Article on the Jesus film

One of the great things about The Passion of the Christ for those like me who are fascinated by Jesus films is that it is generating a good deal of interest in the history of Jesus films. This article takes a look at what is undoubtedly my least favourite of the Jesus films, the 1979 outing starring Brian Deacon, called simply Jesus, based on the Gospel of Luke:

'The Passion's' Precedent: The Most-Watched Film Ever?

The article is from the New York Times and is by Franklin Foer. I enjoyed his description of the film, including this line:

In terms of special effects, the film offers poofs of smoke and gauzy halos to suggest miracles and angels; a hissing snake and a booming voiceover represent the devil. In the scene in which the Romans beat Jesus, their punches obviously don't connect.

He also quotes The New York Times's Tom Buckley's description of it as "painfully monotonous." It's interesting to see, though, that the Jesus Film Project are not at all afraid of the new film; indeed they are embracing it as an evangelistic opportunity and their web page currently headlines with Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ".