Review of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) by Joseph P — 09 Jun 2011

Some stuff that one might consider spoilers if they don't know the biblical story.

Those of you who received my message know that my misson is to look at this from an entirely objective point of view, and that is exactly what I have tried to do in this review, but I feel I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't talk about the controversy surrounding this film. Jesus Christ Superstar was an incredibly popular movie upon its release in 1973, but also a very controversial film, striking a sour note with some church groups that called the film blasphemous. Is it? Well, that's up to you to decide, but I think not. However, I can see several reasons why one may think so, namely being that Jesus isn't the star of the show, Jesus is portrayed as being a bit of a primadonna, and the film sympathizes with biblical "villains" like Judas and Pilate.

Jesus Christ Superstar is obviously about the last few days in the life of the big JC, but there is a bit more to it than that. The film begins with a bunch of actors getting off a bus and changing into their costumes for the movie. That part confused the hell out of me, but moving on. It then commences with a brilliant and chilling musical number from Judas, explaining that he thinks blind worship of Jesus has gone too far, and that anybody with a ton of followers that call him "king" will surely be under the watchful eyes of the Roman priests and he doesn't want him and his people to be executed.

Afterwards, we cut to Jesus' tent where his followers want to know many things that he cannot tell them, and a party is ensuing until Judas, ever the buzzkill, breaks up by saying that Jesus shouldn't be hanging around with Mary Magdalene. In his half of the song, he explains that while he has nothing against her or those of her profession, it looks bad for Jesus to be pawed at by a known prostitute whilst he is preaching an opposite message, and Judas doesn't want to give any excuse for the Romans to arrest all of them. Jesus has a bit of a temper tantrum, tells Judas to back off, and says that none of his followers really understand but Mary Magdalene.

Meanwhile, the priests are planning to do away with Jesus for the exact same reason that Judas predicted. They think he is dangerous because he has legions of followers that could possibly be used to overthrow the Roman empire and get Israel back. That reminds me, the country of Israel didn't come to fruition until the ending of the second World War, so how could it exist in biblical times? If anyone has an answer for me please leave it in the comments. With Judas believing that Jesus has lost the ability to control his followers, he turns to the priests, who offer him money to give them a location where they can capture Jesus.

Following the last supper, this capturing does happen, and Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate. Earlier in the movie, we hear a song where Pilate says he has a dream where a man comes to trial before him and refuses to say anything to defend himself, and he sees the "wild and angry men" (the priests) who seem to hate him, and the "thousands of millions" (the followers) who are crying for him, and they make him the scapegoat for what happened to the man. In his first encounter with Jesus, he has no idea that this may be the man from his dream and he says that since Jesus is from Galilee, that he is not Pilate's problem and must go see Herod.

After getting shooed out by Herod, he comes back to Pilate. Pilate, being a man of the law above all else, tries to convince the court that Jesus has done nothing wrong and that he is harmless, but misguided, and he gives Jesus more than enough chances to save himself. However, resigned by constant pestering and the fact that he will get fired and deported if he doesn't crucify Jesus, he...well...flogs and then crucifies Jesus. In his words, "don't let me stop your grand self-destruction. Die if you want to, you misguided martyr. I wash my hands of your demolition. Die, if you want to, you innocent puppet". The final sentencing of Pilate is one of the most moving and powerful scenes I have seen in any musical, and one of the finest musical numbers I've ever heard.

Well, about Peter denying Jesus, that happens too. Judas also is overcome with a huge sense of remorse and hangs himself after throwing the money at the priests. The movie ends with the actors driving away on said bus, minus one notable person. It seems they actually crucified the actor who was playing Jesus. I hear there are some sorts of metaphorical elements to the films, but I can't really get that, so again, feel free to explain in the comments. The classic biblical story is told very well, but with no dialogue, every word is sung.

The songs are great, as are the songs in any Andrew Lloyd Webber productions. The best song in my opinion is a tie between "Heaven on their Minds", Judas' big musical number at the beginning, and "Trial Before Pilate" the most powerful scene in the film. The songs have the effect they do mostly due to the great performances. Speaking of the great performances, the movie is as memorable as it is thanks, in no small part, to the awesome powers of Carl Anderson as Judas and Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene. The aforementioned two are easily the best actors in the movie and they blend their vocal talents and acting talents to make great memorable versions of their characters.

The rest of the performances are good, like Ted Neeley as Jesus, Paul Thomas (who's career went absolutely nowhere after JCS, so he turned to porn) as Peter, and the most underrated of them all, Barry Dennen as Pilate. The one performance I really didn't like was Josh Mostel as King Herod, just because he was so damn creepy. The cinematography was good, but that is pretty much all I have to say so I will wrap this up. I will let you know now that this review is not meant to trample on the beliefs of anyone, but I did try to look at the film objectively and I think I succeeded. Anyway, I would say that if you want to, watch Jesus Christ Superstar. If you think it's sacreligious, then that's your prerogative, and don't see it. So all in all, watch it at your own discretion.