King of Kings (1961)
Directed by Nicholas Ray
Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.
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What critics compared King of Kings to
It was produced by a man named Samuel Bronston, who for a short span of time in the '60s was hellbent on making himself a star in the world of florid history epics: the cynical among us might notice that Cecil B. DeMille had just died, leaving a vacuum in the world of gigantic spectacles, one that a a cunning producer might be able to jump into, especially if he had the balls to title his first movie in that vein almost, but not quite, the exact same as DeMille's much-loved 1927 The King of Kings , to which it is otherwise not related.
This movie is no more anti-Jewish than Jesus Of Nazareth, or King Of Kings, or Jesus Christ Superstar, or The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Moreover, the movie doesn't even try to encapsulate the Christian message in the way that the second "King of Kings" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told" did so lovingly.
Which is to say that, in its presentation of everything from Jesusâ?? interrogation by the Sanhedrin (and later by Pilate) through to the crucifixion itself, the film (adapted by Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald from the four Gospels and, controversially, from the published visions of a pair of 19th-century nuns) does not differ significantly in content or ideology from the modern cinemaâ??s other mainstream renderings of these events (Nicholas Rayâ??s King of Kings, Zeffirelliâ??s Jesus of Nazareth, et al.).
Strangely, Scorsese was inspired by -- and dearly loves -- those humongous pageants made in the 50's and 60's like The Robe, King of Kings, and The Bible.
After all, Nicholas Ray was an agnostic, but that didn’t stop him from directing one of the best of the religious epics, the 1961 “King of Kings.”
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That was a boorish reference to Ray's youth rebellion pic "Rebel Without a Cause."
Despite being churlishly described at the time as 'I Was a Teenage Jesus' (in reference to the youth rebellion of Rebel Without a Cause), this is one of the most interesting screen versions of the Gospels.
Again, this isn't the first thing I think of when I think of Nicholas Ray (though I guess I can see traces of Rebel Without a Cause in some of the picture), but it is great, counter-intuitive filmmaking.
What’s more, Philip Yordan’s screenplay and the unfussy direction by Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) allow the film to sometimes tread off the beaten path of the other religious epics of yesteryear.
In the past, Jesus films have generally sought to cover the whole sweep of the gospel story, whether according to one particular Gospel (e.g., The Gospel According to Matthew ; The Gospel of John ) or synoptically (e.g., King of Kings; “Jesus of Nazareth” ).
Only someone serious about religion in general and Catholicism in particular could have made "Dogma," but those expecting a modern version of "The Song of Bernadette" or "King of Kings" are going to find themselves dazed and confused.
The long, rich history of bible based movies has shown that secular filmmakers often make the more interesting films ( The Gospel According to St. Matthew , King of Kings ) due to their ability to step outside of the box and look at scripture in a different light.
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Such movies were big, in every way, in the '50s and '60s, when pictures like Ben-Hur , Quo Vadis , King Of Kings , The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told regularly ran between two-and-a-half and four hours, their vast desertscapes rendered in widescreen, CinemaScope and VistaVision to tempt viewers away from their 4:3 TV screens.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Directed by Andrew Adamson
Themes
Thus, despite its enormous secular appeal, "The Chronicles of Narnia" could also be called the most effective and moving religious picture since Nick Ray's "King of Kings."