I like to watch films with Christian themes. These films often feature lesser known (or unknown) actors and are filmed on an obviously tight budget. Risen had a small but decent budget at $20 million. The film also features a couple of well known (although probably considered B-list) actors. The cast includes Ralph Fiennes and Cliff Curtis. It also includes Oscar nominee Peter Firth. I liked the look of this film and went to see it at the theater. I watched it again earlier this week on cable. This film was better than I expected, in spite of what you might read at IMDb or elsewhere.
Risen examines the death and resurrection of Jesus (Curtis) through the eyes of a Roman Tribune, Clavius (Fiennes), who is assigned to investigate the disappearance of Jesus' body following his crucifixion. He is aided by a young soldier, Lucius (Tom Felton). As Clavius interviews Roman soldiers, witnesses and members of Jesus' inner circle, he begins to draw conclusions. The physical evidence does not support the stories of the Roman guards posted to watch the tomb. The witness of Jesus' disciples eventually begins to change Clavius' heart, as he bears witness to the truth of the Resurrection.
Risen does not pretend to be a biblical account of the Resurrection. Instead, it is an idealized perspective of how things might have appeared to the Romans who bore witness to the events. From the biblical perspective, we know that there were Roman soldiers who proclaimed him God. We also know the story of Paul, a persecutor of Jesus, who later converted to Christianity after his encounter with Christ on the Road to Damascus. This film sort of felt like a blend of those concepts woven into the fabric of the story supported by the New Testament accounts. The story has an interesting approach, engaging characters and decent narrative arc. While not perfect, the story was engaging.
The dialogue was decent and the story engaging. But the acting really gave this film some teeth. There were a couple of instances that seemed a bit hammy, but overall, the cast was exceptional. I thought Cliff Curtis was exceptional as Jesus. While he didn't get the screen time that Fiennes has, he was excellent when on screen. Fiennes can easily carry a film like this. And he does. He is an awesome actor and delivered a credible performance in Risen. Great casting helped elevate this film. The look of the film was also really good based on a 20 million dollar budget. There are no big CGI sequences, but there are plenty of sets and costumes that required plenty of that budget. The film felt compatible with the era it portrayed.
Risen is a bit darker than some of the other Christian-based films I have seen. The one hour, 47 minute film received a rating of PG-13. The rating is based on the violence. While not as graphic as Passion of the Christ, this film does manage to deliver a small degree of gore. The opening sequence includes battle violence, to include death, which is true for the crucifixion as well. The brutality of the Romans is on display from time to time. Overall, the imagery is mildly graphic, but not gratuitous. It should be fine for teens and above. Although I would personally find enough good in this film to allow younger children to watch as well.
As a Christianity-inspired film, Risen is a rousing success. As pure cinema, it is a solid film. This is the type of film I might have to break down my rating for. Objective vs. Subjective. Subjectively, I would probably give this film an 8 or 8.5. I love the approach to the Resurrection story, the greatest story ever told if you are a Christian. As a film buff, I have to admit that the film could have been much better. The budget was one restriction. Better actors and a bit better script would have helped this film. Objectively, I am still way ahead of IMDb, which has the film at a paltry 6.3. If one examines the reviews, of those who took time to actually write why they gave the film the rating they did, the film falls solidly in the 8 range. There are a lot of people on IMDb who will give a Christian film a 1 rating without ever having watched it. Those are the same fools who troll the comments section, too. Objectively, I am at 7.5/10.
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