Forty-Seven Days with Jesus

Forty-Seven-Days-with-Jesus
Forty-Seven Days with Jesus

Only within the last few months has there been news of a film that will be released by Fathom Events and Pinnacle Peak Pictures in association with Vero Entertainment and Reel Big Studios. ‘Forty-Seven Days with Jesus’ will be released in selected cinemas on March 11, 12, and 14, 2022, a few weeks ahead of the easter holidays.

Introductory Thoughts

It seems that everyone today, including myself, is concerned with the lack of ‘good’ type content in modern media. Therefore, it is a pleasure to see a Christian film such as Forty-Seven Days with Jesus, which also inspires parents to spend time together with their kids.

That said, my purposeful critique of the film is not entirely a satirical affair I am honest in sharing what I liked and what left much to be desired.

Film Synopsis

Joseph is a husband and father whose family life is in chaos and now measures the worth of work vs. family. In parallel to this modern narrative occurs a musical version of the last week of Jesus’s life on earth. Retellings commence with Jesus being hailed as he arrives on a donkey to Jerusalem, depicting the suffering on the cross and subsequent reappearance as well as fue, the fish that were in the massive net that did not tear.

The music, however, even though I didn’t assume too much about it, exceeded my expectations: songs sounded soft and with a choir behind them, so it was more like a performance in a church theatre. Well, this is not a type of music that I appreciate much, but anyway, great emotion was put into the performance and beautiful singing was present.

It should also be noted that the retelling parts were, with almost no exception, illustrating the songs. As far as I can remember, the main exception to this was the scene featuring Cameron Arnett as Pilate.

Personal Views on the Film

One of my views which, by the way, was developed in a very minor fragment of the movie – the thought about disciples’ sorrow from Christ\’s absence. After the event of Christ’s resurrection when he is showing up to his disciples, there is a moment in which they are casting nets into the water trying to catch fish. Their feeling when looking at the net appears to be the same as the feeling of losing a close friend.

This snippet stands out for me since it is one I have not comprehended in the light of the Resurrection of the loneliness of the disciples. More particularly, I do not consider how it would have been to meet Him again in an emotionally charged reunion moment, but without the ’ moment togetherness they were used to. For me, it also gives more weight to the event of the Holy Spirit coming.

And so, that association between the song and the empty tomb was also very nice and effective. Liked the contrast. Also, the scene showing Jesus’ spirit departing from the body was so beautiful.

What Good Did It Do To Me

In general, the movie inspired me, though not in the way one would normally expect a movie to inspire. It has a strong message about sacrifice that should resonate today. Joseph is under the impression that by working excessively, he provides plenty for his family. But it is at the expense of his family that he is doing so. Consequently, his wife and children are deprived of his presence and affection.

In like manner, I also felt that the impact of renunciation in the scene was depicted well in the crucifixion of Christ. The shot tells the audience of the brutality of the event but does not exploit it and the position of the cameras also facilitates easy watching. At the same time, there is the song and the close-ups of the Jesus character’s face which highlight his love and the worth of his sacrifice.

The re-casting seems to cut across a number of castings races and it was interesting to see that the re-telling in this particular segment did not have a majority of white people in the Middle East.

I have come across Cameron Arnett in a couple of movies and he has performed well as Pontius Pilate in this one. I also appreciated that this scene added more lines of dialogue between the rest of the historical events.

Overall the quality of acting was good, including the younger actors that played the three children but I have a feeling that one of them was supposed to be older than the rest.

The advantage of this is that the different plot lines do not seem to break each other. The retelling tends to be quite musical-intensive while the modern-day narration has no singing.

Conversely, there is a certain distance between the two narratives, with the former being more comprehensive in speech and the latter utilizing mostly sound and imagery. Most of the actions in the scenes are interlaced with conversations among members of the family. However, the one scene that I regard as most interesting the disciples on the lake is loose, with the only connection being a picture of the family of Joseph at a different lake.

A few moments later, when the family is sitting at a campfire, a longer talk about the story of “Forty-Seven Days” takes place. This conversation seems to be contrived and covers many areas that culminate in Peter requesting and receiving forgiveness. That’s not actually what we view during the historical scenes. These remarks emanate from the present timeline in the film but do not fit the sequence of events in ‘Forty-Seven Days’. Thus, in my opinion, the plots are somewhat dispersed.

In conclusion, I believe that each narrative could have been given a deeper exploration due to the fact that it would allow the stories to overlap even more.

Thematic Content

In fact, I have one or two lines that I did not quite agree with:

One of the characters, when talking to a spouse left alone in the scenario, explains that to be loved means to be understood and then adds that to forgive means ‘to understand.’ While I understand that this particular conversation is within the context of marriage and I have not been to one, I cannot help, however, be skeptical of such assertions most certainly the last one.

There’s also a part where Joseph mentions that his adolescent son does not seem to be too much interested in the story of the ‘Forty-Seven Days’ in the first place. Joseph says it’s because of his current age, however, Joseph’s father refutes this claim by saying that it is so because Joseph fails to portray the essence of the story in his own life.

I think I have also developed a fair understanding of why this particular line was incorporated, and it is correct that Joseph ought to keep being with his family. I, on the other hand, have to say, simply know from my own experience that relationships with earthly fathers do affect and have an impact on our understanding of the Heavenly Father.

That being said the part I do not feel comfortable about is that this part comes off as blaming the dad which perpetuates negative tendencies in the church culture. I feel that children born to Christian parents are often blamed for the poor actions of their kids or place the blame again on the parents saying they haven’t prayed hard enough for their kids to remain disciplined. But even children with the ‘perfect’ parents can sometimes go in the opposite direction. For sure Joseph had to try harder as a father but that is absolutely not how I would put it.

Content Notes

As already discussed, notice the careful handling of the crucifixion, not to show too much of the cross, and emphasize the face of the Jesus character.

In relation to the scene of the tomb, the grandfather also advises his granddaughter to prepare for some frightening figure imagery. Jesus’ body is depicted as falling downwards into the distant darkness. Nowadays we know that crucifixion is not considered horrific. There is also Judas in the picture standing by a noose, movements. And the stage is black while he steps forward; the rollers go black.

Final Remarks and Reflection

I respect the purpose of the film but still think that the two areas of the plot line tension could have been more well developed, with a more robust and stronger bridging element in between. I also would have preferred a little bit of further closure for the retelling part, since the climax scene is spectacular but does not quite get the attention it deserves during the current debates.

Nevertheless, the music was nice along with some good lyrics too. I appreciated that Joseph was willing to put his family first and work later. In today’s world where everything seems to be about speed and technology, I am grateful that Forty-Seven Days with Jesus encourages this.

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