RE 357 -- Jesus Christ Superstar: The Bible in Film
Fall 2006
M 7-9:30
Instructor: Carleen
Mandolfo
Office: Lovejoy
346
Hours: M 9:30-11:00
W 9:30-11:00
Other
hours by appt or drop-in (I usually stay home and do my own research on
Fridays)
Phone: x.4645
email: mandolfo@colby.edu
An
examination of Hollywood's (and other filmmakers') obsession with retelling the
stories of the Bible, beginning with De Mille's classic, The Ten
Commandments through Gibson's
controversial The Passion of the Christ, including films that range in interpretative expression from literal
to metaphorical, the former being an attempt to "re-create" the
story, the latter being an attempt to "re-interpret" the story. Students
will also learn some basic film theory as well as some techniques for
interpreting and reviewing film.
Film, Form and Culture by Robert Kolker
Imaging the Divine by Lloyd Baugh
Web reserves
*Optional*: From Earth's Creation to John's
Revelation by Green, Mandolfo, and
Murphy
This
course will be conducted seminar style.
This means you are expected to contribute to the class discussion everyday. This
requires three things from you:
1) that you are present in
class; 2) that you have done the
readings (and prepared any discussion questions I might have assigned) and seen
the film; 3) that you have *thought* about the film.
Each
movie we view will be "read" in two ways – as a work of
narrative and visual art for its own sake, and secondly as an interpretation of
particular biblical texts and religious traditions. You will be expected to view and then comment on each film
critically with these two foci in mind.
This means, for example, that you will need to respond with more than
"I liked this film a lot because it had great special effects." You will need instead to talk about how
the special effects functioned to tell the story better (not that we will be
watching many movies with exciting special effects!). More generally, you will be expected to comment on
cinematography, editing, acting, etc. as well as the film's contribution to and
reflection of both the culture in which it was produced, and the current
context in which it is being viewed.
For each film you will be expected to turn in a review of that
film. I will give you questions to
help guide you through this process.
Most
of the "work" in this class will be done in teams. Each team is responsible to lead the
discussion on two films throughout the semester. The rest of the class must also be prepared to discuss that
film critically. This course
should be a lot of fun, but don't expect it to be the same thing as a night at
the movies. Film-making is a
serious, and increasingly influential, artistic medium. We will read films in a way that
requires the same critical attention (though somewhat different skills) as does
reading literary texts.
As
you can probably surmise, it is impossible to view an entire movie and have a
discussion in one class period. At
the same time, I do think it is important that we do some viewing as a
group. So, you will be responsible
to view all of the film but 20 minutes outside of class (obviously if you are
the presenting group you must view it all, and usually all students want to
view films in their entirety in order to write a more complete review). We will watch the last 20 minutes or so
in class together and then hold our discussion.
Grading:
2
Group presentations 50%
(25% each)
weekly
reviews 30%
(5% each)
Final
paper or project 20%
Regarding participation, it
is imperative that you come prepared to contribute each day. (Since we will meet very few times,
missing even one day will constitute nearly 10% of the course).
As
we all know, even non-experts have opinions about movies they've seen. We all enjoy discussing with our
friends the merits or weaknesses of the latest blockbuster or "indie"
film. Sometimes opinions are
strongly held. When this is the
case, discussions have the most potential to be stimulating, fun, and
instructive, so feel free to express your position strongly. I only ask that you respect other
points of view, even as you disagree with them (which is more likely to happen
when we're dealing with material related to the Bible). As with literature, film interpretation
is not an exact science – every film is amenable to many ways of seeing.
CLASS SCHEDULE
[Every class, a 2-3 paged,
typed, review of the film, from two
angles – one biblical/theological, the other you choose -- is required of
every student NOT presenting with a group. Groups are required to turn in more lengthy reviews,
delineating the areas on which each member of the group worked. Sometimes there will be additional
readings available for group members.
Ask me about them the week before you present.]
NOTE: There
will be no class on Monday, Sept 25 and Nov. 20 – you will be expected to
be in class *every other* session.
Week one: Introduction and syllabus. Viewing: "Visions of Light";
Assgn: Kolker,
Intro and ch. 2
Week two: Practicing
film analysis
Assgn: Kolker,
chs. 3-4
Week three: "East of
Eden"
Assgn: Read
Genesis 1-4; Kolker, ch. 1; Kreitzer, "East of Eden" (on web reserve)
Week four: "The
Decalogue":
"Adultery" and "Murder"
Assgn: Read
Exodus 19-20; Deuteronomy 4-5,9; Gospel of John 8:1-20; L. Baugh "A Christ
Figure in Two Films of Kieslowski"
Week five: "Jesus
Christ Superstar"
Assgn: Read
Gospel of Luke; Kolker, ch. 5;
M.
Clark, "The Antiwar Movement" (on web reserve);
L.
Baugh "The Jesus Musicals"
Week six: "Jesus
of Montreal"
Assgn: Read
John 1-5, 9-11, 17-21; Kolker pp. 211-221, 232-252, 255-261; L. Baugh Intro and
"A Film of Transition"
Week seven: "The Last Temptation of
Christ"
Assgn: Read
Gospel of Mark; L. Baugh "The Scandal Films"; Kolker, ch. 7
*Clear
final presentations with me
Week eight: "The Passion of
the Christ"
Assgn: Read
Matthew 21-28; "The Jesus War" by Peter Boyer (on web reserve);
"Nailed" by David Denby (on web reserve); "The Passion of Mel
Gibson" by David Neff (on web reserve);
A
website with several articles from a Christian Perspective:
www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/passion-passionofmel.html
Week nine: "Breaking
the Waves"
Assgn: Read
Heath, S. "God, Faith, and Film:
Breaking the Waves"
(on
web reserve); Mercadante, L. "Bess the Christ Figure?"
Theological
Interpretations of Breaking the Waves"
(on
web reserve)
Week ten: "Apocalypse
Now Redux"
Assgn: Read
Revelation to John 1, 7, 9, 12-14, 20-21;
"Apocalyptic
Themes in Biblical Literature" by A. Collins (on web reserve);
"Hollywood and Armageddon:
Apocalyptic Themes in Recent Cinematic Presentation" by C. Ostwalt
(on web reserve); "Two Apocalypse Now Essays" by anonymous college
student (on web reserve)
Week eleven: Final presentations/discussions; loose ends
Note on final
paper/project: I am giving you the choice to do a final paper
or a final group project. The
paper will be straightforward – 8 pages reviewing what you consider to be
the best/most interesting film you saw this semester (not one you already did
an extensive review of. You can
also pick one we haven't viewed, with my approval). You will engage all the critical film skills, as well as the
biblical ones, you learned over the semester. You can't cover every angle of a film, so pick a thesis and
develop it, but be sure that your review addresses the film as a biblical
interpretation. If you'd rather do
a project, you will need a group (at least three people). For this project you will develop a
short film of your own. It must be
on a biblical subject, but I will give you complete freedom in terms of how you
choose to interpret that biblical subject or theme. Colby has all the technical equipment you will need. As with the final paper you will be expected
to draw on the film and biblical reading skills you've developed during the
semester. The film can be anywhere
from 10-15 minutes long. If you
decide to go this route, you will need to clear your project with me by Oct 31,
and will have to set up an appt with media services well before then to be
tutored on the equipment.