THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Richard Fleischer
SCREENWRITER: Christopher Fry, Nigel Balchin (uncredited), Diego Fabbri (uncredited), Ivo Perilli (uncredited), Salvatore Quasimodo (Italian dialogue) (uncredited)
FILM STARS: Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano, Jack Palance, Ernest Borgnine, Arthur Kennedy, Katy Jurado, Harry Andrews, Vittorio Gassman, Norman Wooland, Valentina Cortese, Arnoldo Foà, Michael Gwynn, Laurence Payne, Douglas Fowley, Guido Celano, Enrico Glori, Sharon Tate.
COUNTRY: Italy – USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: Par Lagerkvist
TYPE: Novel
PUBLISHER: Four Square
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1962
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1950
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: Historical
WORDS: I saw the film so long ago I have little recollection of it. But given it stars (favourites) Anthony Quinn and Ernest Borgnine and is directed by (favourite) Richard Fleischer it deserves to be revisited.
The story (of Barabbas) is familiar enough to anyone of the Christian west, though only in part. The novel (and film) follow Barabbas after Christ’s crucifixion as he struggles with answering “why me?”
The premise of the movie (and novel) is that Barabbas has to go around in life with the weight of the fact that the Son of God died in his place. The film, then, is a long movie about survivor’s guilt. The book is an existentialist, philosophical look at faith and belief by a Swede who had rejected Christianity (but never became bitter to it). In 1951 Pär Lagerkvist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature largely on the back of this book’s popularity (critical and public).
The novel (which is quite short) and the film (which is quite long) both set out to ask what became of the man who was freed instead of Christ. The novel is a pure work of fiction which expands the story of Barabbas in the Bible. The film expands the novel even further … and adds all sorts of action scenes as required in a Biblical epic. The novel’s Barabbas wants to believe in Christ but his nature prevents him from accepting a God who preaches love and forgiveness. He wants rough justice. He cannot affirm his faith. He cannot pray. He can only say, “I want to believe.” The film is more ambivalent and can be read (at the end) as a person who has placed his faith in Christ.
LINKS
TRAILER
The Italian trailer which is the same though sharper in picture
I haven’t seen the movie or read the book, but they sound interesting.
Are you going to do “Ben Hur”- I’ve seen the movie but haven’t read the novel.
The author, Lew Wallace, was a Union general in the Civil War, and came close to losing the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.
Yes, I will at some stage. Many more to come.