KING OF KINGS (1961)
Updated: May 28, 2021
A Biblical Epic that Downplays Its Main Subject
Grade: C+
Since the silent era, there have been many films made about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. King of Kings, like many such movies, traces Jesus’s story from His birth to His death and resurrection. Although well-made and faithful to the Gospels, its impact is considerably lessened by its greater focus on events and people in Jesus’s time than on Jesus Himself and His Apostles-so much so that Jesus is almost a secondary character in His own movie.
As narrated by Orson Welles, King of Kings opens sixty years before the birth of Christ, when the Roman Empire first invaded Israel. Throughout the film, the conflict and animosity between Judea and Rome is revisited. On the one hand, this approach adds an extra historical context to the film, resulting in an added sense of realism. Here we have the story of Jesus set against the background of this major national event, as well as further emphasizing the contrast between what the people of Israel expect Jesus to do (overthrow the Romans and free Israel) and what He actually came to do (to live a sinless life, preach the Good News, die for the sins of the world, and rise again). It also sets King of Kings apart from other films of its type.
But on the other hand, devoting so much time to it inevitably detracts from the spectacle of seeing Jesus Himself. Jesus spends a large portion of the film being observed or talked about instead of taking center stage, reducing His development. While the film does portray some of His miracles, including giving sight to the blind and healing a demon-possessed man, His most famous miracles are either just mentioned (walking on water, feeding the 5000) or absent from the film altogether (the resurrection of Lazarus).
A major subplot in the film involves the criminal Barabbas and his leadership of an uprising against the Romans. After Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Barabbas and his followers lay siege to the Roman stronghold. The resulting battle is well-staged, but it really serves no purpose other than to show Barabbas being captured while the film’s main attraction is inside the temple preaching-something the film never cuts to. Another narrative misstep comes when Barabbas is freed and is told that the crowd chose him over Jesus. If the film had shown the crowd’s choice, it would have added immensely to the film’s impact; we could have even seen the look of abandonment on Jesus’s face as the people who welcomed Him to Jerusalem now demanded He be crucified. On top of that, this angry crowd is nowhere in sight on the road to Calvary.
Still, the film does succeed in showing how Jesus changed people’s lives, including Lucius of Cyrene (who is revealed here to be the centurion at the cross) and even Barabbas, who cannot believe that a sinless man would be crucified in his stead. The film also provides a reason for why Judas Iscariot wanted to betray Jesus: to force Him to use His powers to protect Himself and strike down Rome when they came to arrest Him.
Jesus is portrayed here by Jeffrey Hunter. Considering how inherently difficult it is to portray a sinless man that the audience must still identify with, he does a pretty good job. His best scene is the Sermon on the Mount, where He preaches to the masses in a theatrical yet effective and convincing manner. Hunter spends much of the film with a look of determination on his face, which goes well with Jesus’s mission. But again, not enough time is devoted to his character that he can express other kinds of emotions like grief or joy (Lazarus’s resurrection would have been an ideal scene to display these).
To be clear, there is nothing wrong at all with making a film displaying Jesus’s influence on others’ lives as well as His life and teachings; a retelling of Christ’s story would be incomplete without it. But in a movie called King of Kings where the main attraction is supposed to be Jesus, there has to be a proper balance between these elements. King of Kings lacks this balance, which prevents it from being the quintessential film about the life of Christ.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Producer: Samuel Bronston
Screenplay: Philip Yordan, Ray Bradbury (Uncredited) (Based on the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
Cast: Jeffrey Hunter (Jesus), Siobhan McKenna (Mary), Hurd Hatfield (Pontius Pilate), Ron Randell (Lucius of Cyrene), Viveca Lindfors (Claudia Procula), Rita Gem (Herodias), Carmen Sevilla (Mary Magdalene), Brigid Bazlen (Salome), Harry Guardino (Barabbas), Rip Torn (Judas Iscariot), Frank Thring (Herod Antipas), Royal Dano (Peter), Robert Ryan (John the Baptist), Orson Welles (Narrator)
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