Norman Jewison and Melvyn Bragg’s Jesus in 1973 and Mark’s Gospel

Abstract

Interpreting Norman Jewison and Melvyn Bragg’s film Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) as a passion narrative, I examined it by employing the four dimensions of the cinematic quest for Jesus movies that Barns Tatum suggested. This film parallels Mark’s Gospel. It adopts significant Markan motifs and themes such as “way (hodos),” “blindness of the disciples,” “servanthood” and “thinking the things of God.” It also employs Markan structure in the opening and the closing of the movie, and portrays Jesus, as well as other characters, as Mark does.