My wife and I watched this movie yesterday. I hadn't great expectations, but what we watched was far worse than what I could guess. I'm aware that the biblical data on Mary are scarce, and some imagination is needed to flesh out her story, but here imagination has gone wild and plainly contradicting the Scriptures.
What do we know about Mary Magdalene from the Bible? 1. She had been healed by Jesus (seven demons had gone out from her). 2. She and other healed women were following Jesus and the Twelve and were "contributing to their support out of their private means" (Luke 8: 1-3). 3. She was present, along with Jesus'mother and the beloved disciple (probably John) by the cross when Jesus died (John 19:25). 4. On the first day of the week she went to Jesus' tomb and found it empty. 5. She went to Peter and the beloved disciple to tell them about the empty tomb. They also saw it and left, but Mary remained weeping outside the tomb. There, she first saw two angels and then the resurrected Christ appeared to her and sent her to the disciples. 6. She did as commanded, and told them "I have seen the Lord" (John 20: 1-18).
What would we learn about Mary Magdalene from the movie? 1. That she was an atypical, even rebellious woman, who refused to marry and had her own brand of spirituality. 2. That her family thought she was possessed, but when Jesus went to heal her, he declared she had no demon (against Luke 8:2). 3. That Jesus himself baptized her (against John 4:2). 4. That Jesus asked her what should he say to the women at Cana of Galilee. 5. That Peter was jealous of her standing before Jesus (an idea perhaps taken from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, 114). 6. That she was present at the Last Supper (Thank you, Dan Brown, for The Da Vinci Code!). 7. That she found Jesus sitting by a cliff (against John 20:14).
Many other things may be noted, but I just want to comment on the movie's portrait of Jesus. I love Joaquin Phoenix, but his Jesus was awful. Too old (Jesus was on his early 30s), lacking joy, power and passion. Even when John said that Jesus had a seamless tunic (John 19:23-25), in the movie he always looks as a hobo. Indeed, a jaded, insecure, confused hobo most of the time. He even faints a couple of times (before the trial). He has to be encouraged by Mary.
In short, this movie is kind of a New Age/Postmodern/Politically correct tale, and even granting that, quite boring. We boldly endured it to the end, but the only interesting thing we noticed was, before the credits, a short comment on the wrong (or at least arbitrary) identification of Mary Magdalen as the sinner of Luke 7:36-50 and Mary of Bethany.
Mary Magdalen is a fascinating biblical character and she deserves a much better movie to tell her story.
Review of Mary Magdalene
