Poster for Italian director Roberto Rossellini’s depiction of the life of Jesus Christ. The poster features the actor who plays Jesus, Pier Maria Rossi, in frontal shot and profile, echoing the style of Andy Warhol’s repeated portraits of celebrities. It was the last feature film of Rossellini’s illustrious career.
The film presents a distinctly Christian view of biblical history, beginning with the Jewish peoples’ arrival in the Promised Land, depicting the crowning of King Saul, and portraying a general decline into disobedience and injustice, which Jesus, the Messiah, is meant to correct. It departs from other Jesus epics in its understated storytelling. The miracles of Jesus are referenced but not depicted, and the film does not fixate on the brutality of the Passion. The effect is of Jesus as a highly rational and moral religious leader who teaches an ethic of love in the midst of an unjust world.
See Also: [MP 048]
- Framed: 58.75 x 43 in
- Subject Matter: Messiah
- Created: 1975
- Collections: Biblical Movie Posters