Black Jesus film preaches politics over religion

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Billed as the world's first black Jesus movie, "Son of Man" portrays Christ as a modern African revolutionary and aims to shatter the Western image of a placid savior with fair hair and blue eyes.

The South African film, which premieres on Sunday at the U.S. Sundance festival in Utah, transports the life and death of Christ from first century Palestine to a contemporary African state racked by war and poverty.

Jesus is born in a shanty-town shed, a far cry from a manger in a Bethlehem stable. His mother Mary is a virgin, though feisty enough to argue with the angels. Gun-wielding authorities fear his message of equality and he ends up hanging on a cross.

"We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spindoctors and to strip that away and look at the truth," director Mark Dornford-May told Reuters in an interview.

"The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable."

By portraying Jesus as a black African, Dornford-May hopes to sharpen the political context of the gospels, when Israel was under Roman occupation, and challenge Western perceptions of Christ as meek, mild and European.

"We have to accept that Christ has been hijacked a bit -- he's gone very blonde haired and blue-eyed," he said. "The important thing about the message of Christ was that it is universal. It doesn't matter what he looked like."

In fact, there was a film called "Black Jesus" made in 1968 and starring Woody Strode, but it is described as a political commentary rather than an interpretation of the life of Christ.

Made by the same theater company behind last year's award-winning "U-Carmen eKhayelitsha," Son of Man is in the tongue-clicking Xhosa African language and English and was filmed in the sprawling black townships near Cape Town.

Jesus begins his public ministry after an encounter with Satan -- who appears cloaked in black leather -- during his traditional Xhosa circumcision rite.

He gathers followers from the factions of armed rebels across the country and demands they lay down their guns and confront their corrupt rulers with a vision of non-violent protest and solidarity.

Dornford-May, who says he subscribes to Christ's teachings without necessarily believing he is the son of God, says the Jesus in the film is a divine being who rises from the dead.

His resurrection is meant to signal hope for Africa, the world's poorest continent which is sometimes dismissed by foreigners as a hopeless mess of conflict and corruption.

"The ending is optimistic but realistic. There is an incredible struggle to get to the optimism," he said.

Dornford-May says focus groups of church leaders and ordinary Christians in South Africa, where Christianity often comes in a conservative form, broadly praised the film, which he hopes will prove a hit on the continent and worldwide.

Mary, played by the star of U-Carmen, Pauline Malefane, gets a beefed-up role as the inspiration for Christ's politics and humanity, compared to her fairly brief biblical appearances.

And Malefane, who is married to Dorford-May, makes a smooth transition from playing the seductive heroine Carmen to the world's most famous virgin, he said.

"They are both women who are prepared to stand outside of society. They may be different sides of the coin but they are still the same coin -- but I'm not going to be very popular for saying that."

DVD REVIEW
Black Jesus

Year: 1968. Directed by Valerio Zurlini. Starring Woody Strode, Jean Servais, Salvatore Basile, Pier Paolo Capponi, Franco Citti, and Stephen Forsyth. Country: Italy
DVD release: Eclectic DVD

Review by Joe Pettit, Jr.
Valerio Zurlini was known for crafting existentialist dramas, such as Violent Summer and Girl With A Suitcase, that were almost always autobiographical examinations of human relationships within the context of traumatic historical moments. Known as "the poet of melancholy," Zurlini, a postwar Italian director whose films are better known throughout Europe than the United States, tended to make films that were more influenced by literature and painting than politics. Black Jesus ("Seduto alla sua Destra," which translates as "Seated at his right"), recently released on DVD by Eclectic DVD, was an exception to the rule. Based on the life of Patrice Lumumba, the assassinated Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the first democratically elected political figure in the Congo, Black Jesus is a moving, albeit flawed fable that draws not-so-subtle parallels between the lives of Lumumba and Jesus.

Woody Strode plays Maurice Lalubi, a powerful and charismatic rebel opposed to the foreign rule of his country, who is betrayed by an enigmatic figure working within his ranks. Thrown in a prison cell with a compassionate thief named Oreste (Franco Citti), Lalubi is given one hour to decide his fate. A Dutch colonel (Jean Servais) agrees to set Lalubi free if he will sign a paper ordering the rebel forces to throw down their weapons. If he does not sign, his fate will be slow torture and death by execution. Despite his impending doom, Lalubi focuses his attention on Oreste, seeming genuinely interested in the life of this sad little man. After an hour passes, Lalubi is taken to a dark, dirty room to be worked over by a team of soldiers. The next day, the Dutch colonel has second thoughts about his part in all of this and tries to negotiate Lalubi’s release with the African puppet government. However, the puppet government wants Lalubi dead, believing that the people will forget all about him and go back to being docile servants. Events proceed to their starkly tragic, yet expected, conclusion.

There is no denying that Black Jesus has moments of real power. Strode gives a powerhouse performance as Lalubi, a calm, almost holy rebel who holds on to his ideals and his dignity while facing the hopelessness of his own future. When Lalubi is led into a room full of soldiers for his first "interrogation," the calmness dissolves. His body rebels despite his convictions that he is pursuing the only course he can. The soldiers overpower him, forcing him to the table to meet his martyrdom. Through it all, he never curses his tormentors or loses his compassion for his common countryman. The scene is stark, brutal and heartbreaking -- a sobering reminder that many good men and women standing up to tyranny have met similar fates in dark, secluded rooms throughout the history of imperialism. Citti, as well, gives a great performance as Oreste. The thief is truly touched that such a powerful figure as Lalubi would take the time to talk to him, much less ask his name and for details of his life. In a touching scene, he repays the favor by dressing Lalubi’s wounds after he is tortured. Servais, as the Dutch colonel, convincingly portrays a man having doubts about the methods used to impose rule. He lies awake, his face convulsed with agony as he listens to Lalubi’s screams. One of the messages of the film is that torture degrades both conqueror and conquered, that while damaging the victim’s body it also damages the inflictor’s psyche.

In spite of the film’s success in depicting the tragedy of colonial rule, Black Jesus fails on a more basic level. Zurlini and co-writer Franco Brusati skimp on crucial background information that could have raised the film to classic status. Intended as a fable, the film utilizes broad strokes to develop character and move the plot along. Only two characters are referred to by name: Maurice Lalubi and Oreste, the thief. Presumably, this technique serves to elevate the characters to the level of archetypal roles, but more often it reduces them to caricature. Furthermore, Zurlini assumes that familiarity with the story of the death of Jesus will supply much of the emotional and informational background for the viewer. However, we are left wondering about very basic elements of the plot. For instance, we never learn any details about the relationship between the Judas character and Lalubi. It is obvious in their final confrontation that Lalubi knows him, but in what capacity? Judging from the biblical story of Jesus we could assume that the Judas character worked side by side with Lalubi, but the evidence to support this assumption is not present in the film. Since Black Jesus presumes to be based on the life of a historical African leader, a little more historical information and a little less mythologizing would have gone a long way. One is left wishing that the end result played less like hagiography and more like a well-developed political thriller.

The DVD presentation by Eclectic is shoddy at best. The cover artwork is unattractive and the liner notes uninformative. No mention is made that the transfer is widescreen, which would be a major selling point for the DVD. The video transfer comes from a damaged print. Image and audio skips abound. Because no notes are given regarding the source of the print, one can only speculate. The "special features" confirm that not a lot of thought or care went into the preparation of the DVD. Aside from the excellent biography of Woody Strode and the extremely informative notes on the political history of the Congo during Patrice Lumumba’s career, no other information on the cast or crew is provided. The accompanying shorts -- which include a performance by the Count Basie Orchestra, a Little Rascals comedy, and an episode of the Buck Rogers serial -- astonishingly have no relevance whatsoever to Valerio Zurlini, Woody Strode, or African history. By a huge stretch of the imagination, one could justify the inclusion of the Count Basie Orchestra’s performance of "Basie Boogie," but including an episode of the Little Rascals that deals with a cannibalistic wild man from Borneo comes off as insensitive and just plain offensive. Including episode 2 of a Buck Rogers serial is simply ridiculous and surreal.

Despite the flaws of the film and the lackluster DVD presentation, Black Jesus remains a compelling and moving story of a man who dies daring to challenge European rule in his country, thereby becoming a celebrated martyr. It is worth watching for the performances of Woody Strode, Franco Citti, and Jean Servais alone.

Black Jesus is available on DVD from Eclectic DVD. Special features: widescreen presentation (approximately 1.66:1); Woody Strode biography; notes on the political history of the Congo during Patrice Lumumba's reign; plus additional material unrelated to the movie. Suggested retail price: $19.95.

This sounds like an interesting film. It certainly doesn't depict anything about Lumumba, regardless of Patrice baby's supposed inspirational role. Lumumba was a tin horn rabble rouser and half assed commie.

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