The Black Messiah
Holywood's quest for the historical Jesus continues. Without even a decent pause for the snears to die down after Ron Howard's disappointing adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, we are now to be offered another challenge to traditional depictions of Christ. , to be premiered in Cannes this week, tells the story of the last forty-eight hours of Christ's life.
So far, so Passion of the Christ. The twist here, from director Jean-Claude La Marre, is that this film features a dark-skinned messiah, and explores (or exploits, as critics will suggest) some historical speculation that the historical Jesus may have been of African descent. Jean-Claude LaMarre, is a black actor, director, producer and writer -- you may remember his cameo in Malcolm X -- who directed Brothers in Arms, Gang of Roses, and the Go for Broke movies. The picture adorning this post is from (2003), with La Marre as a murdered Baby Face Malone, lying against the body of Lil' Kim. It's not quite , but you get the idea.
Color of the Cross will inevitably become embroiled in America's embattled race politics, but one can hope it will attract a more thoughtful reception in Europe.
Zeffirelli's (1977) is seen by some as the benchmark of the Jesus film genre, but left Jesus looking like in the minds of a generation of filmgoers. Yet even that rather reverential (if technocolor) re-telling of the Gospel story (yes, albeit with the help of Anthony Burgess as a screenwriter) courted controversy at the time. Scorsese's (1988), an adaptation of the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis courted considerably more controversy, but is, for my money, a vastly more interesting film -- in the main because of its willingness to see Jesus as a complex puzzle rather than a simple icon.
La Marre, who plays Jesus in Color of the Cross, says:
[This is] not about dividing Christians, but broadening their perspective. For centuries, Leonardo Da Vinci's portrayal of Jesus has been widely accepted. We are offering an alternative image. There's room for all. We will be seeking the Pope's blessing on this one.
Given La Marre's love of the Western -- another traditionally 'white' film genre -- it'll be interesting to see his treatment of the Jesus story. After all, cinema's Jesus genre is arguably another version of the Western genre: the lone stranger (often wearing a white stetson) who rides into town, an alien of sorts, to comfront the forces of evil (often wearing black stetsons) and, in the final reel, lays down his life to set the townfolk free. Will La Marre's film switch the stetsons and show Golgotha as ?
Comments
I often think that the USA [and I live in the USA] has an inferiority complex. The Immigration Battle, The National Anthem Controversy, and an African-American Messiah are things that actually disturb the USA. The Governing Elite of White Anglo-Saxons cannot accept other ethnic groups in dominant positions [Ethnic Groups are only accepted if they are butlers, maids...]. This is one reason I listen to and visit the ´óÏó´«Ã½. [I have been in Europe and Latin America and I have found them more tolerant than North America [the only exception being New York and Miami]].
It is not at all uncommon for contemporary American black men to wear a large cross, probably from an intense sense of identification with Jesus. And throughout the United States, black churches are often the focus of their communities.
The changing of Jesus from Black to white in the l4th century after Black Madonnas,Black Christs everywhere in the first Christian churches shows the racism of some Christians. If Herodotus who saw the Jews and the Egyptians at the time of Christ and described them as"Black and woolly headed",we know that Jews we know now often are worried that their babies will come out with that woolly hair and dark skin! The oldest likeness as far as coins goes,of Jesus, in the British Museum,shows him with wooly hair and an earring! Finally The Color of the Cross has told the truth about the color of our Saviour!