Time for an Easter Classic--2: The Religious Film

As I mentioned last week, I think it’s time for some really good films set in or around the subject of Easter. It’s a holiday that doesn’t have tons of great films to its credit [unlike Christmas] so it’s a holiday ripe for some good scripts.

One way to go if you’re considering writing an Easter-themed film is the dramatic film that explores the religious stories that surround Easter. Sure, those stories have been told, but that kind of timeless story is always ripe for a new take. So if you have a new take, go for it.

Looking at past films in this religious-themed area, one that critics consider a classic is Ben-Hur [1959]. It was written by Karl Tunberg and based on a play called Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Take a look at the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=4hrbRDAOF4k

One of the things the film does is explore the Christ story from the POV of a slave. Just having a more ‘relatable’ way to explore the iconic story makes the film more relatable, whether or not your audience is religious. And, of course, Ben-Hur manages to provide lots of action as well—thus appealing to a wide segment of the movie-going public.

That’s important—coming up with a relatable way to tell a familiar story. Relatable, yet different.

Another popular film in this genre that’s a bit more contemporary is The Last Temptation of Christ [1988]. Here’s the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW6jxGaIias

This film, like Ben-Hur, didn’t just tell the classic biblical story of Christ—it postulated what the temptation of living a normal man’s life might have been like for the religious icon. What if he’d married, been a normal man… would that ever have been a temptation for him?

The interesting thing about both Ben-Hur and The Last Temptation of Christ is that they’re both “what if” stories—stories that required the writer to imagine something different than just the story we all know from the Bible.

And if we’re talking about different, let’s look at a quite modern take: The Passion of the Christ [2004] by Benedict Fitzgerald and Mel Gibson. Take a look at the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eElg63q5mc

This film takes yet another take on the classic story by choosing to tell only the last 12 hours of Jesus’s life. That limitation right there gives the story a ticking clock kind of feel. I mean, we all know how it turns out, but how it gets to that moment is what makes the film original.

An interesting aside about the film—Gibson couldn’t get anyone to finance it, despite his star power. He was so committed to it, though, that he made it with his own money: $30 million. He was right from a financial standpoint to have that kind of faith [rarely do directors/actors use their own money to finance a film] because the film grossed over $600 million. A tidy profit.

We’ve looked at three versions of tackling Easter and what it can mean as a religious film. Each did something more than just tell the Bible story. Do you have a creative take on the story? If so, go for it—we’re no doubt due another one soon!

Next week from the religious to the… silly? Stay tuned.

Copyright © Diane Lake

14Mar21

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com