Godspell

    With the failure of the Biblical epic, Hollywood turned to a new style to present the story of Jesus to America. So Hollywood turned to Broadway (or off Broadway as happens to be the case) and presents us with the Jesus Musicals.   In 1973, two musical versions of the Life of Jesus were released. The first of the films released was David Greene's Godspell (1973). This movie was based on the musical written by John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz. This is, by far, the campiest Jesus movie ever made and it is "fascinating on that unintended level" (Kinnard and Davis 177). However, this is not the only interesting thing about it.
     Godspell (1973) was filmed on location in New York City. The original play was based on Tebelak's master thesis at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh. He wrote it because "The Church has become so dour and pessimistic, it has to reclaim its joy and hope. I see Godspell as a celebration of life" (Tatum 119). After Tebelak wrote the play Schwartz added the music. It was performed in New York City and eventually they signed a deal with Columbia Pictures to make a film version. Cast as the part of Jesus was Victor Garber.* There were nine disciples cast besides Garber, only one of which took on any identity in the film. David Haskell took on the part of the character who acted as both John the Baptist and Judas. The other eight had no real identity. Within the first few minutes of watching the movie it becomes very apparent that you are watching a movie that was made in the seventies. If the hairstyles were not a dead giveaway, you would have little doubt when you take into consideration the outfits. Jesus appears with a rather large afro wearing a Superman t-shirt, bellbottoms, suspenders and clown shoes. The other disciples' outfits go downhill from there. Interesting to note is that although this Jesus does not have the normal characteristics that "we have come to expect," his afro creates a halo around his head consistent with many artistic interpretations (Tatum 125).
     The movie begins with an account of the creation story, and then moves onto the John/Judas character walking across a bridge. He then calls the other eight disciples by appearing to them in some sort of supernatural way. After calling them, he baptizes all of them in a fountain in Central Park. This is when Jesus first appears. Jesus comes to the fountain in nothing but shorts, but after he is baptized his superman attire magically appears on him.** At this point, Jesus becomes the main character, and no more real focus is put on the John/Judas character until near the end.   Jesus is very much a teacher. More emphasis is placed on the parables in this film than in any other. It is also interesting to note that Jesus is not the only one telling the parables. His disciples often tell the parables. This introduces two important biblical-theological themes. First is the closeness of the disciples to Jesus, and second the importance of oral tradition (Baugh 45). Furthermore, although the disciples tell the parables, it is always Jesus who explains what the parables mean. Also, when the disciples are talking they are often doing impersonations*** whereas most of the time, Jesus spoke as just Jesus. The impressions done by the disciples both lend to the ambiguity of their character, as well as emphasize the importance of this story.****
     Unlike King of Kings (1961), miracles are a very important aspect of Godspell (1973). A lot of them are just parlor tricks or sight gags, but I think there is something more to them than that. One not so obvious example is when after the baptism everyone goes to a junkyard. Working together they are able to transform this junkyard into a playground. I think that this "miracle" pretty much sums up the point that the movie is making. Namely, that with Jesus you can amazingly transform things, be it yourself or the world around you. Thus there is a later scene where Jesus and the Disciples are dancing through the ghettos and graffiti-ridden slums of Manhattan singing, "We can build a beautiful city!"
     There is no resurrection for Jesus in the film. When he is put to death he is electrocuted in a cruciform position on a chain link fence. Oddly enough, all the disciples are electrocuted as well. In the morning, all the disciples wake up and find Jesus dead, but they live. They hold a funeral procession and sing, "Long live God." They proceed down the empty streets of Manhattan carrying Jesus' body. They turn a corner and all of the sudden there is life (which has been personless throughout the movie) in the city again and Manhattan is back to normal.
     There were mixed responses to the film. Some loved it, and some hated it. I think it was an honest attempt to bring Jesus to people. Jesus is seen very much as a fun teacher playing with his disciples as they learn. Given the previous two movies, and despite all the camp, I would argue that this was an excellent portrayal of Jesus because this movie is able to recognize its limitations and work them to its advantage.

*Twenty-five years later Garber would star in the movie Titanic (1997) as the man who designed the infamous ship.
**This can be interpreted as a very Markan theme-that of Jesus becoming the Christ at his baptism.
***The Marx Brothers, May West, John Wayne, Woody Allen, and Howard Cosel were a few that I was able to recognize.
****This clearly reflects what George Stevens tried to do in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) by using actual stars to emphasize the importance; however, where Stevens failed and his stars become more of a distraction to the story, Godspell (1973), in its own playful way, succeeded.