Mary, Mother of Jesus

     The final film that I shall examine is the made for television movie entitled Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999).  Kevin Connor, who has a very long list of made for television movies under his belt, directed the film.*  Playing Jesus is Christian Bale whose previous movies include A Midsummer's Night Dream (1999) and Swing Kids (1993).  Bale is a British actor with a very noticeable accent, which seems to be quite a distraction to the American audience that was watching the film.  The rest of the actors in the movie also have a British accent, albeit not as thick, so I do not think you can read too much into it.  Mary is played both by Melinda Kinnaman (as young Mary) and Pernilla August.**
     This is a very interesting movie.  The producers of this film were devout Catholics and this becomes very clear as you watch it.   Besides the movie being from Mary's perspective there are hints of Mary's sinless nature as well as her perpetual virginity.  This movie is different from most because it spends very little time on Jesus' ministry.  It delves into his childhood a little bit.  Rather than the divine brat we saw in Hail Mary (1985), we have a very gentle and passive child who does not understand who he is.  He has an impressive understanding of scripture (as attested to by the priests in the temple).  He also believes he has a very good understanding of God and does not understand why other people cannot see God the same way he does.  There is even a scene where he is being beat up by a bully and Jesus just stands there and turns the other cheek.  Perhaps the most interesting thing the movie does with Jesus' childhood is that it tries to offer an explanation of where Jesus got his parables.  They are actually bedtime stories that Mary told to Jesus when he was trying to get to sleep.
     Our picture of Jesus' adult life is also limited.  It is clear that Mary plays a huge role in Jesus' life.  On his deathbed, Joseph tells Mary, that everything Jesus is, she made him.  Also, she is present at the baptism and after that prompts Jesus to start his public ministry with the miracle at the wedding at Cana.   We hear Jesus say that he is the fulfillment of scripture as well as the living bread that came down from heaven.  We also see that Jesus is a healer.  There is also a scene where Jesus predicts his death to his mother; however, it is after Elizabeth predicts Jesus' death to Mary.  We do not see Jesus' public ministry beyond this nor do we see most of the events typical to the passion story.  Mary watches her son sentenced to death, hears him beaten, watches Jesus carry his cross and finally sees his crucifixion.  The odd thing about the crucifixion scene in the film, beside it being obviously a set in a studio, is that Mary seems to be in much more pain than Jesus.  There is your classic resurrection scene to Magdalene, and also Mary sees her risen son, who seems to ascend into heaven in front of her.
     The movie portrays Jesus as a "mama's boy," at least early on (Klien 2).  The movie does not delve into the ministry of Jesus very much, but one gets the impression that it is the Jesus from the gospel of John that we are dealing with, but also with some Luke thrown in.  This is a very appropriate mix for Jesus, as these two gospels are where much of the Catholic understanding of Mary is drawn from.  Jesus' childhood seems to be dependent on Luke with the birth narratives and parables playing a role.  His adult life seems to stem more from John with the "I am" statement and Mary's involvement in the beginning and the end of Jesus' ministry.  Because we do not have the intimate involvement with Jesus' ministry that we are presented with in many films, we cannot really see Jesus' development; nevertheless, his understanding of himself and his mission does develop.  It is clear that Jesus does move beyond his "mama's boy" phase because he is very independent from his mother for his three years of teaching.  Jesus even seems to come to an understanding of his mission, but this seems to be more implied than explicit.
     In looking at the reactions of the public to the film, one might be able to guess what would happen.  Catholics loved the film.  Fundamentalist Protestants hated the film.  Most others did not really see the film as anything special.  I, however, found some parts intriguing and others campy.  Nevertheless, it is a unique and interesting addition to the many portrays of Jesus in film.

*One of the most interesting movie titles that caught my attention was Motel Hell (1980). This, however, is his early work; in later years he had directed movies about Lady Dianna and Mother Theresa.
**August played Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother, in Phantom Menace (1999).  So this is perhaps the first time that an actor has been typecast as a virgin mother (Dewolfe 1).

© 2000 Shawn Willox