Jesus (1979 film)

Plot

During the days of Emperor Augustus and King Herod the Great, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel, who tells her she will give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. Mary later visits Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who blesses her. During a Roman census, Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born in a manger. A week later, they present Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem, where Simeon blesses him as the Christ.

At age twelve, Jesus becomes separated from his parents during Passover and tells them he was in his Father's house. Years later, under Emperor Tiberius and King Herod Antipas, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit descends. Jesus withstands temptation by Satan in the wilderness. In Capernaum, he recruits disciples Peter, James, and John after a large catch of fish.

He resurrects the daughter of Jairus and appoints twelve apostles, including Matthew and Judas Iscariot. His followers include women such as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. The film covers teachings including the Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, and parables like the Pharisee and the tax collector and the Sower. Jesus forgives a sinful woman at the home of Simon the Pharisee, calms a storm on the Sea of Galilee, exorcises a demon-possessed man at Gerasa, feeds five thousand at Bethsaida, and is transfigured on a mountain with Moses and Elijah.

Production

Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, aspired to make a compelling film about Christ. In 1976, producer John Heyman approached Bright to fund his Genesis Project, which aimed to put the entire Bible on film. After viewing Heyman's short film on the first two chapters of Luke, Paul Eshleman convinced Bright to endorse the project despite objections from other Campus Crusade leaders who opposed a non-Christian making a biblical film. Most dialogue comes from Luke, chosen after Heyman consulted clergy and scholars.

Heyman stated, 'I believed the best-selling book in the world would sell a lot of 8-millimeter and 16-millimeter films.' The filmmakers adhered closely to Luke rather than embellishing the account. After failing to secure Hollywood funding, the film was financed primarily by Campus Crusade supporters Bunker and Caroline Hunt for $6 million. Over 450 leaders and scholars reassessed the script for biblical accuracy.

Historical accuracy was ensured by using clothing, pottery, and other props made with first-century techniques. Brian Deacon, a Shakespearean actor, was cast as Jesus for his 'ethnically correct' olive complexion.

The cast included 45 main actors, mainly Israelis, and 5,000 extras, with Yemenite Jews cast as background extras because their facial features had changed least over 2,000 years. Filming began in late November 1978 in Tiberias, Israel, and continued for 31 weeks across the country. Three days of work were refilmed because eucalyptus trees, introduced to Palestine much later, appeared in shots.

Release

Warner Bros. Pictures handled the U.S. theatrical release of Jesus, putting it into 330 theaters mostly in the South and West. This was an unusual move for a major studio, as the film was an explicitly religious project. To get audiences in seats, Eshleman coordinated with evangelical and Catholic churches to offer group trips and ticket discounts. By the end of 1980, about four million people had seen it.

While Christian viewers embraced it, the film failed to draw a wider audience and ended up a financial disappointment, leaving John Heyman's Genesis Project $4 million in debt. It eventually played in 229 countries, with release dates including Australia in April 1980, Portugal in April 1981, Sweden in November 1985, Finland in March 1986, Hungary in December 1990, and Czechoslovakia in 1991. Warner Bros. caught flak for releasing Jesus at the same time as Monty Python's Life of Brian, a satire that some religious leaders condemned.

The studio shrugged it off as offering something for everyone, but the Jesus producers considered suing over the conflict of interest. Despite showing crucifixion and flagellation, the film earned a G rating from the Motion Picture Association of America and an A from the British Board of Film Classification. In 1999, new footage was shot for The Story of Jesus for Children, a toned-down version released in 2000. A 2001 update added an opening sequence covering creation, the expulsion from Eden, Abraham's near-sacrifice, and Isaiah's prophecies.

A special VHS edition commemorating the September 11 attacks, with introductions by New York firefighters and police, came out in 2002.

Reception

Critics praised the film's 'meticulous attention to authenticity' but maligned it as 'painfully monotonous' and 'little more than an illustrated gospel, with nothing in the way of historical and social context. The Los Angeles Times called it a 'dull Sunday-School treatment of the life of Christ, meticulously but unimaginatively culled from Luke 3-24. Despite Bright's endorsement, Heyman's relationship with Campus Crusade deteriorated due to his perception that his contributions were overlooked.

Heyman objected to Campus Crusade making multiple versions, and when they produced The Story of Jesus for Children with new footage, he sued, claiming it damaged his reputation. The dispute was settled out of court, but relations remained poor. Regarding foreign reception, Seghal said, 'The events we witnessed were often bewildering... But what struck us most was the utter normality of those who were willing to risk their lives for Christ.

After reels were sent to remote settlements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, reports came back of audiences in tears and instant conversions. Distributor Brian Helstrom noted, 'You could see them physically jump back at the sight of the serpent tempting Jesus. When soldiers whip Jesus, you could hear grown adults crying. Jesus Film Project leaders state that as of May 2020 it has been viewed over 8.1 billion times by over 4 billion people, making it overwhelmingly the most watched movie of all time.

This claim has detractors, such as Evangelical leader Vinay Samuel, who said, 'These numbers are, to say the least, not gathered in a social-scientific way' and 'They have no way of knowing this. However, the Jesus Film Project reports that a research firm calculated known viewings from 1979 to 2015 as greater than 7.3 billion.

Did You Know?

• The first translation of the film was into Tagalog for the Philippines.
• The Mandarin Chinese version is widely distributed in China by the China Christian Council's Amity Foundation.
• A Hindi version was broadcast on Indian television as one of the Jesus Film Project's early projects.