CONTENT WARNING: This review, film and/or soundtrack contains themes of religion, race, sexuality, suicide and violence.
As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of musicals. However, I have been persuaded to review this one. “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a dramatic rock opera about the life and journey of Jesus Christ before his death. While the film itself is about Jesus Christ, the film is not overly religious in tonality.
Background
“Jesus Christ Superstar” began as a Broadway production in 1971, with all the music having been composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Some of his other works include “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Cats,” “Evita,” etc. The production later came to film in 1973.
Setting the Scene
The film begins with a bus full of actors and set material entering a desert scene. All the actors start by unloading in a choreographed fashion and we jump into a scene with Judas.
“Jesus Christ Superstar” follows Jesus and his disciples on their way to Jerusalem all the way up to his crucifixion. Throughout the film, we see a range of attire from period appropriate clothing to 70s hippie style. There’s even a scene at the end with all white disco outfits. That being said, the Sadducee leaders are seen with black revealing outfits and huge, oddly shaped hats. The Roman footsoldiers are even seen wearing purple tanktops with green camouflage pants.
Plot
Pretty early on in the film, it can be seen that the Sadducee leaders were worried about Jesus and his following. Their trepidation seems well founded in the tone of the movie. Jesus is portrayed almost as a cult leader with a growing, almost obsessive following that troubled the Sadducee. Caiaphus, the leader, decides that Jesus gaining so much power could topple the power the Romans had and would destabilize his political and religious reign. He turns to Pontius Pilate for help.
The film pans away from the Sadducee back to Jesus and his disciples in a cave-like setting. Mary Magdalene is seen attempting to take care of Jesus in a loving way. Judas doesn’t approve of this behavior for a couple reasons. For one, Mary Magdalene was formerly a prostitute. While reinterpretations of the Bible have discovered that she was not actually a prostitute, this film portrays her as such. Judas does not approve of her presence in their ragtag gang stating that she could easily be the reason the Romans have been looking to lock them all up. Jesus, of course, defends her and essentially says that if you are not without fault do not cast judgement. Secondly, he disapproves of her use of ointment on Jesus claiming that said ointment wasn’t cheap and could have been used on some of the sick, lame and impoverished.
Of course, any depiction of Jesus’ adult life has to include his fit at the temple having been turned into a marketplace. This marketplace really was made out to look like an epicenter of worldly pleasures. There were exotic dancers and mercantile greed. Jesus, of course, flips the table and starts yelling about his house of worship having been transformed into a temple of materialism.
Character Conflicts
Jesus is seen as having a lot of internal conflict in terms of his relationship with God and his role in his plan. He desperately wants to help as many people as he can. There is a scene depicting him getting surrounded by impoverished and ailing people begging for his attention and healing strength. Jesus gets overwhelmed by the people both physically and emotionally and ends up begging to be left alone. He also is seen having an internal struggle about how he is supposed to die. He is conflicted and doesn’t understand why he must die. His trust in God is clearly being challenged as he begs for assurance that it is necessary for him to die. He is scared.
Mary Magdalene struggles with the concept of love. She is seen trying to figure out how to love Jesus. As she is being depicted as a former prostitute, it makes sense that she wouldn’t know how to love a man any other way. She wants to love Jesus wholesomely and fully.
Judas is also seen having a lot of conflict. He worries about the power and influence Jesus is accumulating and wonders if he isn’t being corrupted. It is seen that his belief in Jesus is shaky and that’s why he decides to go to Caiaphus and the Pharisees.
Symbolism
Right before he sees the Pharisees, there is an odd depiction of military grade tanks coming up over the hill in the horizon toward Judas. This is seemingly supposed to represent the strong military forces of the Roman Empire. Judas comes to the Pharisees because of his concern for Jesus and his possible corruption and doesn’t want the reward for turning him in. There is a dramatic back and forth between him and Caiaphus about taking the 30 pieces of silver and eventually he manipulates him into taking it under the pretence of giving back to the poor. Following his confession is a scene depicting a couple of jets roaring above, another symbolism of Roman strength.
The Beginning of the End
During the Last Supper scene, Jesus states his predictions and accusations about Simon Peter’s triple denial of Jesus and Judas’ betrayal. He is shown to be really hurt and in conflict about the loyalties and true feelings of his disciples. He is portrayed as hurt and even states that as far as anyone could care, his body and blood were the bread and wine before them.
Once Jesus was taken into custody, he was turned over from Pontius Pilate unto Harod for judgement. The scene of Harod’s judgement is an odd one to be certain. Harod is portrayed as his eccentric character with tiny yellow sunglasses and an entourage of skimpy 70s dancers.
Judas himself is riddled with guilt after he realizes the gravity of what he has done. He begged the Pharisees to show mercy and let him go but to no avail. He runs off in a very dramatic and distraught manner. As most would know, he hangs himself but this scene is pictured which is something of a trigger warning.
Pilate is depicted to be very hesitant to kill Jesus. He realizes that he doesn’t have any real legal reason to kill Jesus but is pushed into it by the crowd witnessing. He realizes that if he doesn’t kill Jesus, Ceasar would likely demote him and he’d lose his position of power.
Finally, the crucifixion scene. The film cuts to Jesus being depicted in a white robe in a darkened area with Judas and an ensemble all dressed in white 70s disco attire as stated earlier. This scene is zippered between the stations of the cross. This scene cuts to a dramatic stop as Jesus is nailed to the cross and depicted begging God for an answer and asking why he has forgotten him. The music in this scene is very somber and sad.
The final scene shows all the cast cleaning up and piling back into the bus in their street clothes. Everyone and everything gets into the bus except for Jesus and the cross. Mary Magdalene and Judas are the last two to enter the bus and are the most somber and dramatically distressed about leaving Jesus behind.
Controversies
The choice to not outwardly include the resurrection of Jesus was a big reason this movie and show have had backlash from the Christian community. The community felt that Jesus was being depicted more like a cult leader or a religious fanatic instead of the Messiah.
This film, not unlike many of the 1970s, shows its age at times. Jesus is portrayed as a white man with blond hair and blue eyes, as are many of his Apostles and disciples. I would say that this is likely a reflection of the whitewashing of Abrahamic religious figures during the Renaissance. That being said, Judas is portrayed by a Black man. While he has a lead role with very strong vocal parts, I wonder if making the traitor of Jesus to be a Black man wasn’t an unconscious choice reflecting the villainization of Black men. All that being said, there is a fair amount of diversity in the cast. Many members of the ensemble and dance formations are of a variety of creeds. The actor who played Mary Magdalene was a mixed race woman herself with Japanese, Chinese, and Irish roots.
Music
Musically, this movie has a very 70s rock feel with some of the guitar riffs and styles. There are many high notes sprinkled throughout the songs, mostly performed by male singers. Many of the songs themselves have a very syncopated feel to them. Additionally, Jesus’ theme as well as the theme of the Pharisees are zippered in some scenes creating a back and forth conversation. Lastly, during the stations of the cross, the music is cacophonous and chaotic in nature to depict the fear and urgency of Jesus being crucified. Additionally, almost all of the dancing in this film was very interpretive and disco-esque.
Overall, I think this film is a good one and an interesting interpretation of some of the biblical stories. I found the perspective to be one of more reality to what Jesus could have felt. I feel the film humanized Jesus a little more than some of the stories I have heard. Perhaps it is a matter of separating Jesus as a person from Jesus as a religious figure. In my mind, I think I associate religious figures with a certain serenity and calm and blind trust in what is to come. It was refreshing to see genuine emotions.
— dj dragonfly
