Dr. Jayhoon Yang, Hyupsung University
Abstract
Interpreting Norman Jewison and Melvyn
Bragg's film Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
as a passion narrative, I examined it by employing the four dimensions of the
cinematic quest for Jesus movies that Barns Tatum suggested. This film
parallels Mark's Gospel. It adopts significant Markan motifs and themes such as "way (hodos)", "blindness of the disciples", "servanthood" and "thinking
the things of God". It also employs Markan structure in the opening and the closing of
the movie, and portrays Jesus, as well as other characters, as Mark does.
[1] Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's
rock opera,[1] Jesus Christ Superstar, has been presented at countless theatres all over the world. The
recording industry profited greatly thanks to its beautiful songs such as "I Don't
Know How to Love Him" and "Superstar." Jesus Christ Superstar is not, however,
merely a musical product; it is a passion narrative that deals with the last
week of Jesus' earthly life, as well as Lloyd Webber and Rice's
response to the gospels that they probably read or heard. Furthermore, when a
Canadian director Norman Jewison and Melvyn Bragg, who co-wrote the screenplay,
made a film of this rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973, it was not just a Jesus movie but a sort of meta-criticism
of Lloyd Webber and Rice's passion narrative.
[2] In this article, I will examine Norman Jewison
and Melvyn Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) as a
passion narrative, questioning how they interpreted Lloyd Webber and Rice's
work, as well as the gospels. I will discuss their Jesus Christ Superstar by employing the four dimensions of the cinematic quest for Jesus
that W. Barns Tatum suggested: the artistic, the historical, the literary and
the theological aspects.[2] I will deal with Jewison and Bragg's work
focusing especially on the literary and the theological dimension, and by doing
so discuss its relationship with Mark's Gospel.
Artistic
Dimension
[3] The artistic dimension considers
whether a Jesus movie has achieved an artistic integrity as a film. It is not
easy to discuss whether Jewison and Bragg's Jesus
Christ Superstar reached an excellent artistic standard
by examining the literary elements, such as plot and structure, of the Jesus
Christ Superstar text, because it is based on what Lloyd
Webber and Rice have already produced. Therefore, one should consider how
creatively and artistically Jewison and Bragg reworked their Jesus Christ Superstar.
[4] Gilbert Seldes has once harshly criticized
Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927) as a
failure as a film because it was nothing other than "reproductions of
famous paintings" in many scenes, losing the characteristics of film as moving
pictures.[3] From Seldes' point of view,
the Jesus-on-the-cross scene in Jesus of Nazareth (F. Zeffirelli, 1977) and the Last Supper scene in The Greatest
Story Ever Told (George Stevens, 1965) also seem to
be reproductions of famous classical paintings, and to be criticized as being
short of artistic integrity.
[5] Jewison and Bragg's Jesus
Christ Superstar, on the other hand, is far from
Seldes' criticism. Jewison and Bragg, as David Greene did (Godspell, 1973), removed traditional and typical images from characters,
settings and costume that classical Jesus movies or paintings used. Worth
noting is that Jewison and Bragg separated Jesus from other characters: Jesus
is wearing a first century garb whereas others are in modern dress; he also has
a traditional halo around his body in the beginning and at the end of the film.[4] Jewison and Bragg also inserted some famous paintings about the passion of
Jesus such as M. Grunewald's The Crucifixion (1515), which
increases an artistic value of this film ("Gethsemane").
Jewison and Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar has its own
creativity, bringing the Jesus film business a fresh inspiration and a new
breakthrough. These elements, however, are not sufficient for the evaluation of
the artistic integrity of Jesus Christ Superstar,
and a comprehensive examination through the other two dimensions are needed to
do so.
Historical
Dimension
[6] The historical dimension examines how
exactly a Jesus movie reconstructs the historical reality of the time when
Jesus of Nazareth lived.[5] From Sidney Olcott's
silent film, From Manger to the Cross (1912) to
Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977), many
Jesus movies have tried to be faithful to history, which eventually enticed
them to reconstruct the lifestyle of Jesus' times as
closely as possible. They focused on costumes and settings, and studied
literary sources describing life in the first or second century Greco-Roman
world. To be more historically realistic, the actors and actresses even had to
speak in Aramaic and Latin in The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson 2004).
[7] Jewison and Bragg's
Jesus, however, is not the one of two thousand years ago but a 1970s version.[6] Unlike Jesus in Gale Edwards' Jesus Christ Superstar (2001) where
the actors and actresses play as "characters" from the
beginning,[7] the characters in Jewison and Bragg's Jesus
Christ Superstar play as actors and actresses who
come to the location to play their roles as Jesus and other characters.
Therefore, Jewison and Bragg's audiences clearly notice that Jesus in this film, for instance, is
not a historical Jesus the Jew but merely an actor of modern times.[8] This shows that Jewison and Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar is not interested in a historically exact reconstruction of Jesus' world of two thousand years ago.
[8] That Jewison and Bragg are not
interested in the exact reconstruction of the first century Israel in their Jesus
Christ Superstar is especially evident in the
costumes and the props. They arrive in a location in a bus; soldiers with
violet sleeveless shirts, modern military-looking pants, combat shoes, army
helmets and machine guns. Radio and newspaper reporters ask Jesus (Ted Neeley)
questions when he is dragged to the high priest's court.[9] Fighters are flying over Judas (Carl Anderson) and tanks chase him. Merchants
are trading grenades, machine guns and drugs, and obscene nightclub dancers
seduce passers-by.
[9] Clearly, Jewison and Bragg's
Jesus is the Jesus of the hippies of the 1960s and '70s. A.
Reinhartz mentions that "movies reflect society's symbols and values,"[10] and this is true of Jewison and Bragg's Jesus
Christ Superstar where the spirit of hippies is
embedded.[11] The anti-war and anti-racist spirit
runs throughout the movie, especially in the characterization of Jesus and,
ironically, Judas.
[10] Judas is characterized as keeping some
distance from the other apostles and followers who pursue violent revolt
against the Roman occupation.[12] Judas is described as staying out of
the apostles' party from the beginning. Judas sings "Heaven on Their
Minds" being alone far away from other followers of Jesus, while they are
making Jesus their "Superstar." He wants to secure social and political stability, but other
followers of Jesus and Jesus himself, who does not seem to refuse their request
from Judas' point of view, do not listen to Judas' warning:[13]
They think they've
found the new Messiah.
And they'll
hurt you when they find they're wrong ...
All your
followers are blind.
Too much heaven
on their minds ... ("Heaven on Their Minds")
[11] The characterization of Judas is complicated.
He is not getting along well with the other apostles; he wants to protect—mistakenly—Jesus from heading toward presumed self-destruction but in vain; he
is used by the Jewish authorities and self-allegedly by God; he wants to love
Jesus but he does "not know how to love him"; and he finally destroys himself
by committing suicide. The heavenly chorus laments over the miserable destiny
of Judas: "Poor old Judas. So long Judas."
[12] Interestingly, Jewison and Bragg cast
Carl Anderson, an African-American for the role of Judas. Moria Walsh pointed
out that black people would be offended by this casting.[14] Nonetheless,
I believe that this choice reveals the social problems of the hippies' age.[15] Many black people had to go to the Vietnam War because they were socially and
economically marginalized. They were victims of the contemporary social and
economical inequality. The black Judas in Jewison and Bragg's Jesus
Christ Superstar is also a victim; he is
marginalized, used, discarded, and led to self-destruction. He plays a victim who
was used to block—either voluntarily or involuntarily—the
mistaken illusions of the crowd's violent revolt.
[13] Jewison and Bragg's
Jesus also reflects the hippies' peaceful, anti-war spirit. He rejects his followers' requests for a violent revolt against the Roman government. When Simon and
other followers fanatically dance surrounding Jesus asking for him to "add a
touch of hate at Rome", his face turns gloomy as if he does not agree with them ("Simon
Zealots"). He gathers many followers shouting "Hosanna,
Superstar" but they soon turn their back on him when they find they are
mistaken, as Judas warned in the beginning, singing "Heaven on Their
Minds." Jesus is another victim destroyed in pursuing the hippies' values. In short, he is "Jesus Christ Hippie Star."
Literary
and Theological Dimension
[14] The literary dimension focuses on the
question of which gospel the Jesus movie is based on. Each author of the four
gospels depicts Jesus differently from their own points of view, which leads
the reader to the question of how they understood Jesus. Accordingly the
literary dimension is closely related to the theological dimension, which is
interested in the "faith claims made about Jesus."[16] Therefore, the literary and the theological dimensions will be
discussed together in this article.
[15] The question of which gospel a Jesus
movie is based on presupposes the problem of selection, which includes both the
acts of "inclusion and deletion." Whether a director or a screenplay
writer is faithful to a certain gospel or uses all four by mixing them together,
or whether he or she creates his or her own Jesus narrative with no preference
to any specific gospel source, the problem of selection is always related to
the ideology or theology of the director or the screenplay writer.[17]
[16] Lloyd Webber and Rice's Jesus
Christ Superstar is a Diatessaronic work. It is a mixture of the four gospels. In contrast, Jewison and
Bragg reinterpreted their Jesus Christ Superstar and created their own Jesus Christ Superstar.[18] Barnes Tatum once stated that Jesus Christ Superstar follows basically the dramatic frame of John's
Gospel.[19] However, I find that Jewison and
Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar is actually
rather close to Mark's Gospel in many aspects. I will now demonstrate how Jewison and
Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar understands
Jesus within the Markan framework. I will examine its themes, structure and
characterization from Tatum's literary and theological perspectives below.
The
Motif of "Way (hodos)" in the Form of Inclusion
[17] One of the significant motifs in Mark's
narrative is hodos, the way,[20] and
it is the same in Jewison and Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar. This film begins and ends with the way. Jewison and Bragg open
this film with the "way" scene in which the actors and actresses are coming by an old bus,
making a cloud of dust from afar. Jewison and Bragg depict Jesus walking on the "way" in many scenes. For example, at the end of "Heaven on Their
Minds", after the song of "Pilate and Christ" where Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, and before the scene of the "Trial
Before Pilate". Jewison and Bragg do not simply depict Jesus as standing before
Pilate or Herod, but also show the scenes where Jesus is walking on the way in
the interim.
[18] The most significant scene related to
the motif of the "way" is found in "Could We Start Again, Please." Just before
Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and all the other
Jesus' followers appear and sing this song. Interestingly, Jewison and
Bragg make Jesus appear in this scene, which is lacking in Gale Edwards' Jesus
Christ Superstar (2001). Jewison and Bragg capture
our attention with his treatment of this scene. Furthermore, it is noteworthy
that this song was not part of the original score produced in 1970 but was
introduced for the Broadway production in the following year.
I've
been living to see you, dying to see you, but it shouldn't be
like this.
This is
unexpected, what do I do now? Could we start again please?
I've
been very hopeful so far.
Now for the first
time, I think we're going wrong ...
This is just a
dream. Could we start again please?
[19] This scene depicts Mary Magdalene,
Peter and other followers trying to persuade Jesus to do the thing they have
had in their minds from the beginning. They expected and wanted Jesus to rise
up and lead a revolt against the Roman government (Simon Zealot), but they are
now embarrassed and disappointed at what is happening to Jesus. Therefore they
are asking Jesus to come back when they find Jesus walking on a way different from
theirs.
[20] When they sing this song, Jesus
suddenly appears free, without Roman guards.
Jesus is walking on the "way" in the desert alone, and people are persuading him to listen to
their requests. Then Jesus stops for a moment, turns around, sees them asking, shrugs
his shoulders as if he cannot understand them, and keeps on walking his "way" alone. Jewison and Bragg are shrewdly connecting the motif of the "way" with
the motif of the disciples' "blindness," which is another significant motif in Mark's narrative.
[21] The motif of the "way" that
opened this film is also found in the closing scene. After Jesus is dead, hanging
on the cross, the drama the actors and actresses played in the film is
finished. They all leave the location getting on the bus that they took to come
to this site to play the Jesus drama. Just as Jewison and Bragg do not tell
where they came from, they also do not tell us where they are going.
[22] Two noticeable differences are found
in the two "ways" that open and close the movie respectively. First, they come as
hippie actors and actresses in the beginning. When they arrive, they make up
and prepare props, and the audience never knows who's who. In
contrast, when they leave their ways in the closing scene Jewison and Bragg
shows the main characters one by one, and by so doing he helps the audience
notice who is who clearly even when they take off their make-up. The nameless
individual actors in the beginning are not anonymous any more in the ending;
they are going their "ways" to return to their private lives as Pilate, Mary, Peter, Judas,
Caiaphas, Annas and others.
[23] Second, unlike in the opening, they
leave Jesus behind them in the closing scene. In other words, Jesus is lost in
Jewison and Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar. The Jesus
drama of hippie actors and actresses in the desert is over, and everyone—even Judas who died in the drama appears to get on the bus. But
Jesus is not there; where is he now? Has he gone to Galilee before them (Mark
14:28; 16:7)? Where are they going? What "way" are
they following? Are they heading toward their "Galilee" to
see the resurrected Jesus, and to "start again" the Jesus
movement with the resurrected Jesus? Jewison and Bragg do not answer these
questions but leave it to the viewer's imagination.
Mark's Ending and Superstar's Ending
[24] Unlike the other gospels, there is no
scene that clearly depicts the resurrection or the appearance of the
resurrected Jesus in the Markan ending. After the Sabbath, the women followers
visit the tomb. They do not see the resurrected Jesus, but a young man clothed
in white. This man orders them to deliver the news to the other disciples that
Jesus is going to Galilee ahead of them, but the women flee and keep silent
being afraid (Mark 16:1-8).
[25] Similarly, Jewison and Bragg's Jesus
Christ Superstar does not explicitly show a
resurrection scene. As they get on the bus, the actors and actresses look up at
the empty cross on the hill far away. Jesus is absent; he is not either among
the actors or on the cross. Is Jesus dead still or resurrected? Jewison and
Bragg made this ambiguous. Against the red sky, there is the hill where the
empty cross is standing. Is this a rosy morning glow, or a crimson red sunset
glow? If this is an evening sunset glow, Jewison and Bragg may alert us to the
dead Jesus buried in the tomb. But if this is a rosy morning glow, it may
signify the first early Easter morning and the resurrected Jesus.
[26] The similarity between Jewison and Bragg's
manner of closing the film and Mark's way of ending his gospel can also
be supported by the last scene where a shepherd is leading a flock of sheep
against the sunset. Mark implicitly tells, although he does not show
explicitly, the reader that Jesus was resurrected, saying that he is leading (proagei) the disciples to Galilee (14:28; 16:7). Jewison and Bragg insert
the shepherd scene into Jesus Christ Superstar and this can be understood as alerting the audience to the prophecy of Jesus' resurrection in Mark's gospel.
[27] However, the resurrection of Jesus in Jesus
Christ Superstar as in Mark is still left ambiguous.
As Goodacre has pointed out poignantly, the hippie actors and actresses are
excited when they arrive at the location, but they leave in a "solemn
and reflective mood."[21] The interpretation of their
faces is open. If the red sky is an evening sunset glow, then their faces are
understood as signifying the mood of disappointment and frustration of the
first Good Friday evening. If it is the rosy morning glow of the first Easter,
however, their faces are also interpreted as signifying their firm resolution
to walk their "ways" to Galilee. Just as Mark gives the reader an ambiguous ending with
regard to Jesus' resurrection, Jewison and Bragg do the same by means of the red sky
and the actors' faces.
The
Apostles and The Crowd: The Motif of Misunderstanding and Blindness
[28] Another significant motif in Mark's
narrative is the misunderstanding and blindness of the disciples.[22] In Jewison and Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar, the
apostles are portrayed as misunderstanding and blind characters. Judas, who
acts as a sort of narrator in this movie, warns Jesus that his followers are
all blind.[23] As he warned, the conflict between
Jesus and the apostles occurs when they misunderstand Jesus, dreaming violent
revolt against the Roman government and pursuing the glorious rewards.
[29] Their misunderstanding is clearly
evident in "Hosanna" and "Simon Zealot."
Hey JC, JC won't you
fight for me?
Sanna, Hosanna!
Hey, Superstar! ("Hosanna")
And everyone of
fifty thousand
Would do whatever
you asked them to.
Keep them yelling
their devotion,
But add a touch
of hate at Rome.
You will rise to
a greater power.
We will win
ourselves a home.
You'll
get the power and the glory.
For ever and ever
and ever ... ("Simon Zealot")
In stark contrast, Jesus has an opposite
idea to theirs.
Why are you
obsessed with fighting? ("What's the Buzz", "The Arrest")
Neither you,
Simon, nor the fifty thousand,
Nor the Romans,
nor the Jews,
Nor Judas, nor
the Twelve,
Nor the priests,
nor the scribes...
Understand what
power is,
Understand what
glory is,
Understand at all ...
To conquer death,
you only have to die. ("Poor Jerusalem")
Jewison and Bragg portray this conflict
between them by means of Jesus' face. Until the scene of "Hosanna," Jesus blesses
the crowd with a bright smile on his face. But when Simon Zealot and the crowd
ask Jesus to get involved in their dream, the smile on his face is gone and
never comes back till the end of the movie.[24]
[30] The disciples and the crowd are obsessed
with "the power and the glory," which is far from what Jesus has
in mind. Jewison and Bragg highlight this contrast through the scene of "Simon
Zealot." Jesus stands in the middle of the disciples and the crowd, and they
dance frantically circling around and shouting "the power and
the glory" to Jesus. Nonetheless, the face of Jesus shows that he is
embarrassed, perplexed and even gloomy.
[31] The misunderstanding and blindness of
the disciples can also be found in their pursuing glory and honour in Mark's
narrative. Jesus teaches them the way of humility and servanthood (Mark
10:43-45). They do not understand it, but seek the way of power and glory,
lording over others (Mark 9:33-34; 10:35-41). The apostles are portrayed the
same in Jewison and Bragg's Jesus Christ Superstar. Despite
Jesus' teaching on the true way to victory, they still seek the way of
glory being remembered for ever:
Then when we
retire, we can write the Gospels,
So they'll
still talk about us when we've died ("The Last Supper")
[32] The blindness of the crowd is also
found in the ironic scene of the trial before Pilate. The crowds are shouting
to Pilate that Caesar, not Jesus, is their only king. Then, Pilate cynically
speaks to the crowd, who so starved for violence that they turn their antipathy
to the Roman government into a pledge of loyalty to Caesar:
What is this new
respect for Caesar?
'Till now this has been noticeably
lacking ...
You hypocrites,
you hate us more than him. ("Trial Before Pilate")
They are so blind that they do not
recognize their true king standing in front of them, while shouting that they
have no other king but Caesar. Jewison and Bragg highlight the increase of
their ironic blindness by depicting the crowd confronting Pilate right under
his nose, tightening the besiegement of him from afar. Pilate, ironically, a
Roman, accuses them of their blindness by saying that they are "vultures."[25] Jewison and Bragg foreshadow this by filming a flock of vultures
circling in the sky just before the scene of "This Jesus Must
Die," where the Jewish authorities gather to destroy Jesus.
[33] As for being blind, Pilate is not an
exception. Pilate tells Jesus that he does not seem to understand that he has
the power to kill or save Jesus in his hands. Jesus, however, says that such
power does not come from Pilate himself and that he has no power to change
anything. Pilate declares that Jesus is a "misguided martyr
and an innocent puppet," but ironically, he himself is a helpless puppet who has no power to
change Jesus' destiny. Clearly, Pilate is truly a misguided person to believe
that he has such power.
[34] The motif of blindness is also found
in the depiction of Mary Magdalene. In the beginning of the movie, she is portrayed
as a positive character. She knows what Jesus needs now, and serves him. Jesus,
on the other hand, protects her when Judas criticizes her. When Peter denies
Jesus, she reproaches him for cowardice.[26] Nonetheless, she is
also portrayed as obstructing Jesus, who keeps on walking the "way" of
the Lord thinking the "things of God not of humanity" (Mark 8:33), as
is seen in the scene of "Could We Start Again Please."
[35] This negative portrayal of Mary
Magdalene is also found in Mark's narrative. Mary appears only at the end of Mark's
narrative, and she seems to be portrayed positively at first glance. Many
Markan scholars have argued as such, even claiming that she is meant to be an
ideal model of true discipleship in Mark's narrative. In
my opinion, however, she is actually portrayed negatively. Although she has
followed Jesus with the other female disciples to the place of crucifixion,
they were merely "from afar" (apo makrothen) which reminds the
reader of Peter's cowardice (Mark 14:54); the burial is arranged by Joseph Arimathea,
not by the women; they come to the tomb to anoint the "dead" body
of Jesus, even though Jesus told them he would be raised and go to Galilee
before them to meet them there (Mark 14:28); even when a young man bids them to
deliver the message, they flee in fear and keep silent (Mark 16:8).[27]
Conclusion:
Jewison and Bragg's Portrait of Jesus
[36] Lloyd Webber and Rice continuously
invite the audience to consider the question of "Jesus Christ,
who are you?" through the mouths of characters in their Jesus Christ Superstar. Annas says that Jesus is a "miracle wonder
man, hero of fools, and a carpenter king"; Simon Zealot
and the crowd understand him as a "superstar" who will make
their political dreams come true; all kinds of disabled people treat him as a
healer who will make them whole; Mary Magdalene and Judas regard him as "just
a man." Even Herod and Pilate have their own ideas about Jesus.
[37] As the title of this masterpiece
implies, the image of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar is a "superstar." The question is, however, "what makes this Jesus a superstar?" Lloyd Webber and Rice suggest various possibilities for the answer to this
question. For the disciples and the crowd, a strong leadership to fight against
the Roman government makes Jesus a superstar; for the disabled, healing power;
a wonderful magic show for Herod.[28]
[38] Jewison and Bragg too have their
answer to the question of "what makes this Jesus a superstar?" They give the
answer by presenting Jesus as a Markan one. Jewison and Bragg portray Jesus as
very human as Mark does. This Jesus is not an almightily powerful person. For
instance, he needs a full rest as is depicted in Mary's "I Don't
Know How to Love Him" scene; he is overpowered by the crowd who need his help at the end
of "The Temple" scene; he is nervous, tired, and turns on God in a fury as seen in
the "Gethsemane" scene where Jesus is wandering around and climbing a deserted rocky
mountain. His humanness is also well expressed in the "striking use of
camera angle, peering down on Jesus" which provides the viewer with "God's
perspective".[29]
[39] Jewison and Bragg's
Jesus is, on the other, the person who walks on the "way" of
God, thinking the things of God (Mark 8:33). He is abandoned by the Jewish
authorities, the crowd who shouted "Hosanna", Pilate and the
Roman soldiers, disciples, and even by God. Nonetheless, Jewison and Bragg's
Jesus is not overcome by this miserable destiny. In fact despite all the
sufferings and temptations, he still keeps on walking the way of God. He turns
his back to the disciples and the crowd who are begging him to "start
again," and walks on the way alone in the "Could We Start
Again, Please" scene This, reminiscent of the Markan Jesus, is Jewison and Bragg's
answer to the question of what makes Jesus a superstar.
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_____ "The Heresy That Necessitated Mark's Gospel." Zeitschrift
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Notes
