User reviews

"I have seen two things which I cannot reconcile: A man dead without question, and that same man alive again." Clavius (Fiennes) is a Roman Tribune who has just been told to go complete a crucifixion where a Sentinel has refused. The next day he is tasked with making sure the body stays in the tomb. When he arrives in the morning and finds the tomb empty the course of human history is changed forever. Many of these religious themed movies fall in a trap of becoming too cheesy and too in your face for a main stream audience. This one is an exception. As expected there are some very religious aspects to this, but its never in your face or distracting enough to make you feel like you are being preached to. In fact even though everyone knows the story of this movie they never use the name Jesus. The movie is movie of a detective/missing body movie that a religious epic. For that reason the movie is main stream, watchable and something I did like a lot more than I expected to. Overall, a religious movie for the masses that feels like an actual movie and not a Sunday school lesson. I give this a B.

With the most recent Biblical movies that Hollywood has come out with, Noah and Exodus, the main complaint, at least from the Christian viewer-base, was that they didn't stick to the accuracy of the Bible; in this film they do - so it has that going for it, if you're a Christian.

At the top of the IMDb page it lists this movie as Action, Adventure, and Drama; but in reality it's pretty much just drama. There is a 3 minute action sequence at the beginning and that is about it. It's not bad that it's Drama, but it is a slower paced movie - I only point this out because that is one of things I like to know when going into a movie.

The movie itself wasn't terribly exciting, but for the Christian audience, who like to see portions of the Bible "brought to life", I think it will find a decent viewer ship. That being said, if it's Friday night and you're looking for a fun movie, then this probably isn't it.

Thankfully, this isn't another "God's Not Dead" where they smack you in the face over and over again with how awesome Christians are and how terrible atheists are - it basically just sticks to a fictional storyline of what might have happened to a Roman centurion who is in charge of finding the missing body.

The bottom line is this movie is the very definition of "good" to me, not bad, but not great...just good.

Risen gave a fresh but solemn view of the biblical story of the aftermath of Jesus's crucifixion as it tells the story through the eyes of a conflicted and emotionally drained Roman soldier named Clavius. Clavius seems more of a tired observer with his deep stare and mellow manner, and he seems appalled by the violence that the Roman soldiers perform, violence that he himself is called on to perform as well. He is tired of it all and wants to retire to a quiet life with a family, without witnessing any more deaths. None-the-less, duty demands that he kill from time to time, which he dutifully does, and he seems half mortified over this, and half compliant. During the battle in the beginning of the movie, Clavius apathetically kills a Jewish rebel, and later, during the tri-crucifixion scene, he orders a Roman soldier to break a prisoner's leg as he's dying on the cross, then runs his spear through Jesus's ribs, and he's no more bothered by this than if someone fender-bendered him at the supermarket.

The way Fiennes played his role as a troubled Roman official was intriguing, capturing civilians to question them about the whereabouts of Jesus's body, then dismissing them at will. The viewer expected Clavius to perhaps resort to violence or torture to get his captures to speak and reveal where Jesus's body is, knowledge that he desperately needed to satisfy his commander, Pontius Pilate. However, Clavius never quite went that far, either out of compassion or exhaustion. While Fiennes was cast well, Curtis, who plays Jesus, is a cross between a California hippie and a happy skateboard dude in a Coke commercial. In his final good-bye scene, Jesus glibly calls across the sand yelling his farewell as if mom was telling her kids to be good while dad's in charge.

Clavius's young side kick Lucius is played by Tom Felton, and unlike Draco, Lucius follows Clavius around looking confused. Bartholomew was my favorite character. Clavius demands that Bartholomew tell him where Jesus's body is, and Bartholomew grins flippantly and conveys that he ain't telling nothing'! Clavius interrogates him more harshly, kicks him to the ground, and Bartholomew gets up and slowly approaches Clavius, solemnly bends down to his ear, and says, "he's everywhere!" Then Bartholomew beams and prances away; the joke's on Clavius! The only more comical scene was when Clavius asked a group of men, "Does any of you know Mary Magdalene?" and all of them raised their hands. One more -- I was amused when Mary Magdalene looked like Miss Karate Woman beats Godzilla when she kicked an advancing soldier out of her way and escaped through a stone window. Mary is cast well, but her role is too brief, as is all the twelve disciples who are never given any individual definition (except for Simon, who sometimes pouts, and who sometimes is as happy as Santa Claus). Pontius Pilate is old and whiny and is fixated on not upsetting public opinion. Maybe he was really like that, but they don't show the inner turmoil he must have felt being forced to kill an innocent man to placate the masses.

We all know the ending, but Risen takes an unorthodox (if you will) direction. We see facial expressions of shock and realization that tell the story better than computer-generated special effects, and we are constantly grounded into this time period with the frequent buzzing of flies over rotting bodies, hair filled with dust and sand, broken statues of the gods, and earthquakes that crack massive stone gates. Thus, Risen shows instead of tells, and doesn't preach, thank God.

Risen is a Biblical Drama/Adventure film that follows Roman Tribune 'Clavius' (Joseph Fiennes) who is tasked with investigating the disappearance of the body of 'Jesus of Nazareth', who has been rumoured to have resurrected. This movie was a very pleasant surprise as i went into it expecting just an average film about a story that has been represented on the big screen many many times, but i got a very interesting, and dramatic film that had me hooked right to the very end. Many of these biblical films do touch on many of the same beats, but this film approached the story in some interesting ways and offered enough new to differentiate it from the others. The film featured some excellent/very good and convincing performances, but also had one or two miscasts. The story progressed at a steady pace for most of the film making it very easy to follow, and the film was also accompanied by a pretty good soundtrack that i did not expect at all.

One thing this film did with its story that really worked in its favour was tell the story through the eyes of a non-believer, and that added so much more to the story and more interest in the film. This added element let the story take turns that you wouldn't get from just an average biblical film and was great to see. The film also 'looked' very good in terms of the scenery and cinematography, it was very subdued and didn't really have grand set pieces and scenery that were obviously CGI. This really helped the film seem very grounded and i couldn't be distracted by any obvious CGI.

I have to say that i enjoyed the last 2/3 of the film much more than the first 1/3. I felt that there were some pretty big pacing issues in the beginning where it either felt like it was progressing too slow or it was moving too fast. There was a lot of jumping through time and skipping over quite a few scenes, and it was quite jarring at times. But as the story developed it quickly flowed at a very steady pace for the rest of the film and i quickly forgave it for its earlier blunders. In terms of performance, Joseph Fiennes was fantastic in the film as 'Clavius', he was the standout in the film and put in a very convincing and engaging performance that carried the film, especially early on. There were also good performances from other side-characters who elevated the film especially later on, but they weren't all good. Peter Firth who was cast as 'Pontius Pilate' was really not good at all, the way he delivered his lines felt very forced and not natural at all. Tom Felton was also a complete miscast, he just did not work at all as a Roman Soldier and his dialogue was very wooden and fake and just gave the impression that he was overacting and did take me out of it a little.

So in the end this was a surprisingly very good biblical film that offered enough new elements to this familiar story to differentiate it from the countless other similar films. This film would have been much better had they cast someone other than Tom Felton, as he was bringing down the film when Joseph Fiennes was putting in a fantastic performance. It's no 'Passion of the Christ' but it is better than a lot of other biblical films to come out in recent years.

7.3/10

I am a show biz professional and tony voter and this is a lovely movie with a breathtaking performance by Joseph Fiennes. He is absolutely wonderful with an authentic disciplined and beautiful arc to his work.

If you are believer than you have to envy Joseph Fiennes playing a Roman Tribune who was the first outsider to witness the seminal event of human history, the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension into heaven. In fact the story of Risen which is a film about something I always wanted to see made is done from the Roman point of view.

Although when Jesus was crucified the Emperor Tiberius had absolutely no intention to leave the Isle of Capri where he had given himself over into all manner of debauchery (see I Claudius) it's an impending visit that is the reason for Judean Governor Pontius Pilate's concern. It's why for instance he ordered the arrest and trial of a former carpenter turned itinerant preacher named Yeshua in Hebrew. As Pilate Peter Firth puts Fiennes and his new assistant Tom Felton in charge.

It is known that this Yeshua predicted in three days that he would arise from the dead, some precautions are taken and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea is opened by some magic and there's no body there. That starts what in effect is a police investigation with the Romans reaching out to their usual group of stoolies like any police force does. For Fiennes eventually he finds some real proof positive.

The Gospels aren't very clear as to the events of the next few weeks. I recall that it is said that Jesus just hung out with his disciples, was seen by a few witnesses, what we would call unconfirmed sightings as per the authorities who were the Romans. In this film Cliff Curtis as Jesus even heals a leper on the shores of the sea of Gallilee before his ascension.

For any who are expecting grand pageantry like King Of Kings or The Greatest Story Ever Told this ain't the film to seek it. Curtis is quite the workingman, dressed like a carpenter or any other tradesman would be of the time. This is a man who hung out with fishermen and a lowly bureaucrat in Matthew. No white raiment for this interpretation of Jesus. It's only when he heals the leper and at the end makes the ascension to heaven that you know he's special. In fact compare this film's interpretation of that event with Max Von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

Risen is a well crafted piece of cinema with Fiennes as our witness/protagonist giving a great performance. Risen will do well in more than the Christian film circuit.

I have to start by saying that it's a shame this film hasn't got the acclaim that it deserves.Why?Because it is a film that it has to do with the Christian religion and generally in today's society these kind of films aren't politically correct, if you know what i mean. I am a Christian Orthodox myself and i have to say that this movie ''touched'' me and moved me. It covers the period from the Crucifixion of Christ till his Ascension,but not through the eyes of a disciple or a follower of his.It's how a Roman tribune witnesses it, trying to find the body of Christ after his Resurrection. Tribune Clavius played superbly by Joseph Fiennes is ordered by Pilate to find the body of Christ because the Romans believed it was stolen. I don't want to say anymore because i don't want to spoil it,but through his quest for the truth he will experience things that he wouldn't believe if he hadn't seen them with his own eyes.The scenery is excellent and there is no exaggeration in the story. There is also an evident respect by trying to tell the story in a very honest way and not to add any unnecessary visual effects, just to make it extremely dramatic. Again Joseph Fiennes is excellent and he should be very proud of his performance. That is an Oscar winning performance in any other film, but as i have said because it is a religious film it hasn't got him the praise that he should got. Overall an excellent film, that for those who have read and know the facts, will in my opinion be a classic.

I must confess that I am a retired Catholic with strong antipathy towards all organized religion. Having stated that, I can still recommend Risen as a well made and well intentioned film by director Kevin Reynolds. The cast is uniformly excellent, with the lead, Joseph Fiennes as a Roman soldier drawn into the political intrigue at Jesus'(Yeshua here), Crucifixion and resurrection. Peter Firth is Pilate, the ultimate politician and deal maker. He uses Clavius(Fiennes) to track down the body of Yeshua after he goes missing after the required three days. It is, of course, a familiar story to most of the world. Clavius leaves no stone unturned(pardon the pun) in his search for the messiah. He eventually tracks down the twelve disciples and through a series of mysterious events, is transformed into a new man. Separating my own skepticism from the artistic merit of Risen is easy. It is a beautifully shot cinematic experience without the overdone violence of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, an extremely unpleasant viewing experience. Kevin Reynolds kept it simple and straight forward without a preaching tone. Risen is worth your time.

Acceptable and memorable film in which a Roman Agent : Joseph Fiennes along with his helper : Tom Felton are commissionated to resolve rumors of the resurrection of an executed convict : Cliff Curtis .In 33 AD in a remote part of the empire called Palestine , sent to to disprove the resurrection and on a spiritual quest the Tribune discovers faith, friendship , wonderful events and a revelation that could shatter the Roman Empire to find the body of Jesus Christ . This is the thrilling tale of a quest to uncover the mystery of all mysteries and while an officer finds out a surprising truth , to discover the body of Jesus Christ who rose from the dead .

Here is treated the Resurrection as a mystery thriller including noisy action , fights , suspense , intrigue and pursuits. This is an interesting treatment of the political and religious thought-world of the time convincingly developed and the intent of the filmmakers is ultimately both ambitious and entertaining. Interpretations are awesome, Joseph Fiennes as the doubtful Tribune gives a magnificent acting , he plays a hard-nosed investigator who finally finds out the marvelous truth , he rises to the occasion especially in the crucial last half-hour . Peter Firth is a credible governor Pontius Pilatus who sends Tribune Clavius off on a dangerous mission. And a nice support cast mostly formed by Spanish actors playing Apostles and Jews as Thomas: Jean Cornet, Andrew:MarioTardon, Thaddeus:Lorente, Joseph Arimatea: Antonio Gil , Jose: Luis Callejo, and Maria Botto as Mary Magdalene. All of them deliver some insightful dialogs.The picture has a Christian point of view that holds interest , delivering an enjoyable Catholic vision fitting itself to religious canon. This is an Usa-Spain coproduction being well set in Malta and Almeria ,Andalucia .Colorful and adequate cinematography by Lorenzo Senatore. Special mention for musical score marvelously composed by Roque Baños , plenty of catching and evocative sounds.

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Kevin Reynolds . Kevin is a good craftsman with hits and flops , including titles as Robin Hood,The beast of the war, Waterworld, 187 , Fandango , Tristan and Isolda. Rating : better than average , well worth watching .

This film by Kevin Reynolds had two previous renditions: 1987 titled The Inquiry by Damiano Damiani with Keith Carradine , Harvey Keitel, Phyllis Logan and 2oo6 The Final Inquiry by Giulio Base with Daniel Liotti , Dolph Lundgren, Monica Cruz , Ornella Muti.

Set in Jerusalem in AD33, this is the tale of Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a Roman tribune tasked with finding the body of Yeshua (Cliff Curtis) to destroy the rumours that he is the Messiah.

For Yeshua, read Jesus. It's a tale we know well, but Clavius has yet to discover the truth. His hard bitten Roman intellect, born out of military service and harsh necessity, refuses to accept the supernatural tale unravelling before him. Pontius Pilate (Colin Firth) exerts increasing pressure, needing to quell unrest before the Emperor arrives. What follows is a well played and involving detective story, as Clavius pursues clues and suspects in search of the truth and a body.

His search eventually leads him to a spiritual awakening, and the film changes. It's no longer a detective story. It's a story about something much bigger and I don't need to tell you what that is.

Fiennes is very good as Clavius. Convincing both as the put upon tribune, under pressure to solve the mystery of the missing body, and as the man for whom everything changes.

For this viewer, this is an interesting take on an oft told tale, from a very different perspective. If you are an atheist without an open mind, this probably isn't for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend it.

I was under the mistaken impression that this was a detective mystery set in Biblical times where two Romans are asked to investigate the death of Jesus. Superficially that is the premise of the story, but rather than a detective mystery it is more of a "faith film". People who are looking for a faith film will be more pleased with the film than I was.

The film seems more like a docudrama than a film, as the acting is certainly understated and the sets are not exactly overwhelming. Nonetheless it has appeal, and the acting of Joseph Fiennes (the Roman detective), Cliff Curtis (Jesus), and Maria Botto (Mary of Magdala) seems sincere.

There are problems with the film, the major one being the depiction of Mary as a street walker (which she wasn't) and the de-emphasis of her role as a disciple. As such the film has a view of the life of Christ which is more mid 20th Century than contemporary views.

I don't see where this film adds anything to the pantheon of films about the life of Jesus. It's not a bad film, and as I said, if you're looking for a faith film you will enjoy it.

For a fallen-down Catholic boy like me, seeing Risen, a take on the weeks after Christ's Resurrection, should have offered me a year's supply of cynicism. As it turns out, the film was a pleasant trip back to the days when I did believe, when awe was a companion of my faith.

This uninspired Biblical thriller shows a powerful Roman tribune, Flavius (an underplaying to good effect Joseph Fiennes), ordered by Pilate (Peter Firth) to get rid of the Nazarene, and after His resurrection, find Him, and kill Him again. With restraint, director Kevin Reynolds makes even me a brief believer because the actors, from Cliff Curtis (Yeshua--Jesus) to Mary Magdalene (Maria Botto), play their roles with a natural affection that's supported by no swelling music or dazed looks.

But it's Fiennes who impressed me most: As he plays a character who is probably meant to be a surrogate for doubters like me in the audience, he actually makes us believers for the moment. So dedicated he is to proving this Messiah a hoax that his growing belief becomes a balm for our disbelief.

Beyond this nicely played worship is a set that looks like it came from a hundred other "B" movie sword and sandal epics. Yet, the underplayed plot, which pretty much follows the New Testament depiction of Christ's resurrection, has a quiet charm that reminds us of the Biblical text that needs no resurrection: It is with us forever.

Mixture of facts and fiction. It is interesting to see the story through the eyes of Roman Official. It is also interesting to see him discovering the Risen Jesus himself. There is no records or even well documented tradition that it happened but though it is fiction, in fact it could happen. Unfortunately the action in Galilee is too much of mixing facts and fiction. It does not sell well. But in general portraying Jesus and the Apostles in each movie of this kind is a challenge. Overall, for those who know the Gospel well this film might be interesting and just interesting. For those who do not know the Gospel it might be confusing. But the message is there. And it counts.

Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is a Roman military Tribune in 33 AD Judea. He puts down a rebellion by Barabbas. After the latest crucifixion, rumors spread that a man named Yeshua (Cliff Curtis) is set to rise again. Pilate (Peter Firth) assigns Clavius and his aide Lucius (Tom Felton) the task of investigating the impossible tale.

It's always nice to take a different spin on familiar iconic stories. This is one of the most iconic. It starts with Barabbas as a heroic rebel leader. While that's part of Biblical tradition, I like more the other interpretation of him as a lowly murderous bandit. It just makes the injustice of the pardon greater. The heroic version irked me while watching this. There are bits of good biblical yarn. It's not anything earth shattering. It's a nice and easy religious film.

It is pure coincidence that I watched Kevin Reynolds' Risen right after finishing Andrei Tarkovsky's body of work, but Tarkovsky's thematic focuses and motifs have really colored my reading of the 2016 film. It didn't influence my overall opinion of Risen, but it does provide some interesting context about why I think this film succeeds when it succeeds and fails when it fails.

The story follows Joseph Fiennes' Clavius, a Roman Tribune, in Judea at the time of Christ. After putting down a small rebel faction led by Barrabas, he returns to Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) who gives him a new mission. The Jewish messianic figure, Yeshua (Cliff Curtis), has been crucified. Clavius is to go to the place of skulls and end the man's suffering to bring an end to the riotous Passover that just swept over Jerusalem. Clavius is a cynic and materialist. His objective in life is to acquire power and wealth to eventually see a day without death, as he puts it to Pilate. When he arrives at the crucifixion, his men are moved by the death of Yeshua, but Clavius is not. It's another task to be had, and he's perfectly willing to hand off the body to Joseph of Arimathea since it means that the task is done.

That's not the end of the story, though. The Jewish authorities come to Pilate and demand guards at Yeshua's tomb to prevent the disciples from stealing the body and claiming him to be risen after three days, as Yeshua had prophesized. Clavius puts two men on the tomb and goes home to the garrison. The next day, the guards are gone, the tomb looks like it has burst open, and the huge stone cover is a dozen feet from the entrance while the body is yet to be found.

What follows is Risen at its best. It's an investigation into the impossible by a materialist determined to find the truth. He needs to find Yeshua's body to help put down the new cult, especially in the face of the Roman Emperor's impending arrival. And yet, the evidence he's hearing from witness testimony doesn't make sense. There's the blind woman who insists she heard Yeshua's voice days after his death. There are the two guards who ran to the Jewish authorities afterwards out of fear of their Roman masters, telling obviously inconsistent tales of Yeshua's disciples overcoming them in the night. There's the apostle Bartholemew and the woman Mary Magdalene who look at Clavius with the eyes of zealots completely of the belief that Yeshua has returned.

Why I think of Tarkovsky in context with Risen is this section, especially Nostalghia. Andrei was a cynic with nothing to believe, much like Clavius. Domenico's faith is similar to the zealous faith of Magdalene and Bartholemew. These demonstrations of faith in the face of no solid evidence, pushing Clavius past his cynicism, and it's strongly compelling.

And then...Clavius witnesses a miracle himself. The moment itself is strong, and I think it would have worked better as the end of his actual story. Instead it's the midpoint, and Clavius ends up joining up with the apostles on a trip to Galilee. It's not that this journey is bad, but it is far less interesting and compelling than what came before. What's more interesting to watch? A man finding faith in something he can't see but can't deny? Or a man finding faith while witnessing actual miracles? To bring up Tarkovsky again, the journeys of his characters were compelling largely because they were about men finding faith in a world of Silence, needing to find meaning in a world where materialism didn't do enough to give their lives purpose. Actually witnessing miracles, like world peace breaking out at the completion of Andrei's task, just wouldn't be as interesting.

Clavius becoming witness to the apostles' journey also muddles the narrative focus of the film. There's a sudden influx of new characters, mostly Simon Peter, who help try to provide answers and context around the open questions left by Yeshua's resurrection. None of this is really bad, and the quest for further illumination isn't completely uncompelling, but it is less interesting than what came before.

A different tact, I think, that would have kept the film from declining in quality in its second half would be to have Tom Felton's character, Lucius, the new second in command for Clavius, become the main character. Assume Clavius has reached his own faith, and Lucius, in pursuing Clavius towards Galilee, Lucius would question how his materialist superior officer become a zealot. Lucius could go through a similar journey towards faith without direct evidence. Most people have faith without direct evidence, and the revelation of evidence for a character ends up less compelling to audiences because it's no longer relatable.

I ended up mixed on the film overall after the really compelling first half that I kind of loved. There's an interesting story in the first half and a far less interesting journey in the second. Well produced with a strong sense of making the most of real world locations and fairly well acted, Risen could have been more interesting than it ends up being.

It's nice to see a Christian film make an effort to stick a little closer to its source material than, say, Hollywood's special-effects-laden in-name-only "adaptations" of Noah's story from Genesis and Moses' story from Exodus. It's also nice to see the well-known story from Scripture as told from the slightly different perspective of an otherwise anonymous Roman tribune. Best of all is seeing the actors put some effort into their performances so that we in the audience don't feel we're merely looking at some cardboard cut-outs lackadaisically reciting their lines from the script.

Being better than Hollywood garbage like Noah (2014) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) is a rather low bar for this movie to clear, however. Moreover, while expecting Risen to live up to something as brilliantly well-crafted as Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ (2004) might be setting the bar awfully high, I rather have to fault the movie for not being as good as Catherine Hardwicke's Nativity Story (2006) or even the direct-to-video animated Jesus: He Lived Among Us (2011). Honestly, a few tweaks could have made this movie much more of a contender.

To be sure, contriving for the tribune responsible for Jesus execution and for the unit guarding Jesus' tomb to be the same person, and giving him the name Clavius (from the Latin for "nails") to promote him to this movie's protagonist is an acceptable bit of artistic license, though I think the movie's makers could have gotten a lot more mileage out of following a named and known historical figure the way Christian novelist Paul L. Maier did with his historical novel about Pontius Pilate. (I still long for the day some movie makers dare to adapt that story to the big screen.) I could even have forgiven it for its canonical errors of portraying Mary Magdalene as a former prostitute (which she most definitely wasn't) and suggesting the guards at Jesus' tomb had actually been getting drunk that evening (they most certainly had not) if it had kept the quality of its storytelling consistent. After all, I was willing to overlook a few of Mel Gibson's mistakes in The Passion (including the one about Mary Magdalene, no less) on the same grounds.

Pilate and Clavius in particular are fun to watch throughout much of the movie, and some of their lines were particularly witty, though I would have liked to hear some more. Pilate's sardonically asking Clavius "Did you win?" when he reports to him in something less than a presentable condition right after a battle, for instance, was a good line, but I kept waiting for Clavius to make some witty retort ("You should see how the other side looks!") that he never did. To increase the potential irony, he also really should have made some snark about how frequent and forgettable these battles with Israelite insurrectionists were. ("The stones and arrows were raining down on our shields. In Judea, this is what we call 'Friday.'") While the circumstances under which Clavius is called upon to investigate Jesus' resurrection are awfully contrived, casting this as an open-ended mystery that focuses on the character development of the detective rather than the mystery to which we already know the outcome is a workable plot. In fact, this plot works perfectly fine, right up to the moment Clavius finally sees Jesus alive. While the story isn't completely over by then, this really should have been the climactic moment at which he either accepts or rejects the mystery's miraculous resolution. Instead, the movie makes the fatal mistake of forcing Clavius to continue putting off making this decision so he can tag along with Jesus' disciples to witness several more Scriptural events.

By the time the movie's former protagonist finally makes the decision he should have made back at the climax, it's not his movie anymore; and alas, it's not the movie we in the audience came to see either.

With nothing else to see, I went, somewhat reluctantly, to see the new Biblically inspired, movie, 'Risen' (which, as you can see, got good reviews on IMDb). Ostensibly about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, it's more a logical investigation imaginatively laid atop a history lesson, a key miracle of the New Testament, and a logical examination of rational thought challenged by inexplicable events. Told from the perspective of a Roman Tribune sent to investigate how Jesus' physical body disappeared from it's tomb, it's a story well told, seems historically authentic, and I (a lapsed Catholic/agnostic/skeptic) recommend it highly. It was also an interesting exercise in memory, as I strained to remember what I remember from hours of Catechism, and yearly celebrations of Good Friday, Easter, and the Feast of the Assumption...which turned out to be...not much.

There are parts which recall 'Life of Brian', it's a little bit long, the disciples resemble the inhabitants of the hippie commune in 'Easy Rider', Bartholomew is completely over the top, and the actor who plays Christ is iffy. But, then again, he is tasked with the impossible role of being man and God (just what expression would you choose if you played Christ?) without descending into camp farce. All in all, he does OK.

Joseph Fiennes plays the Tribune with authenticity, honesty, and an openness which allowed me to put myself in his place...how does a rational man deal with fundamental challenges to his heretofore solid as a rock, world? When do you surrender to faith when all the 'reason' in the world suggests that reason has little to do with it all?

It's a good movie, well worth seeing.

I liked this movie, even with some of its faults depicting a time in history. I specially like that they chose the Resurrection, because we already have many options about the Passion. And in fashion with all the crime scene investigation on TV here a Roman tribune investigates what happened to the body of Christ that the Romans expected to remain buried, but somehow the tomb was opened and empty. As a story for the screen it is entertaining and with convincing scenarios most of the time, as well as good acting. The research does show in uniforms, the tomb, houses and furniture of those times, and a few aspects of the Jewish Temple. The research is only half done about geographical locations in Galilee, which this production unfortunately depicts as a desert near an ocean; or about the contents of the Bible: details like who were the real witnesses, what the apostles really said, etc. but oh well, it's literary license and enjoyable as is.

Many reviews praise Risen but I can't agree. Compared with the emotions Gibsons The Compassion of Christ stirred up in me this movie lacks it - I watched the movie totally unmoved. I remember an old movie with a similar approach to the story of Christ's resurrection - The Robe directed by Henry Koster and in the role of the tribune Marcellus Gallio the great Richard Burton. If I compare those two movies I will always prefer the flick from 1953. Whereas the transition of the tribune in The Robe showed the inner conflict of a Roman officer in changing his belief, his view on the world, the transition in Risen is not really compelling/convincing. The best part of the movie is a battle between Romans and Hebrew insurgents at the beginning. The production value of Risen is good, but really bad is the soundtrack - it sounds like sth made for a TV or DVD-directly-production. In short: Risen is not that bad, but I myself was a little bored watching. Someone else already noted in his/her review - some of those Jesus younger behaved in some scenes like stoned hippies, which I watched with a chuckle. Some of these scenes had a little of the flavor of Montys Life of Brian. I guess this reaction of me and/or that layer of comic was not really intended by the director because in a whole I would sum up the flick as belonging to those kinds of movies who tend to be propaganda for the Christian belief.