Many films have attempted to portray the life, death and resurrection of Jesus from the perspectives of those who have lived during his time on earth. A good example is Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), which presents Jesus from the point of view of Judas, the disciple who betrayed him. Mary and Jesus (1999) portrays Jesus from the viewpoint of Mary, his mother. The Miracle Maker (2000) tells the Jesus story through the eyes of Jairus’ daughter, the girl that Jesus healed.
A new movie of this kind has recently been broadcast in the Middle East and North Africa. It presents Jesus from Mary Magdalene’s vantage-point and is aptly entitled “JESUS, As Witnessed By Mary Magdalene.” LifeAgape Director Henri Aoun says that the goal of the film is “to help every woman to know her value in Jesus Christ…” as well as “to help give women back their pride and respect, exactly like Jesus did when he touched the heart of Mary Magdalene”. Mary Magdalene has been unfairly characterized in Hollywood as no more than a prostitute who was saved by Jesus from being stoned to death. Not many films put the spotlight on the fact that she was the first one to witness the resurrection of Jesus and that she herself was a follower of Christ.
“JESUS, As Witnessed By Mary Magdalene” presents “the loving Jesus who protected a woman’s honor, built up her dignity and gave her a role in preaching the good news.” I agree with Jinan Slim of SAT-7 when he said that the film “is a much-needed production, one that is very important in the Arab world where women’s position in society, and even in the Church, has historically been marginalized”.
The idea of the movie interests me big time. But the film is in Arabic so it might take some time before it reaches the Philippine shores (if ever it will reach these shores). I hope a lot of women will be able to watch it because I’m sure many of them can relate to Mary Magdalene’s story.
this is interesting , very interesting…i cannot wait to get hold of a copy of it.