{"id":112,"date":"2021-05-26T13:04:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T17:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totallyfilmi.toutes-directions.com\/totallyfilmi-wp\/?p=112"},"modified":"2021-05-26T13:04:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T17:04:50","slug":"malayalam-double-bill-jesus-1973-and-amen-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totallyfilmi.toutes-directions.com\/totallyfilmi-wp\/2021\/05\/26\/malayalam-double-bill-jesus-1973-and-amen-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Malayalam Double Bill: Jesus (1973) and Amen (2013)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This post first appeared on Totally Filmi on April 17, 2020.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easter weekend in the middle of a pandemic ends up as a bit of a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, there are no distractions and stresses; on the other hand, there is time to fill at a time when one is worried about the state of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was this then, that found me thinking of old comforts, of a time when singing in the church choir and poring over my children\u2019s missal (not to mention the Bible stories in comic book form that found their way into our house via an uncle who was an avid comic collector, which is also how I learned to love both Peanuts \u2013 in a newspaper my parents didn\u2019t get \u2013 and Prince Valiant \u2013 in a newspaper they did) formed a fundamental part of my life.  I\u2019d left the Catholic Church behind a long time ago, but there are times when I miss the moments of community and celebration involved in church life and festivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was with this in mind that I turned to the 1973 Malayalam film Jesus<\/strong>.  I\u2019d expected a pretty straightforward retelling of the life of Christ, and director P.A. Thomas does, indeed, stick fairly faithfully to all the New Testament highlights:  the foretelling of the birth of the son of God, the birth of Christ, the various miracles, the parables, the crucifixion and ascension to heaven — all rolled into a tidy two-hour package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jesus_001\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding at Cana.  Note the nifty halo and power lines appearing as he performs this miracle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I didn\u2019t expect, however, was that the film would be something I\u2019ve dubbed \u201cChristian mythological\u201d \u2013 reminding me very much of other mythological film traditions in Indian cinema (in which epic stories of the gods are often given a familiar masala treatment to make them both educational and, at the same time, highly entertaining).  Muralidas (who seems to have starred in just this one film, as if playing Christ was the high point and culmination of his acting career) gives us a Jesus who is rather stolid and ethereal, striking poses that reminded me of the statue my parents kept on a dresser, Christ with his sacred heart exposed.  What I didn\u2019t expect, however, was the rather lively portrayals of the court of Herod (with its Western dancers shaking a lot of tata).  Nor was I prepared for item-style numbers from Jayalalitha (as Salome) and Ushakumari (as Mary Magdalene).  The cherry on top was Gemini Ganesan as John the Baptist, even if his appearance is brief and his head ends up on that silver platter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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