Risen

Affirm Films is the home of quality entertainment that inspires, uplifts, challenges, and captivates.  Through compelling films, treasured children’s classics and timeless stories, we deliver on the promise of wholesome and trusted entertainment.

Thus reads the mission statement of Affirm Films, a division of Sony Pictures.  Affirm Films, along with LD Entertainment, Columbia Pictures (also a Sony company), and Patrick Aiello Productions, is the producer of the movie Risen, which opened on February 19^th, 2016, and is playing at the Llano Theatre in Plains on the weekend of March 11-13.  The background to the story will be familiar to anyone who grew up in a Christian church, as it focuses on the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus.  The point of view of the story, however, is not one church goers will find familiar. 

Reza Aslan, author of the scholarly work Zealot:  The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, suggests that Jesus was an itinerant Jewish preacher who gathered followers in an attempt to establish the “Kingdom of God.”  Aslan further suggests that this preacher caused such fear among both the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman civil authorities, that he was condemned and executed as a state criminal.  Some Christians are familiar with the four letter inscription supposedly put above Jesus’s cross, “INRI,” which is an acronym for the Latin phrase translated as “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”  [Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum]  Aslan proposes that the Romans were very serious about the words they used in crucifixions, and this phase would, indeed, indicate just how seriously the authorities viewed the “crime.”  And that’s where our movie starts.  If, as Jesus prophesied, he would rise from the dead in three days, this would be a miracle capable of destroying the Roman occupation of Palestine as well as the existing Jewish religious hierarchy.  A guard is posted in front of the tomb, to make sure no one steals the body.   When word comes back to Pontius Pilate that the tomb is empty, he sends men to investigate, with the understanding that they will find a body and disprove any resurrection claims.   And that, in a nutshell, is the story line of the movie Risen.  “The manhunt that changed the course of human history,” as the movie’s poster claims.

Joseph Fiennes plays Clavius, the Tribune in charge of the “manhunt.”  He is assisted by his aide, Lucius, played by Tom Felton.  Peter Firth takes the role of Pilate and Cliff Curtis Yeshua (Jesus).  All the Biblical characters are present:  Mary Magdalene, Joseph of Arimathea, Peter, John, Bartholomew, etc.  The screenplay was written by Kevin Reynolds and Paul Aiello, and Reynolds directed the movie.  Believers won’t see any mystery here, because they know what happened to the body, but the story should be an interesting look at how non-believers interpret the Easter story. 

During its opening weekend, Risen brought in amost $12 million dollars, and in the two weeks since opening, it has grossed over $28.6 million (as of March 6^th).  From everything I have read about the movie, it won’t challenge anyone’s beliefs, and indeed, I come back to the name of the production company in the belief that the film was made to affirm Christian theology.

Upcoming Films at the Llano (subject to change):

RISEN PG-13
March 11 - 13

LONDON HAS FALLEN R
March 18 - 20
ZOOTOPIA PG
March 25 - 27 No matinee

This is the tentative schedule for April:
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE PG-13
April 1 - 3
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT PG-13
April 8 - 10
BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE PG-13
April 15 - 17
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN PG-13
April 22 - 24

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.