Books & Movies: Risen (Joseph Fiennes)

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.Great lines:"The gods are angry" [Lucius]. -- "One of them is [Clavius].""Did he say anything?" [Clavius] -- "It is finished [centurion].""I believe Yeshua will embrace you (Clavius) as a brother, even as you slew him" [Joseph of Arimathea]."I pray not to thee today, divine Mars, but to the God of the Hebrews, Yahweh. Hear me. Take back your favor in defense of these people I seek, and relinquish them to me. If you do this with clear and recognizable signs, I found two temples for you and initiate games in your honor" [Clavius]."They... are... everywhere!" [Bartholomew, on being asked where the disciples are hiding.]"But in the end, what does it matter? In a few years, that'll be us (a corpse)" [Pontius Pilate]."Welcome, Clavius. Come join us, brother; there are no enemies here" [Yeshua]."I have seen two things which I cannot reconcile: a man dead without question, and that same man alive again" [Clavius]."My right hand turned against me. How could he follow [Yeshua]?" [Pilate] -- "Perhaps it's true" [Lucius]. -- "Well, if it is, I'll kill him again" [Pilate]."I don't have every answer; we're astounded, too!" [Peter, to Clavius]"I don't even know what to ask" [Clavius]. -- "Speak your heart" [Yeshua]. -- "I can't reconcile all this with the world I know" [Clavius].Room to improve:Although grace is abundant, I would have liked a little more on repentance. Jesus is warm and accepting, smiling and encouraging, without any anger or rebuke. Perhaps he could have been a little more serious. On the other hand, he interacts relatively little with the religious establishment -- those whom we know he would have been strongest in his denunciations.At the end, Clavius walks off on his own -- he's an independent Christian. What about Christian community?Pentecost is missed out completely.The biblical consultant(s) made many errors, unless the screen writers paid little attention. Remarkable accuracy of detail often gives way to inaccuracy or unnecessary speculation.Strong points:The characters are real people. Believable dialogue.It was interesting seeing the foolishness of the cross through the eyes of a Roman soldier.Risen stimulates us to re-vision the events surrounding the life and death of Jesus.Good development of idea of Kingdom of God not being based on power.Jesus' bodily resurrection.  (It's not rationalized or spiritualized away.)No attempt to undermine faith (common in documentaries and even in some films about Christ), or promote sectarian doctrine.Clavius is forced to choose -- good!  We can all relate to him. Even though he still has some changing to do at the end of the film, so do we... None of us has arrived.