VIDEO : CHAPTER, VERSE ON BIBLE-BASED EPICS.Byline: Robert Bianco Special to the Daily News Hollywood is pretty much out of the Bible business. It used to be you could always count on at least one rousing big-screen Bible epic around the Easter season The new liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, which took effect in 1970 following its earlier approval by the Second Vatican Council changed the "Sundays after . These days, what epics you get come from cable networks like TNT TNT: see trinitrotoluene. TNT in full trinitrotoluene Pale yellow, solid organic compound made by adding nitrate (−NO2) groups to toluene. , home of last year's ``Joseph'' and this year's ``Moses.'' They may be fine movies, but for sheer camp entertainment value, they can't compete with ``The Ten Commandments'' or ``The Song of Bernadette'' (worth watching today just for the way Anne Revere Revere, city (1990 pop. 42,786), Suffolk co., E Mass., a residential suburb of Boston, on Massachusetts Bay; settled c.1630, set off from Chelsea and named for Paul Revere 1871, inc. as a city 1914. sneers ``Bernadette''). While it's politically expedient to blame the death of the biblical epic on Hollywood's lack of family values, the truth is that accusing modern Hollywood of an anti-religion conspiracy would be giving old Hollywood too much credit. The studios' attitudes toward religion have always been suspect. That unique Hollywood blend of sentimentality, bombast and pageantry was always more rooted in marketing than in spirituality, and always less interested in the religious patriarchs than in the scantily scant·y adj. scant·i·er, scant·i·est 1. Barely sufficient or adequate. 2. Insufficient, as in extent or degree. scant clad slave girls who surrounded them. Didn't you ever wonder why every Bible movie had at least one banquet? We still get the girls, but the religious trappings are gone, destroyed by a splintered, touchy audience that is both skeptical and easily insulted. Hollywood once assumed (incorrectly) that it spoke for everyone; now it's so paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. with fear, it speaks for no one. Still, if few new Bible movies are being made, plenty of old ones remain for holiday rental. Here are five Easter suggestions. Keep your eyes on the dancing girls. ``Ben-Hur'': (1959, MGM/UA; $29.99) When the Vatican released its list of 45 ``important films,'' the only big-time biblical epic to make the cut was ``Ben-Hur.'' Of course, that was before Gore Vidal told the makers of ``The Celluloid Closet'' about the movie's latent homosexual subplot sub·plot n. 1. A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work or film. Also called counterplot, underplot. 2. A subdivision of a plot of land, especially a plot used for experimental purposes. , a revelation made all the more amusing because it got Charlton Heston so riled rile tr.v. riled, ril·ing, riles 1. To stir to anger. See Synonyms at annoy. 2. To stir up (liquid); roil. [Variant of roil.] Adj. 1. up. Whether ``Hur'' is a pun or not, the Motion Picture Academy apparently agreed with the Vatican's evaluation of the film's importance; it gave ``Ben-Hur'' a record 11 Oscars, including Best Actor to Heston. To be charitable, since this is, after all, the Easter season, let's just say that Heston's acting harks back to a once-popular declamatory style that has since gone out of favor. There. Now isn't that nicer than saying that for all the acting talent displayed here, they could have given the Oscar to the chariot? ``The Gospel According to St. Matthew'': (1964, Water Bearer; $24.95) Also on the Vatican's list, this somber Italian classic from Marxist filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini is considered by many to be the best film treatment of the life and death of Christ. (Not by all, however. Pauline Kael referred to its slow rhythm as ``punishing.'') ``Gospel'' is the best choice for those who want their Bible stories straight, without the amusing bonus of miscast mis·cast tr.v. mis·cast, mis·cast·ing, mis·casts 1. To cast in an unsuitable role. 2. To cast (a role, play, or film) inappropriately. big-name actors. ``Jesus Christ Superstar'': (1973, MCA/Universal; $19.99) This film is acceptable, but only for those who are pitifully nostalgic about early-'70s dreck dreck n. Slang Trash, especially inferior merchandise. [German, dirt, trash and Yiddish drek, excrement, both from Middle High German drec , and only if the less aggressively dreadful ``Godspell'' (charming stage play, leaden movie) isn't available. And who knows? Maybe it will inspire some teen-ager in your house to take a second look at the biblical source. It did for a lot of their parents. ``Quo Vadis?'': (1951, MGM/UA; $29.98) Although grandiose and overly sentimental at times - in fact, almost all the time - there are moments (most of them provided by the sublime Deborah Kerr) when this story of St. Peter's final trip to Rome truly conveys the internal struggles that precede religious conviction. If that doesn't interest you, Peter Ustinov is a rousingly entertaining Nero, and we all know Hollywood was far more interested in Nero than it would ever be in St. Peter. ``The Last Temptation of Christ'': (1988, MCA/Universal; $19.95) Is it any wonder Hollywood has given up? Martin Scorsese's thoughtfWul reinterpretation re·in·ter·pret tr.v. re·in·ter·pret·ed, re·in·ter·pret·ing, re·in·ter·prets To interpret again or anew. re of the Passion was buried by a ridiculous, manufactured controversy. The movie is not entirely successful, but those who bothered to see it found an honest, intelligent grappling with the meaning of divinity and humanity. And for those who are celebrating Passover: ``The Ten Commandments'': (1956, Paramount; $34.99) As Yul Brynner would say, ``Who eez theez Moe-zez?'' Why, it's Charlton Heston again, eating the scenery so assiduously as·sid·u·ous adj. 1. Constant in application or attention; diligent: an assiduous worker who strove for perfection. See Synonyms at busy. 2. , you fear he'll part the Red Sea by gulping it down. To be fair, however, everyone in ``The Ten Commandments'' overacts. In fact, ``Thou Shalt shalt aux.v. Archaic A second person singular present tense of shall. Overact'' is the one commandment you can count on in a Cecil B. DeMille Noun 1. Cecil B. DeMille - United States film maker remembered for his extravagant and spectacular epic productions (1881-1959) Cecil Blount DeMille, DeMille movies. Have you watched ``The Greatest Show on Earth'' lately? MEMO: Robert Bianco's column appears on Fridays. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Charlton Heston took a Best Actor award for ``Ben-Hu r,'' one of the biblical epic's 11 Oscars. It's also on the Vatican's list of 45 ``important films.'' |
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