Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
31	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	1	2	3	4

King of Kings (1961)

Posted By: denisbul

Date: 5 Jul 2011 12:10:42

When the Romans under General Pompey conquer Judea in 63 BC, an era of despair and fear begins for the Jewish people. In the trials and persecutions that the Jews suffer under the Romans and under King Herod, they take hope in the promise that the Messiah someday would come. In the reign of Augustus, when Jesus is born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph, there are some who recognize him as the future king of the Jews. Later, when Jesus reaches adulthood and begins to appear in public, there are many different responses to his message, and there are also those who wish to use him for their own purposes.

As with other large scale Biblical or historical dramas from the 1950's especially, we get a narrated prologue of sorts which sets the scene, courtesy of the stentorian tones of an uncredited Orson Welles. This part of King of Kings, while perhaps necessary, is easily the weakest section of the film and augurs for a much stodgier experience than the actual main part of the movie turns out to be. Once we get the basics of bad guys Herod and Pontius Pilate, and good guy Jesus, as well as the political hangers-on like Judas and Barabbas, Philip Yordan's quite eloquent screenplay allows us to peer inside the sociopolitical climate of Roman occupied Palestine and how the natives were seeking to throw off the Imperial yoke. This aspect of King of Kings is what sets it apart from many other depictions of Jesus' life, and it is perhaps the most telling indication that we're watching a Nicholas Ray film.

King of Kings (1961)

When confronted with a story this epochal, there are several pitfalls which await even the most seasoned filmmakers. Ray was able to evade a lot of them with King of Kings, offering stellar production design, an absolutely gorgeous music score courtesy of Miklos Rozsa, crisp and elegant cinematography from the trifecta of Manuel Berenguer, Milton Krasner and Franz F. Planer, and, as noted, a literate screenplay by Philip Yordan. Yordan, who regularly "fronted" for blacklisted writers during the HUAC and McCarthy eras, was obviously no stranger to political intrigue, and he imbues his script with a brilliantly defined examination of the roiling political climate in and around Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. For once Judas is not simply a cipher in a figurative black hat, but is given a sociopolitical background that at least to partially explicate his dark motives. But even Yordan can't avoid the portentous (and pretentious), faux-King James approach to dialogue that seems to somehow be a requirement of Biblical films from this period. (Yordan went on to script Bronston's independent films like El Cid, 55 Days at Peking and The Fall of the Roman Empire.

King of Kings (1961)

Also troubling are a couple of key performances. Robert Ryan is simply miscast as John the Baptist and often seems lost in the pomp and circumstance which surrounds the rustic character. And while Jeffrey Hunter has perhaps been somewhat unfairly pilloried for his "teenage idol Jesus" take on the iconic character, the fact is he's forced to deal with the most ritualistic dialogue of the film, a daunting task for even the most accomplished actor. When you contrast Hunter's more low key approach with Max Von Sydow's in The Greatest Story Ever Told, the differences couldn't be more stark. Hunter is frankly kind of like a surfer dude Jesus, while Von Sydow seems to be bringing over every inner turmoil and sturm und drang from his darkest outings with Ingmar Bergman. Which approach you prefer is probably going to be a result of your own private musings on what Jesus may have been like in "real life."

King of Kings (1961)

In terms of the other supporting players, Bronston and Ray assembled an international cast which frequently does amazingly wonderful work. Siobhan McKenna is a minor revelation (no pun intended) as Mary, the mother of Jesus. Bringing tenderness, joy and sorrow simultaneously into several line readings, she brings both the triumph and tragedy of the character fully to life. Hurd Hatfield is surprisingly understated as Pontius Pilate and manages to convey an imperial majesty combined with arrogance that is perfectly suited for the role. In terms of camp value, probably the best thing about King of Kings is Frank Thring's hyper-sibilant take on Herod Antipas. In a performance that rivals Peter Ustinov's Nero from Quo Vadis for pure decadence, Thring is a hoot (for wont of a better word) to watch, and his heavily lisped "Danssse, Ssssalome" deserves to become an all-time favorite moment for the more jaded amongst you. Probably the most surprising performance here, at least to those more acquainted with his later, more crotchety, work, is Rip Torn's nicely nuanced take on Judas Iscariot. Torn is wonderfully, well, torn between Judas' wish for justice for Jews and his growing militancy. (In full disclosure mode, I should confess that Rip and his late wife Geraldine Page were lifelong friends of my late Uncles, and in fact Rip eulogized both of my Uncles at their funerals).

King of Kings (1961)

King of Kings also boasts one of the glories of post-World War II music scores, an absolutely sumptuous symphonic outing by the fantastic Miklos Rozsa. Rozsa had been cutting his teeth on Biblical and quasi-Biblical scores for years, and always brought an authenticity to his scores that frequently found him mining the theoretically "bad" parallel fifths and fourths in voicings to achieve a suitably ancient sound. But here he crafts an incredibly melodic score that features one of the most gorgeous main themes of any film of this period. While some of Rozsa's techniques may seem ham-fisted to jaded modern day audiences (the use of an angelic choir whenever Jesus comes into view, for example), the power and majesty of his writing simply can't be underestimated.

King of Kings (1961)

King of Kings is obviously a throwback to the time when huge Biblical epics were a stock in trade for the major studios, a seeming sure bet in terms of appeal and box office riches. What is so striking about this film, however, is its frankly contemporary take on the political climate of Jesus' time, a focus which almost seems to ignore the larger questions of divinity and humanity cohabitating in one individual and makes Jesus the standard-bearer for any oppressed people looking for salvation and freedom. While that may not be theologically "correct," it gives King of Kings a solid and visceral impact that many other more staid and stolid recountings of Jesus' life never even begin to approach.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman