Playing with Paradigms: The Christ-figure Genre in Contemporary Film

Numerous mainstream films feature a plot line loosely based on the Gospel narrative and a protagonist who has some Christ-like features. This paper will argue that the Christ-figure motif is not a minor element in contemporary cinema; rather, Christ-figure films constitute a genre in their own right...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Reinhartz, Adele 1953- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox Publ. 2008
In: Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2008, Volume: 21, Issue: 3, Pages: 298-317
Further subjects:B Bible and Film
B Christ-Figure films
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Parallel Edition:Electronic
Description
Summary:Numerous mainstream films feature a plot line loosely based on the Gospel narrative and a protagonist who has some Christ-like features. This paper will argue that the Christ-figure motif is not a minor element in contemporary cinema; rather, Christ-figure films constitute a genre in their own right. After providing a brief overview of the Christ-figure film, as illustrated by The Shawshank Redemption (1994), this paper will engage in an analysis of two movies—the Quebecois film C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) and the American film Stranger than Fiction (2006)—that explicitly and humorously demonstrate the interplay of convention and innovation, familiarity and novelty that is the salient characteristic of the genre film.
ISSN:2047-7058
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the academic study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/jasr.v21i3.298