I don't know why I recorded this movie. Maybe it had something to do with the title. Actually, the title, Black Jesus, did interest me. At first I thought that it was an Italian Spaghetti Western, but within the first few moments, the ruined slum and the machine gun fire in the background, shows you that it is not. What this movie is is a retelling of the story of Jesus' death.
The movie is based around a man named Maurice Lalubi. Lalubi is a visionary and a prophet, but his words are inciting the natives to revolt against the occupiers of an unnamed African country. In the first few scenes we watch the bounty for Lalubi go up constantly, and he is turned in by a man who has no interest in a reward.
This movie is a reflection of the crucifixion. Lalubi isn't crucified, but you know that once he has been captured he is not going to be released. The commander is a reflection of Pontious Pilate, the Italians are the Romans, and the two thieves that were crucified with Jesus are there as well.
The commander is portrayed as a man who is in a land that he does not want to be, just as was Pilate. He understands and sympathises with Lalubi, but his commanders are forcing him to destroy Lalubi. As such he gives Lalubi the option to leave his country or to suffer unthinkable tortures. The commander is a coward as even though he knows Lalubi is innocent, he is not going to let Lalubi go.
The first thief is the important one as he is the one who repented. The second thief is silent and would rather co-operate and get back to what he was doing before. This doesn't help the second thief as he dies anyway. The first thief claims to be innocent, and probably is, but the important thing is that he looks after Lalubi. At first they speak and Lalubi promises that he will remember him and that they will sit together and have dinner together - a similar thing that Jesus said to the thief on the cross.
When Lalubi is dying, the first thief asks for oil and begins to cover him with it. This represents the fact that Lalubi will die. In the ancient world, the corpses would be anointed with oil, and thus when Jesus was anointed with perfume, it signaled that he was going to die.
This is a very deep movie and it tries to create the story of the crucifixion in another light. In this setting it shows us more clearly how horrifying the time in which Jesus lived was, and also the extent of his betrayal not only by a fellow Jew, but by one of his disciples. Many people who don't know the story do not understand the violence of the times and the suffering and oppression that the Jews were facing. This movie takes the story out of one time and puts it into another time to help us see more clearly how horrifying the crucifixion really was.
The movie is based around a man named Maurice Lalubi. Lalubi is a visionary and a prophet, but his words are inciting the natives to revolt against the occupiers of an unnamed African country. In the first few scenes we watch the bounty for Lalubi go up constantly, and he is turned in by a man who has no interest in a reward.
This movie is a reflection of the crucifixion. Lalubi isn't crucified, but you know that once he has been captured he is not going to be released. The commander is a reflection of Pontious Pilate, the Italians are the Romans, and the two thieves that were crucified with Jesus are there as well.
The commander is portrayed as a man who is in a land that he does not want to be, just as was Pilate. He understands and sympathises with Lalubi, but his commanders are forcing him to destroy Lalubi. As such he gives Lalubi the option to leave his country or to suffer unthinkable tortures. The commander is a coward as even though he knows Lalubi is innocent, he is not going to let Lalubi go.
The first thief is the important one as he is the one who repented. The second thief is silent and would rather co-operate and get back to what he was doing before. This doesn't help the second thief as he dies anyway. The first thief claims to be innocent, and probably is, but the important thing is that he looks after Lalubi. At first they speak and Lalubi promises that he will remember him and that they will sit together and have dinner together - a similar thing that Jesus said to the thief on the cross.
When Lalubi is dying, the first thief asks for oil and begins to cover him with it. This represents the fact that Lalubi will die. In the ancient world, the corpses would be anointed with oil, and thus when Jesus was anointed with perfume, it signaled that he was going to die.
This is a very deep movie and it tries to create the story of the crucifixion in another light. In this setting it shows us more clearly how horrifying the time in which Jesus lived was, and also the extent of his betrayal not only by a fellow Jew, but by one of his disciples. Many people who don't know the story do not understand the violence of the times and the suffering and oppression that the Jews were facing. This movie takes the story out of one time and puts it into another time to help us see more clearly how horrifying the crucifixion really was.