RISEN
Joseph Fiennes as Clavius / Tom Felton as Lucius / Peter Firth as Pontius Pilate / Cliff Curtis as Yeshua / María Botto as Mary Magdalene / Mark Killeen as Antonius / Mish Boyko as John / Selva Rasalingam as James / Stewart Scudamore as Peter Directed by Kevin Reynolds / Written by Reynolds and Paul Aiello |
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RISEN is a
decidedly and refreshingly different type of faith based film altogether,
which is ultimately what makes it so uniquely engaging to sit through.
Like countless other Biblically themed films that came before it,
this one takes a very novel approach in telling the Greatest Story Ever
Told in the sense that it chronicles Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and
resurrection from the perspective…of an initially skeptical,
non-believing Roman soldier. In
many instances, RISEN is more of an enticing mystery thriller and an
ancient police procedural than a one-note religious melodrama, but it
still holds true to the tenants of scripture, albeit while using some
dramatic license. The Roman soldier
in question is Clavius, played by a thanklessly decent Joseph Fiennes in a
performance that’s much more richly layered than this genre usually
allows for. The film opens
with a rather small scale, but nevertheless terrifically realized battle
sequence featuring Clavius and his army crushing a zealot revolution.
Returning home bloodied, bruised, and rightfully tired, all Clavius
wants is some downtime, but Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) instructs him to
oversee the last few hours of the crucifixion of a rumored Jewish
messiah, Yeshua (Hebrew word for Jesus, played by Cliff Curtis).
Begrudgingly, Clavius is forced to take a young partner with him in
Lucius (Tom Felton), and upon their initial departure to the crucifixion
site things seem…off to Clavius, especially when an earthquake hits on
their way to Golgotha. Clavius doesn’t think much of it afterwards, though, and
proceeds to see that Yeshua meets his end.
When Clavius
arrives it is he that orders the final stabbing of Yeshua as a final
deathblow. After his apparent
death, Yeshua is taken to a tomb that is to be officially sealed by
Clavius at Pilate’s orders. Things
go south for Pilate and Clavius when Yeshua’s body
goes…missing…without any reasonable and logical explanation.
Pilate demands that Clavius launch an investigation into Yeshua’s
disappearance in hopes of quelling any type of uprising from his
followers. This takes Clavius
on a detective-like journey where he looks for potential clues and tries
to locate Yeshua’s disciples to get even more answers.
Much to his amazement, Clavius does indeed get some closure, but
not the kind he was expecting: he discovers that Yeshua is indeed alive
and has been resurrected from the dead.
For all intents and purposes, he looks normal and healthy, despite
his barbaric treatment at the hands of the Romans.
Realizing the magnitude of his findings, Clavius calls off his
search – without informing Lucius and his crew of the fact that Yeshua is
alive – and then tries to deal with the more nagging issues of his past
atheism. Very film films
that I can recall have ever told a story of the miracle of Christ through
a non-believer’s eyes. RISEN, to its credit, is not another in an inordinately long
list of movies that perfunctorily deal with the death and resurrection of
Christ. The film certainly
doesn’t deviate from scripture in any tangible way, but it’s benefited
from the novel prerogative it takes in exploring it.
As a result, RISEN feels a lot more grounded and humanized than
most of Biblical films, and co-writer/director Kevin Reynolds (yes, the
same one that directed ROBIN HOOD:
PRINCE OF THIEVES and WATERWORLD) understands that the key to this
film’s success lies in how it hones its focus on the perception of a
relatable “outsider” to Christ’s teachings.
For the most part, RISEN deserves props for making honest efforts
to shake up overused faith-based genre conventions here and tell a
widely known story from an inventive vantage point. The film also
works as an effective mystery, even though seemingly everyone on the
planet that has picked up a Bible will know the story’s outcome before
even stepping foot in the cinema. Clavius
uses fairly sound deductive reasoning in his overall plan of attack in
investigating Yeshua’s disappearance: he questions everyone that was
directly and indirectly related to Yeshua, he explores all forms of
evidence that is unearthed, and he tries, as only he can, to make some
semblance of sense of it all. Again,
we all know where Clavius’ journey will unavoidably take him, but RISEN
still somehow works for the manner it takes viewers on a journey of
discovery with this inquisitive character.
It’s also compelling how the film – at least during its first
half – doesn’t really show Yeshua’s miracles, but rather relays eyewitness
accounts of them that are provided to Clavius, which in turn leads to his
evolution away from a staunch disbeliever when irrefutable evidence of
Yeshua’s resurrection surface. Clavius himself
is very fascinating character in RISEN.
Most other films about the crucifixion of Christ don’t afford
Roman characters many conflicted layers of depth.
The film almost becomes more of an examination of a soldier that
must force himself to come to grips with the shocking spiritual truths
that he crosses paths with during his search for the missing Yeshua, which
culminates with him realizing that, yes, Yeshua is far more than a flesh and blood
man. Joseph Fiennes is a
tremendously strong fit for this character and the underlining material,
as he’s very good at playing internalized characters that eventually let
their subjugated feelings out when dealing with a crisis of faith…or
lack or faith in Clavius’ case. He
begins the film as a man of fairly cynical and cold detachment that his job title
requires, but then later segues into a confused being of deep uncertainty, doubt, and ultimately
acceptance of the miraculous turn of events that unfolds before his very
eyes. RISEN is fairly strong as an intimate character driven
film, but one other thing that it also does well with casting is its
insistence to not cast another obligatorily blonde and blue eyed actor to
portray Jesus. I really
appreciated the choice of Cliff Curtis for the role, seeing as, for once,
we have a performer that seems to be physically and ethnically right for
Jesus (considering his time period and geographical setting) in ways that
countless other Biblical films don't understand.
Granted, RISEN still adheres to Hollywood formulas by having
British actors portray the Romans, so there's that. RISEN won’t convert atheists to Christianity. That much is clear. The least intriguing elements of the film occurs during its latter sections, during which time Clavius has written off his status as a Roman soldier and has joined with Yeshua’s flock, witnessing his miracles that are presented by Reynolds with such low key, B-grade nonchalance that they feel more like the product of a bargain basement budget than that of something powerfully moving. Still, RISEN gets a lot right: Its attention to historical detail is decent, especially in the film’s opening sections showing Clavius and his warriors using shrewd tactics to fend off hostile Hebrew insurgents. The film also doesn’t soft-pedal the material, but thankfully doesn’t go to the pornographic levels of violent carnage that were on nauseating display in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. To be fair, RISEN is transparently a piece of Christian faith propaganda, but it’s done with surprising and respectful tact, some solid and committed performances, and a distinct handling of its narrative that kept me engaged throughout, which is something that many other similar – and less enlightened - genre films like it have failed to do over the years |
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