Poncio Pilatos

This film takes an unusual perspective on events surrounding the Passion of Jesus Christ by focusing on Pontius Pilate, the man who condemned Him to death. The ambitious Pilate, a Roman citizen from the province of Hispania was promoted to be the Procurator of Judaea, which turned out to be the most troublesome and intractable of Rome's provinces. He immediately sets his foot wrong by setting up the eagles of Rome, as was customary, in the most prominent place, the courtyard of the Jewish temple. When riots ensue, Pilate backs down, but he's in for a bumpy ride. To put the fractious mobs to work, Pilate has an acquaduct built to show Rome's benevolence by ensuring a potable water supply to the masses. But here again, instead of being grateful the people rebel because the course of the acquaduct transgresses one of their nonsensical tribal laws; it traverses over a burial ground! Pilate fails to placate them, zealots attempt to assassinate him, nothing goes right accept the safe arrival of his wife and son. Eventually, the Sanhedrin turns over a "blasphemer" for Roman dispensation of justice. By this time Pilate senses a trap, sees no wrong in the Man, and gives the mob a choice. They choose that Christ be executed. Pilate's wife, Claudia Procula, warns him not to crucify Christ as she saw violent repercussions in a dream, but he has to keep his given word. So he makes the biggest mistake of all time...and the results are tragic. Altogether a very interesting film which depicts more details of the enigmatic administrator's life than we are accustomed to seeing.

The director had great ambitions;he wanted to mix politics with religion but the results show too much confusion,and the fact that Jesus and Judas are played by the same actor (!) doesn't help.Actually Jesus appears lately in the production ;the first half is marred by too many subplots :the aqueduct,the young girl who tries to seduce Pilate,the Sanhedrin,Nicodemus,gladiators devoured by ouch! crocodiles,Barabbas who sometimes seems at the Sanhedrin's beck and call,and of course the Temple.Irving Rapper has certainly De Millesque ambitions but he 's no match for the "ten commandments" man.He should have stuck to melodrama ("Now voyager",1942).

Pilate is played by great actor Jean Marais,but the production is overwhelming and he can't really display his brilliant skills.In fact,the movie is a flashback (Why?The screen play did not ask for that at all).

The second part is more run of the mill Passion stuff even if the camera focuses on Pilate,showing the crucifixion from a distance.To "enliven" things a bit,it seems that Good Friday events are turned into a disaster movie,complete with destruction of Pilate's palace and his wife's death.

Rapper ,like Wyler before him in "Ben Hur" ,never shows the Christ's face,except for a shot of his eyes.As for Barabbas,you'll always be better off with Richard Fleischer's eponymous movie(1962)

After looking for this film for decades I find it and sad to say for me is not dubbed and my Italian is non-existent. Fortunately this is certainly a story quite well known and I could follow it in any event.

Playing the title role of Pontius Pilate is French screen legend Jean Marais and his wife is played by American expatriate Jeanne Crain. The story is told in flashback as Pilate is before the Emperor and the Roman Senate giving an account of that most troublesome of provinces Judea which they can't quite get a hold on.

Such as it seemed the plot followed along the same path of King Of Kings which starred Jeffrey Hunter the year before. Of course told from the occupying Roman point of view. Marais having been joined by Crain and their two kids has wife and kids somewhat taken with the preachings of that carpenter turned rabbi from Nazareth.

No need go into the rest, it can be found in the New Testament in four different versions. Basil Rathbone who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa plays Caiaphas and I really missed hearing that one of a kind voice as he is dubbed in Italian. John Drew Barrymore plays both Jesus and is one bug eyed Judas.

Hopefully we Americans will get an English dubbed version to watch soon.

There's plenty of aged beefcake and stale cheesecake on display in Hollywood "woman's director" Irving Rapper's peplum-style Passion Play (co-directed by someone named Caligari) which attempts to cash in on a popular run of big budget biblical epics that began with SOLOMON & SHEBA.

Jean Cocteau's muse Jean Marais, no spring chicken, struts about as the titular magistrate and cuts a fine if flabby figure in his red cape, breastplate, sandals, and tiny gladiator skirt (he's topless, too, at one point) but apparently the only acting he can do is with his profile. Another old profile, Basil Rathbone, is also on hand as an ancient rabbi and a still-attractive Jeanne Crain unintentionally nails "patrician indifference" as Pilate's wife. Pilate's a womanizing martinet not without heart and the gang's all here from a ruthless, cut-throat Barabbas to a bony John Drew Barrymore in a dual role as both Jesus & Judas. The latter has a wild-eyed mad scene that would give JD's dad John a coronary and, like most movies of this sort, the Lord's visage is never shown, just his eyes. The money lenders get thrown out of the temple, too. I never knew the saying "I wash my hands of it" came from Pilate (or if I did, I forgot) and it's illustrated nicely here when he washes his hands after condemning Jesus and the basin water turns red with the Nazarine's eyes reflected in it.

There's much ado about an aqueduct and enough political intrigue between the Jews and the Romans in the first half of the film to put any viewer to sleep before the final crucifixion, which was unlike any I'd seen before on film. There's an eclipse and "spectacular cataclysm" as Jesus dies on the cross but unfortunately, for every plus there's a minus here and although it's no doubt unintentional, the movie does suggest the Jews killed Jesus since sending down an earthquake to destroy Jerusalem during the Crucifixion implies punishment, no? The U.S. release version cut out a wrap-around of Pilate's trial before Caligula but it's been restored (albeit with English subs) and although Rapper had an eye for spectacular widescreen tableaux (there really is a cast of thousands), it's pretty much a bore (albeit a strangely compelling one) and the low IMDb rating is about right for once.

This is an interesting though average retelling at the life of Pontius Pilatos , Caiaphas , Giuseppe d'Arimatea , Nicodemus , Barabbas and Jesús from a Roman political , historical and religious view point , being based on the biblical Gospel of John . This Biblical movie deals with the story of a notorious Procurator of Judea , Pontius Pilatos , and the events that culminated with the Passion of Christ , the man who moves multitude . As Pilatos must choose between Christ's freedom or His condemnation , but he washes his hands . Following ¨Passion Christ¨ seen from the perspective of Pontius Pilate (Jean Marais) who unwillingly condemned Jesus to death and his wife Procula (Jeanne Crain as Emperor Tiberio's niece) who is tormented by delusion and nightmares after learning His innocence . The film includes some major events referred to the New Testament with descriptive Biblical passages such as the revolt led by Barrabbas (John Drew Barrymore who gives overacting) as Zelots leader and his struggle to deal with seek the best course of resistance to Roman oppression embodied by the political savvy Pontius Pilate , sermon and entry of Jesús Christ in Jerusalem , expulsion of merchants of the temple , the arrest of Jesús (who never appears His face) in Mount of Olives , Golgotha Crucifixion , among others . At the end takes place a silly finale with an unexpected earthquake included .

Set against the magnificent backdrop of classic Rome and Israel , "Ponzio Pilato" is a colorful version of Jesus Christ and Pilato's life with a true international all-star-epic treatment , being professionally shot and reaches an exciting peak at the ending . It results to be an engaging idea : key moments and events in the life of Jesús , as seen through the eyes of other characters , mainly Ponzio Pilato , Caiaphas , Nicodemo and Procula . It is not completely reverential at some Biblical characters such as Judas Iscariote , Pontius Pilate and ¨Barrabbas¨ portraying the man less a thief than as a political revolutionary . Here appears , Jesús : John Drew Barrymore , only in what can best be described as "cameos" , usually from a long distance or with his face out of the frame . The result, however, proves one thing above all others , it is more entertaining than virtuousness . Filmed on a relatively acceptable scale , being efficiently produced by Enzo Merolle who financed other epics as ¨Colossus and the Amazon queen¨, "Pirate of the Half Moon" , "L'assedio Di Siracusa" , ¨Sheba and the Gladiator" or "Sign of Rome" . Good main cast , as the French Jean Marais is passable as the ambitious Procurator and the Hollywood star , Jeanne Crain , shows up beautiful and attractive , though is sometimes a little wooden . Fine support cast , at least they bring some life to their characters , such as Basil Rathbone as Caifa , leader of Sanedrín , Letícia Román as Sara , Massimo Serato as Nicodemus , Livio Lorenzon as Barabba , Riccardo Garrone as Galba and Gianni Garco , former his successful character as Sartana . Furthermore , a brief appearance by a very young Raffaella Carrà as Jessica . Evocative as well as atmospheric original music by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino . Including glowing cinematography by Massimo Dallamano , filmed surrounding Rome , Lazio . The motion picture was decently directed Irving Rapper , a craftsman who realized several Bette Davis vehicles and other films as ¨El Bravo¨, ¨Shinning victory¨ , ¨Strange intruder¨, ¨Crystal menagerie¨ , ¨The voice of the turtle¨ , ¨Adventures of Mark Twain¨, and another Biblical story : "Joseph and His Brethren" .

Other pictures dealing with divine presence of Jesus Christ are the followings : ¨King of Kings¨ , released in 1927, , first silent version by Cecil B. DeMille with H.B. Wagner ; ¨King of Kings¨ by Nicholas Ray with Jeffrey Hunter , Robert Ryan , Carmen Sevilla , Frank Thring , Rip Torn , Rita Gam , Harry Guardino ; ¨The Sword and the Cross¨ (1958) by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia , with Ivonne De Carlo , Jorge Mistral , Rossana Podestà , Massimo Serato , Andrea Aureli , Terence Hill ; ¨The greatest story ever told¨ (1965) by George Stevens with Max Von Sidow , Charlton Heston , Jose Ferrer , Sidney Poitier , Claude Rains ; ¨Gospel according to Matthew¨ by Pier Paolo Pasolini with Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus ; ¨Jesus Christ Superstar¨(1977) by Norman Jewison with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson ; ¨Jesus de Nazareth¨(1977) by Franco Zeffirelli with Robert Powell , Olivia Hussey , James Mason , Laurence Olivier , Anne Brancfort , Fernando Rey ; ¨Last temptation of Christ¨ by Martin Scorsese with Willem Dafoe , David Bowie , Harvey Keitel , Ian Holm , Harry Dean Staton ; and ¨The Passion of the Christ¨ (2004) by Mel Gibson with James Cazievel , Maia Morgenstern and Monica Belucci