Just for fun: Filmic Christ Characters
Kim Fabricius at Faith and Theology has started a fun post on Christ figures in film; David at Fire and the Rose added the suggestions at the bottom of the list below:
Here is an even dozen of my favourite filmic Christ figures. By “Christ figure” I mean a protagonist who fulfils the following criteria:
The character comes from another world/environment.
The character is “other”, alien, strange.
The character transcends his/her/its surroundings.
The character is salvific, i.e. bestows blessings like inspiration, liberation, transformation, reconciliation, justice, healing to other people or a community.
The character arouses opposition and/or suffers.
And, crucially – it eliminates a host of famous potentials – the character does not maim or kill, i.e. is fundamentally non-violent (there go westerns like Shane and science fiction flicks like Terminator 2).
To narrow the field further, the character cannot be biblical, or even religious (so no priests or nuns), nor historical (e.g. Ghandi or Schindler), nor come from an animated film (sorry, Shrek!).
Here they are, then:
1. Luke – Cool Hand Luke (1967)
2. Randle McMurphy – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
3. Rocky – Rocky (1976)
4. ET – ET (1982)
5. Babette – Babette’s Feast (1987)
6. Edward – Edward Scissorhands (1990)
7. The groundhog (totemically) – Groundhog Day (1993)
8. Andy Dufresne – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
9. Forrest Gump – Forrest Gump (1994)
10. Babe – Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
11. John Coffey – The Green Mile (1999)
12. Amélie – Amélie (2001)
13. Ofelia – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
14. Kanji Watanabe – Ikiru (1952)
15. Damiel – Wings of Desire (1987)
16. Babette – Babette’s Feast (1987)
17. Mateo – In America (2002)
18. Theo Faron – Children of Men (2006)
19. Phil Parma – Magnolia (1999)
20. Andy Dufresne – Shawshank Redemption (1994)
21. Lena Leonard – Punch Drunk Love (2002)
22. El Chivo – Amores Perros (2000)
23. Priest of Ambricourt – The Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
24. Sister Constance Lazure – The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
Readers, Weigh In! Votes... Suggestions... who is your favorite Filmic Christ Character?
Here is an even dozen of my favourite filmic Christ figures. By “Christ figure” I mean a protagonist who fulfils the following criteria:
The character comes from another world/environment.
The character is “other”, alien, strange.
The character transcends his/her/its surroundings.
The character is salvific, i.e. bestows blessings like inspiration, liberation, transformation, reconciliation, justice, healing to other people or a community.
The character arouses opposition and/or suffers.
And, crucially – it eliminates a host of famous potentials – the character does not maim or kill, i.e. is fundamentally non-violent (there go westerns like Shane and science fiction flicks like Terminator 2).
To narrow the field further, the character cannot be biblical, or even religious (so no priests or nuns), nor historical (e.g. Ghandi or Schindler), nor come from an animated film (sorry, Shrek!).
Here they are, then:
1. Luke – Cool Hand Luke (1967)
2. Randle McMurphy – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
3. Rocky – Rocky (1976)
4. ET – ET (1982)
5. Babette – Babette’s Feast (1987)
6. Edward – Edward Scissorhands (1990)
7. The groundhog (totemically) – Groundhog Day (1993)
8. Andy Dufresne – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
9. Forrest Gump – Forrest Gump (1994)
10. Babe – Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
11. John Coffey – The Green Mile (1999)
12. Amélie – Amélie (2001)
13. Ofelia – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
14. Kanji Watanabe – Ikiru (1952)
15. Damiel – Wings of Desire (1987)
16. Babette – Babette’s Feast (1987)
17. Mateo – In America (2002)
18. Theo Faron – Children of Men (2006)
19. Phil Parma – Magnolia (1999)
20. Andy Dufresne – Shawshank Redemption (1994)
21. Lena Leonard – Punch Drunk Love (2002)
22. El Chivo – Amores Perros (2000)
23. Priest of Ambricourt – The Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
24. Sister Constance Lazure – The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
Readers, Weigh In! Votes... Suggestions... who is your favorite Filmic Christ Character?
posted by MM at 6:35 AM
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