▲ Posters of Three Christian Films-God’s Not Dead, Son of God, and Noah.

Korean ▶ [global news CheonJi] 구약 ‘노아’ 초림 ‘선 오브 갓’ 그리고 현재 ‘갓즈 낫 데드’

From Genesis which starts with the seven day world creation to Revelation which includes Jesus' Second Coming in the end is the bible written according to God’s will and has an absolute authority to Christian believers.
The Bible marks as the world-wide bestseller because it gives directions for the lives of the modern people even to the non-believers through its history and teachings.

As the life of the world becomes more heartless and devastated, the desire of believers waiting for Jesus' Second Coming is becoming deeper. Therefore, movie makers abroad continue to make religious movies based on the Bible and faith. Especially in 2014, Hollywood is flooded with religious movies. “Son of God,” the film version of Jesus' life story in "The Bible," an American cable TV show and "Noah," starring Russell Crowe as the leading act had already been released. What is in the process of production includes “Exodus: Gods and Kings” which is about the story of Moses starring Christian Bail as the lead, “Pontius Pilate” in which Brad Pete acts as Pilate, and “The Redemption of Cain,” which deals with the story of Gain and Abel.

But these religious movies are caught up in many controversies. It is because the producer’s intention is different from the Bible so it gives confusion to Christians and non-Christians. Let's find out the ripple effect and flip side of the Religion Movie through “Noah” whose motif is taken from the story of Noah's ark in the Old Testament; “Son of God” which is about Jesus public life in the time of the First Coming of Jesus and “God’s not Dead” which portrayed the reality of believers who are living in the second time of Jesus.

◆Noah’s ark which became a fantasy

"Noah," produced by Director Daren Aronophski and starring Russell Crow as the leading actor attracted much attention even before its opening for its vast scale and its director who have had a good reputation for his profound producing ability.

Director Aronophski said that "this movie gave a reality to the biblical story through the horror, hope and confliction which Noah’s family would have experienced (in the time of the flood)" and implied that the story of the movie was based on the producer’s interpretation rather than the biblical narrative. The movie boasts of excellent Mise-en-Scene and the best of cinematic techniques, but Aronophski's "Noah" is more of a Science Fiction fantasy rather than a truthful depiction of the Bible.

◆“Son of God” addressed the age but Unable to bring out the spirituality

The Israelites being persecuted by the Romans about 2,000 years ago. Jesus, who preached them the salvation and was crucified on behalf of their sin. “Son of God” directed by Christopher Spencer addressed Jesus' 3-year public life and tried to display biblical expression as originally put as possible.

However, a controversy is being raised regarding the character Nicodemus who was portrayed as the one taking central position. The movie expressed Nicodemus as a person who took a position of a mediator between Jesus and the high priests and even held Jesus funeral which gave more confusion to the audience. The story development that Jesus was crucified because of his deed against the political situation at that time is ironical. It leaves us missing for the movie does not imply the spiritual meaning of the scene of Pilate washing his hands and the real intention of Jesus' words; “I will rebuild the holy temple for 3 days.”

◆“God’s not Dead” Reveals the existence of God

“God’s not Dead” is a low-budget American film released last March which was successfully ranked the fifth in the box office. The movie is about Josh, a naive, hardheaded university student who is challenged to testify the existence of God by his philosophy professor.

It satirically points out the present situation of religious world which became disordered and corrupted from many religious opinions based on diverse theories, logics, hypothesis etc. and also adds reality by expressing religious confusion of the modern believers.

Today, the meaning in the religion movie differs in regards to each director's interpretation just like it is representing today's situation where numerous commentaries are being published due to the difference in the interpretation of each denomination on the Bible. It is felt that from the newly released movies in the first half of this year religion movies should be made more cautiously because it can become too provocative or lascivious by emphasizing one of the two- artistic and commercial- values.

By Lee Hyeon Jeong
tomato@newscj.com

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