Page - 81 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

agency became increasingly visible, although with varied agendas, as for the collaboration between Renan and his publishers or the filming of passion plays by Jews; or, on the contrary, when Jews would voiced sustained criticism to an- ti-Jewish stereotypes. The treatment of miracles by scholarship and by film has been very different. Scholarship of the historical Jesus has frequently charged the miracle narratives with lacking historic foundations. Yet they feature in many films, drawing on the ability of this new medium to locate the supernatural within an authentic framing. Their historical plausibility is conveyed by a literal understanding of the Gospel that is bolstered by visual devices associated with the presentation of authentic places of the Gospel narratives. Olcott’s film was one of first to be shot in Egypt and the Middle East, and while the imagery still relies on biblical visual tradition, it conveys a realism through the power of setting, in the very locations where the events had happened 2,000 years earlier. Renan, as we not- ed, had claimed that the Holy Land was the “fifth Gospel”, a text as powerful as the Bible in providing information about the historical Jesus. This approach is carried through early films, with southern Italy playing a particular role in some Italian films. “Authenticity” is the key term here: the authentic places where Jesus lived, preached, died and was resurrected are proof of the historicity of the story. That authenticity had a strong orientalizing flavor, already evident in photography and art, especially in depictions of religious groups and the human body. That orientalization supported the perception of realism and was visible in the fairs and exhibitions of modern metropolises.48 The moving image brought attractive innovations to the retelling of the biblical narrative. The story may already have been well known, but the technology’s ability to create wonder brought a greater amazement to the reception of the miracles. Some biblical characters could be drawn from the Gospel texts and performed by actors, above all Jesus himself; others were slowly constructed. Judas and Mary Magdalene, for example, could carry plausible alternative sto- rylines and bring increased drama to the devotional template. Imbued with psy- chological features, these characters enabled emotions such as love, friendship, betrayal and despair to become more prominent in the narrative and flow to- gether with images. Early silent films relied on commentary, explanatory texts and choral music, generating a multisensory experience in which the artificiality of acting and the mechanical montage of the narrative ran together with a de- votional and religious message. The artifice of the new medium could generate an emotional response, including a strengthening or renewing of faith. 48 On this see Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998. The Historical Jesus and the Christ of Early Cinema | 81www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1