DIRECTOR: Kevin Reynolds LEAD CAST: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton,
Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis
SCREENWRITER: Kevin Reynolds, Paul Aiello PRODUCER: Patrick
Aiello & company EDITOR:
Steven Mirkovich MUSICAL DIRECTOR:
Roque Baños GENRE: Religious film CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lorenzo Senatore DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures LOCATION: United States RUNNING TIME: 1
hour 49 minutes
Technical
assessment: 4
Moral
assessment: 3.5
CINEMA
rating: V 14
Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), the right-hand of Pontius
Pilate, is tasked to dig into the mystery of Christ’s resurrection. Assisted by
Lucius, both men go around the Jewish community to investigate and search for
the truth about the reported “resurrection” of the man who was crucified and
who died beyond doubt. Pontius
Pilate insists on putting an end to the rumors and prevent the uprising in
Jerusalem, so, Clavius and Lucius look further for the people they know were
close to Yahshua (Jesus) and to question them about what really happened,
urging them to divulge the truth about the missing body of the Messiah in
exchange for their freedom. The
jaded Clavius takes the assignment as just one of the tasks in the endless work
of maintaining Roman sovereignty over a people crazy over religion.
Holy Week offers a great way to
rest from work and mundane preoccupations while on the other hand focusing on
what awaits us after this life.
Easter, the season that reiterates for us the reality of a glorious life
after death, inspires us to take into consideration eternal life in whatever we
do while here on earth. That’s not
easy to do even during these holy days, and we all know that after Easter
Sunday it’s back to work for most of us.
There are, however, ways of “prolonging Easter”, so to speak, that we
can use in order to keep alive our innate longing for the eternal in spite of
this world’s busyness: the movies!
One
of the two movies that viewers and film critics alike have found to be
specifically uplifting for believers is Risen. (The other is Miracles from Heaven).
With clever use of technology, this resurrection themed movie from
Columbia emerges with splendid effect.
Part of the movie’s effectiveness in portraying a gospel truth is
opening the story with a cynical protagonist. Then, to end the story, instead of proving that the resurrection is a hoax, Clavius after
intensive investigation comes to believe in its authenticity.
Believer or not, one would not be
wasting one’s time seeing—or experiencing—Risen. Yes, there’s much violence, corruption,
and disrespect for human life in the movies (which compound the evil influence
through television, DVD, YouTube and other media outlets), but there is also
healing available for our wounded world, if only we would bother to look.
