Possibly Jesus: On Christ and Christ-Figures
Abstract
Coates points out that there is a trend in criticism which attributes religious connotations to every cinematic work, often elevating it in an unjustified way. He cites analyses in which Christ is likened to such characters as Superman, John Connor of the Terminator, Neo of The Matrix or Tomek from Kieślowski’s A Short Film about Love, the movies in which redemption of the heroes comes to the fore. Their redemption and biblical names are not a sufficient reason to identify the heroes with Jesus or other biblical characters. Drawing on psychoanalysis, Coates looks for religious references at a deeper level to cite Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, Kurosawa’s The Idiot, von Trier’s trilogy, Jewison’s Jesus Christ Superstar and Wajda’s Pilate and Others.
- The text is a translation of an excerpt from the book Cinema, Religion and the Romantic Legacy by Paul Coates, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot 2003. © 2003 by Ashgate Publishing.
Keywords:
Christ, cinema, Christ-figuresReferences
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Authors
Paul Coateskwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
Profesor anglistyki na King’s College, University of Aberdeen w Szkocji. Wybrane publikacje: The Story of the Lost Reflection: The Alienation of the Image in Western and Polish Cinema (1985), Identyczność i nieidentyczność w twórczości Bolesława Leśmiana (PIW, 1986). Redaktor tomu Lucid Dreams: The films of Krzysztof Kieślowski (1999).
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