Bible Movies Meme
Carmen tagged me in this Bible Movies discussion originated on Broadcast Depth. Frankly, it puts me in a bit of a spot. I pride myself in being fairly film-savvy but I have had a hard time even coming up with Biblical movies I have seen. The Ten Commandments (1956), The Prince of Egypt (1998), and The Passion of the Christ (2004) may be the sum total of the list. I don’t know that any of them would be something that I would consider as “best” or even my favorites. They are good from a technical standpoint, but all have problems in the story department.
Bible movies are problematic that way. You have a lot of great plots and stories but for some reason moviemakers feel a need to change the stories they adapt. That can be a problem for normal stories let alone something as important as God’s Word! Maybe if some of the “minor” storylines were used that presented few theological problems and can stand some imaginative elaborations.
So, since I can’t really offer three favorites, here are just three of the many stories I would like to see tackled:
2 Kings 17:24-28 A short passage where lions kill Assyrian invaders because they do not respect God. They have to bring Hebrew priests in to learn how to worship God so that the lion attacks will stop.
1 Kings (various chapters) The story of Jezebel featuring Elijah as a supporting character. He would normally be the staring character, but I would like to see her story told right up to her cinematic downfall.
1 Kings 13 Keeping things in Kings, this story of the Liar, the Prophet and the Idolater is custom made for a movie. Come to think of it, maybe I should trade Jezebel out for the story in 1 Kings 20 and make it a lion trilogy.
Not sure who I should tag, so if you read this feel free to try it yourself. Let me know if you do, I need to build up a list of more Bible Movies to check out!
Bible movies are problematic that way. You have a lot of great plots and stories but for some reason moviemakers feel a need to change the stories they adapt. That can be a problem for normal stories let alone something as important as God’s Word! Maybe if some of the “minor” storylines were used that presented few theological problems and can stand some imaginative elaborations.
So, since I can’t really offer three favorites, here are just three of the many stories I would like to see tackled:
2 Kings 17:24-28 A short passage where lions kill Assyrian invaders because they do not respect God. They have to bring Hebrew priests in to learn how to worship God so that the lion attacks will stop.
1 Kings (various chapters) The story of Jezebel featuring Elijah as a supporting character. He would normally be the staring character, but I would like to see her story told right up to her cinematic downfall.
1 Kings 13 Keeping things in Kings, this story of the Liar, the Prophet and the Idolater is custom made for a movie. Come to think of it, maybe I should trade Jezebel out for the story in 1 Kings 20 and make it a lion trilogy.
Not sure who I should tag, so if you read this feel free to try it yourself. Let me know if you do, I need to build up a list of more Bible Movies to check out!
oo, i really like the idea of Jezebel--has a very shakespearian potential to it. nice choice.
ReplyDeletebtw, i felt a little film deprived when tagged, as well. tend to avoid bible films, in part for the reason you touch on. changing the story changes what we learn from it--about God as well as ourselves.
thanks for playing!
How about Judges 3:12-28?
ReplyDeleteYes, Phil. There is a lot of good material in Judges while were at it. Of course, it would have to be rated R!
ReplyDelete