Risen takes a novel approach to well-trod material. It mainly tells the story of Jesus’ resurrection as a crime procedural, with a Roman tribune chasing leads, knocking on doors and interrogating witnesses all in service of figuring what exactly happened at that tomb. And as a procedural, it is fairly well done, with restrained filmmaking and strong acting making for fairly compelling cinema. But the film is also a conversion story, and it props up a lot of its third act on ideas about faith. And here is where the film goes wrong. Risen is largely smart about things, except on matters of faith.
Roman tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), under direct orders from Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth), is present for the crucifixion of the Yeshua (Cliff Curtis), the Jewish Messiah, and is tasked with overseeing his entombment. The Pharisees pressure their Roman overseers to make sure that the body remains in that tomb, lest rumors of resurrection sow unrest among the Hebrews. When the body mysteriously disappears from the tomb, the tribune is sent to investigate the matter. He seeks out Yeshua’s disciples, suspecting that they broke into the tomb and stole the body. What he discovers is something that challenges his very conception of the world.
The film turns the big-M Mystery of the Resurrection into a small-M mystery. It sounds like a nutty idea, but it is what gives the film the majority of its appeal. It provides a new perspective on the story, the rational nature of investigation clashing with the supernatural aspects of the story. The process of figuring out what happened in itself could serve as a metaphor for how one has to experience faith: it isn’t a completely rational experience, and no amount of deduction or investigation will ever provide the satisfying answers that faith can provide.
But there comes a point where the investigation ends, and the metaphor just fades away. It becomes a much less interesting movie when it begins to become a pretty literal translation of the Gospel of John. The film just gets a lot less clever in the back end, stripping away the compelling ambiguity that makes Clavius such an good character. He is much more interesting as a doubter than a believer. Though he meant to be in the wrong in the earlier parts of the film, he is still presented as a man with a complex moral code, one derived from a sense of duty, loyalty and compassion.
But in the end, it becomes about seeing and believing. The movie really falters as it attempts to depict Jesus’ miracles, the Messiah coming off as a magician with a band of fans rather than a man truly worth following. The movie skimps on the theology, and reveals little of what makes Christian faith so alluring. Up until that point, the film benefits from directorial restraint. There seems to be a conscious effort to avoid becoming just another one of those chintzy low-budget bible epics. It keeps things simple, with relatively wide framing giving the film a surprising sense of scale. Acting is pretty great, with Joseph Fiennes delivering a pretty captivating performance.
Risen really falls apart in the back end. Given that the film is produced by the faith-based arm of Sony Pictures, this was always where it was going to go. But knowing that doesn’t make it any less disappointing. The movie is so much more intriguing as a story of a man grappling with a mystery that he can never solve. But the film wants to be evangelical, and presents a rather limp conversion tale where seeing is believing. Faith is so much more complex and interesting than that. For a while, the movie seemed to know that. In the end, it gives it up.
My Rating:
