''The Gospel of John'' is a 2003 epic film that recounts the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

according to the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

. The motion picture is a word-for-word adaptation of the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

's Good News Bible. This three-hour, epic, feature film follows the Gospel of John precisely, without additions to the story from the other

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s or omissions of the Gospel's complex passages.

Cast

Production

This film was created by a constituency of artists from Canada and the United Kingdom, along with academic and theological consultants from around the world. The cast was selected primarily from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and

Soulpepper Theatre Company Soulpepper is a theater company based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest non-profit theater in the city. History Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists aiming to produce lesser-known theatrical classics. Soulpepper has sinc ...

, as well as Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre. The musical score, composed by

Jeff Danna Jeff Danna is an award-winning Canadian film composer. He has composed or co-composed scores for a wide range of films and television, including '' The Boondock Saints'' (1999), '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'' (2004), '' Silent Hill'' (2006)'', Th ...

and created for the film, is partially based on the music of the Biblical period. The film was produced by Visual Bible International. Filming took place in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, and Almeria and

Andalucia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Reception

Critical response

The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Gospel of John'' takes a reverent approach to its story without ever bringing it to life, proving that cribbing from the Good Book isn't enough to guarantee a good movie."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100 based on responses from 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Criticism

While the film is largely a faithful depiction of the Gospel of John, one reviewer noted that the inclusion of Mary Magdalene at the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

has no direct Biblical citation, and might cause issue with viewers who prefer only direct scriptural references.

References

External links

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Enthusiastic review by Andy Naselli

Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films
list
The Blog on ''The Gospel of John'' Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gospel Of John, The 2003 films Biographical films about Jesus British epic films Canadian epic films English-language Canadian films Cultural depictions of John the Baptist Cultural depictions of Judas Iscariot Cultural depictions of Pontius Pilate Films directed by Philip Saville Films scored by Jeff Danna Films set in Jerusalem Films shot in Almería Gospel of John Portrayals of the Virgin Mary in film Religious epic films Portrayals of Mary Magdalene in film Cultural depictions of Saint Peter 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films 2000s British films