesus doesn’t quite understand his role in the redemption of the world—I doubt many 7 year-olds would. In the meantime, Herod’s son wants Christ killed and sends the Roman centurion Severus (Sean Bean) to make it happen.  Through many close calls, Joseph and the family return to Galilee, but are not too far from being captured by Severus and his squad. It’s when Jesus asks his parents to go to the Temple in Jerusalem for Passover that the film takes off (and before you ask, he does not say, “Did you not know I had to be in my Father’s house?”).  This leads to a powerful confrontation between the young Jesus and Severus that is quite well-done.

Jesus faces SeverusI’m sure many Christians are going to have difficulty reconciling the film to their own understanding of Scripture due to 1) Jesus’ age (the first mention we get of him outside of the Wise Men is when he’s 12 years old) and 2) his limited understanding of the role he would play to save the world.  But in the context of the film itself, both work pretty well (remember: it’s inspired by Scripture, not Scripture). Director Cyrus Nowrastah takes care to cater to the faith-based audience (the Scripture verse at the beginning is taken from the ESV—I checked) and Jesus’ interactions with the rabbis are powerful. When Joseph and Mary take the family on a path lined with crosses, they quote Psalm 23 in its entirety.

Of course, it’s important to note that Jesus was eventually on a road in his earthly life that would lead to death via crucifixion (and later, resurrection). The Young Messiah doesn’t provide an alternative to that option, so it stays true to what Scripture implies in that aspect. The end result is a surprisingly watchable film that makes a person think, reflect, and (hopefully) discuss with others.  And isn’t that what we want to do as we approach Easter?