Jesus is a motion picture released in 1979 depicting the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Luke in the Bible. The film was the brainchild of Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, who desired to present a biblically accurate retelling of the life of Jesus to people around the world in their own language.
History
Ever since 1950, Bill Bright dreamed of producing a motion picture that converted the story of Jesus as recorded in the Bible into a visual and audio message that could be used for evangelism purposes around the world. In the mid-1970s, a team of 500 Christian scholars and leaders from various organizations began a five year project to create a film that was historically and theologically accurate, unbiased, appealing to all ages, easily translatable, and of theater viewing quality. Accuracy was a major concern – filming took place on ___location in Israel, and after every day, the film was sent to a panel of biblical scholars for review. And instead of building up a back story for the film, like other Christian epics (The Ten Commandments, for example), the producers of Jesus strove to make a literal adaptation of the biblical text, boasting that virtually every word spoken in the film comes directly from the gospel of Luke.
The film was produced in 1978, at a cost of $6 million, most of which was donated, and filmed over several months in the middle east. Some places used in the film, such as the Jordan River and what is believed to be the home of Simon the Tanner were used. It was produced by John Heyman, and the role of Jesus was played by British Shakespearean actor Brian Deacon. Deacon, whose mother was Catholic and father was Protestant, says he was encouraged by both his parents at a young age to find his own way and neither's religious view was pushed on him. Former Jesus Film Project director Paul Eshleman, who was on ___location during much of the principle photography (and even had a small non-speaking role as a Roman soldier on horseback,) claims that Deacon was so committed to the film and its message that he often read several bible translations in order to make certain that he properly presented Christ's teachings.
Warner brothers released the film in U.S. theaters in 1979, where it earned a meager $4 million in the box office.
In 1981, Bill Bright organized the Jesus Film Project with the goal of accurately translating the film into other languages and showing them around the world. The first translation was done for the Tagalog-speaking people of the Philippines. The organization works with thousands of missionaries around the world to show the film in remote areas, sometimes with audiences who have never seen a motion picture. Distribution in the United States is also a priority, as millions of unsolicited tapes have been sent to addresses around the country. And in 2004, the organization made the film available for viewing on its website in over 300 languages.
The process of translating the film is not a simple matter of overdubbing. Months of research by linguists goes into each new translation project in order to maintain the strictest accuracy. When a script is finally approved, special care is taken to synch the new dialogue spoken by the carefully chosen voice actors with the mouth movements of the English speaking actors in the film as precisely as possible so that not only do the actors in the film sound like they're speaking the viewer's language, they look like it as well. Sometimes words have to be changed, but Christ's message must be accurate and concise.
Scenes for a version of the film for younger children, called "The Jesus Film for Children," were shot concurrently with the main production.
In 2001, a new opening depicting the creation of man, the expulsion from paradise, Abraham's aborted sacrifice of his son, and the angel telling the three wise men of the birth of their Savior was filmed to show how Jesus' life fits into the span of history.
An edited DVD version of "The Jesus Film" packaged with "Jesus: Fact or Fiction" was produced in 2003 by Inspirational Films. It features a section called the "Journey of Spiritual Discovery." Biblical scholars, historians, philosophers, and ministers answer specific questions relating to God, Jesus, Christianity, the archaeological, scientific, and historical accuracy of the bible, and also features testimony from many Christian men and women. Viewers can browse the numerous topics individually, or they can watch "Jesus" and activate a special "discovery glass" feature that, when prompted, will allow the viewer to access the comments of these experts during the film and learn more about the subject a particular scene brings up.
Criticisms
A frequent criticism of "Jesus" is that its depiction of the passion (suffering) of Jesus does not feature the crowning of Jesus with the thorns. Supporters of the film say this is due to the fact that the Gospel of Luke does not mention the crown of thorns. Although the opening of the film features a quote from John, the omission of the crown of thorns may have been a production decision to remain as accurate as possible to St. Luke's Gospel.
The premise of "Jesus" is said to be that it was made by evangelical Christians for evangelical Christians, and to present Jesus' life to inspire non-Christians to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. While fans of the film view it as a powerful witnessing tool, some, particularly liberal Christians, deride it as often overly-melodramatic and an attempt to commercialize the faith.
Statistics
As of late 2004, the official (and debatable) statistics from the Jesus Film Project are:
- 5.2 billion viewings (including multiple viewings by the same person)
- 200 million decisions for Christ
- 50 million Jesus Film videocassettes and DVDs in circulation
- 858 languages with completed translations of the film
- 229 languages with film transaltions in progress
- 228 countries where the film has been shown