King of Kings is a 1961 American motion picture epic retelling the story of Jesus from his birth to his crucifixion and resurrection.
An earlier silent film about Jesus was also entitled King of Kings, released in 1927 and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Director Nicholas Ray's 1961 version places Jesus's life in the political context of Roman conquest. As Jesus becomes an active preacher and healer, his activities are contrasted with the political stance of Barabbas and his insurgents who battle against the Roman occupiers.
There are some moving scenes of Jesus's miracles and his sermon on the mount (impressively shot with many thousands of extras), as well as a scene where Jesus visits John the Baptist in his dungeon during his imprisonment by Herod Antipas -- Ray staging the scene in such a way that John the Baptist must crawl up an incline inside the dungeon, holding out his hand to reach for Jesus's hand: a vivid example of Ray's architectural sense of composition and visual drama (reminding one that Ray had studied under Frank Lloyd Wright to become an architect).
Nicholas Ray's direction effectively balances spectacle with the human drama of Jesus's life. In the spectacular Sermon on the Mount sequence, Ray also convincingly conveys the central ethical-religious messages of Jesus's teachings. As such, the film is an admirable model of the epic form where grandeur serves to underscore the content. King of Kings is also memorable for the music score by Miklós Rózsa, a Hungarian emigre composer who composed the music for MGM's Ben-Hur (1959) and many other epic films.
Primary cast
Not credited at the time, Orson Welles did the voiceover of a narrative written by Ray Bradbury.
Last updated: 06-03-2005 23:45:17
