By Michaela Gordoni
The RISEN cast shared all their favorite things about the 2016 Teddy Bear Award®-winning movie.
“We deal with the narrative of the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. There’s few, if any, movies have tackled that all in one go but the unique thing is that we get to see it from an oblique angle,” Joseph Fiennes, who plays a Roman soldier named Clavius, told Movieguide® in 2016.
“If you look through the eyes of a Roman military tribune called Clavius, he’s a non-believer,” he continued. “He’s a tough, hardened, surgical kind of battle-weary commander.”
In the movie, Pontius Pilate asks Clavius to collect Jesus’ body, but it’s nowhere to be found.
“There’s a bit of a ticking clock, and I like the detective element to it,” the Teddy Bear Award® winning actor continued. “The idea that Emperor Tiberius is coming to Judea, they want to clear up this mess. So there’s a lot of pressure heaped on Clavius, and I love that element.”
The biggest takeaway for Fiennes was the movie’s redemptive theme, which is shown in part by Jesus’ forgiveness toward Clavius.
“Clavius puts to death a man, and the man is resurrected and forgives him, and that’s a pretty amazing thing,” Fiennes said. “And even Clavius can’t get his head around that, but we all take a wrong turn, and so that redemptive power is something that I think can speak to us.”
Cliff Curtis, who played Yeshua, or Jesus, said the role was “a miracle.”
“As a child, I was raised a Catholic, and Jesus was my first superhero,” he told Movieguide®. “I didn’t read comics, I read the Bible. Jesus and Moses and Samson…that’s the original inspiration.”
“It’s perhaps, for me, one of the most significant works I’ve done in my career as an artist, and…it’s rare to have work that connects spiritually, and for me there was a very strong and compelling presence for me in the work,” he said. “I don’t know how it comes across in the movie because it’s just the movie, but for me my experience of it was very, really beautiful and profound.”
Finneas told CBN that Curtis was a “phenomenal” Jesus.
“He’s a sort of alpha male in many senses, but there’s something else that he brings. There’s a wonderful spirit and lightness at the same time. He’s a special actor, and he’s done a wonderful job,” Finneas said.
Curtis hopes that viewers understand that love is the movie’s main message.
“We as human beings can love more. We can learn to love more. I hope that’s the final message,” he said.
Part of Movieguide®’s review of the movie reads, “After more and more of Christ’s followers come to them, Clavius wonders if the Christian message could be true. Will Clavius literally see the truth?
“…RISEN is a dramatic, epic movie about Jesus Christ rising from the dead… It tells a powerful story with a realistic portrayal of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.”
Movieguide® gave it a -1 rating for moderate violence and light nudity.
Read Next: 2 Things Christians Can Learn from Clavius’ Pursuit Of Jesus in the Movie RISEN
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