What I liked most in "The Body" was not what THE PLOT was about, but WHAT ISSUES it dealt with: It brings up a hot question of what would happen if somehow proof came up that Jesus was a mere mortal after all, thus shaking Christianity's foundations.
The story in the "Body" goes as follows: Dr. Sharon (Williams), a determined and skilled archaeologist, discovers a body which qualifies to be the one of Christ. Her amazing discovery naturally attracts great attention from several sides, despite the fact that it is suppressed from the general public: First of all there is the Vatican, who fears that this discovery will undermine the Christian faith, and thus sends Father Gutierrez "to investigate", i.e. "to bury", the case; then there is the Israeli government, which finds the whole issue as a great tool to further its political aims; and finally, we have the Palestinians who also find the discovery as a great opportunity to pursue their own agenda. As Fr. Gutierrez and Dr. Sharon try to work together and find the truth, their efforts are continuously stymied by the above three competing parties which conspire and collide endlessly.
The above plot makes for an interesting thriller, that's for sure. But as I said, what I liked more in this film are the philosophical issues it deals with: What if proof came up that Christ didn't resurrect, after all? Would this destroy Christianity, or as an Israeli spy master says in the film, some faithfuls may abandon ship but the religion is big enough to prevail? And how would the Vatican (and the Protestant and Orthodox churches for that matter) react to such news? Difficult questions, which the film handles rather skillfully, although still a bit superficially.
The direction is good, albeit sometimes things could be a bit less slow. Still, McCord produces wonderfully the atmosphere of a city as contradictory as Jerusalem.
As far as the acting is concerned, Banderas was good but not perfect. Williams was much better in her role, but sometimes her Israeli accent disappeared revealing her UK roots. I liked Jacobi in his small role as a priest who finds this shocking discovery too big for him to handle.
Verdict: 7/10.
The story in the "Body" goes as follows: Dr. Sharon (Williams), a determined and skilled archaeologist, discovers a body which qualifies to be the one of Christ. Her amazing discovery naturally attracts great attention from several sides, despite the fact that it is suppressed from the general public: First of all there is the Vatican, who fears that this discovery will undermine the Christian faith, and thus sends Father Gutierrez "to investigate", i.e. "to bury", the case; then there is the Israeli government, which finds the whole issue as a great tool to further its political aims; and finally, we have the Palestinians who also find the discovery as a great opportunity to pursue their own agenda. As Fr. Gutierrez and Dr. Sharon try to work together and find the truth, their efforts are continuously stymied by the above three competing parties which conspire and collide endlessly.
The above plot makes for an interesting thriller, that's for sure. But as I said, what I liked more in this film are the philosophical issues it deals with: What if proof came up that Christ didn't resurrect, after all? Would this destroy Christianity, or as an Israeli spy master says in the film, some faithfuls may abandon ship but the religion is big enough to prevail? And how would the Vatican (and the Protestant and Orthodox churches for that matter) react to such news? Difficult questions, which the film handles rather skillfully, although still a bit superficially.
The direction is good, albeit sometimes things could be a bit less slow. Still, McCord produces wonderfully the atmosphere of a city as contradictory as Jerusalem.
As far as the acting is concerned, Banderas was good but not perfect. Williams was much better in her role, but sometimes her Israeli accent disappeared revealing her UK roots. I liked Jacobi in his small role as a priest who finds this shocking discovery too big for him to handle.
Verdict: 7/10.