THE NEW "A.D." FILM, AND OTHER FILMS ABOUT JESUS

THE  NEW  "A.D."  FILM,  AND  OTHER  FILMS  ABOUT  JESUS

By  Forrest  W. Schultz

     The new "A.D." film has one thing in common with the earlier films about Jesus:  Jesus is not portrayed correctly and almost none of the other characters are either.  For this reason  A.D. was a very great disappointment:  it was in no way deserving of the plaudits it received.  One thing did appear to be good about it -- the historical accuracy regarding the clothing of the characters, and other factors such as the streets and buildings.  There was a good film, intended as promotion and shown a week or so in advance, which noted all the efforts made to attain this accuracy.  What they should have done, instead of trying to act out the events, was to provide a documentary, noting for example, the garb of the high priest, the Roman soldiers, and Pilate, etc.  And the clothing they wore could have been placed on mannikins or statues and put into a museum.  The historical accuracy was great, but the acting in the film was abysmal -- you see one actor trying to act like the High Priest, another trying to act like Pilate, another trying to act like Jesus, etc. 

    But, this is not unusual -- I have never seen an accurate portrayal of Jesus in any of the many movies I have seen -- and the portrayal of the other characters are rarely ever well done either.

     Why is that??  Good question!