MovieChat Forums > The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) Discussion > Jesus as Ming the Merciless

Jesus as Ming the Merciless

posted 20 years ago by closeharlan-1
7 replies | jump to latest

Hey all.

The Greatest Story Ever Told really is one of my favorite Jesus movies. But it took a little adjustment. See, my first introduction to Max Von Sydow was when he played Ming the Merciless in the 1980's film of Flash Gordon (which also featured Sam J. Jones as Flash, Timothy Dalton as Prince Baron, Brian Blessed as the leader of the Hawkmen and Topol as Dr. Zarkov).

So when I first saw GSET, I did at least a triple-take cos there he was, Ming the Merciless, playing Jesus.

Has anyone else experienced that difficulty?

[–] mbooda 20 years ago

In a way it's not a difficulty, it's kind of fun. The whole movie is like a game, where you try to Spot the Actor from other roles. It never fails to freak me out to see Mr. Spock's father and the Mexican Bandit from the movie "Hombre" bearing gifts, Baretta and Corporal Klinger as apostles, Bela Lugosi as Caiaphas...and then of course John Wayne supervising the Crucifixion!

[–] cburga 20 years ago

Two Max Von Sydow appearances that link back to this film:
In Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters", MVS plays an artist who spends one day watching TV. He comments on TV evangelists:"If Jesus came back, and saw what these people were doing in his name, He'd never stop throwing up."

In "Needful Things", he plays Satan, or someone working for him. His comment about Jesus: "The young Carpenter? I knew him....He came to a rather unpleasant ending!"

Of course, in "Dune", he plays a character whose actions pave the way for the messianic Paul Atreides, much like John the Baptist to Jesus...

[–] CjDull 19 years ago

>In "Needful Things", he plays Satan, or someone working for him. His comment >about Jesus: "The young Carpenter? I knew him....He came to a rather >unpleasant ending!"

And let's not forget he played Fr. Merrin in The Exorcist. Kinda makes you view that final exorcism in an odd light.

"The power of me compells me!"

Josh

[–] Strausszek 19 years ago

In an interview a few years after GSET he pointed out that many of the extras on the film were deeply believing people who more or less wanted him to play the part of Jesus all of the time. "I was committed to my acting but not to being Christ" It seems a sane approach.

[–] tracyfigueira 16 years ago

He also played an overzealous missionary in "Hawaii."
And of course, many of the movies he made with Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, etc.) are essentially religious allegories.
The only thing von Sydow hasn't done is a western (correct me if I'm wrong here).

[–] BoomerMovieFan 15 years ago

I can't say I've ever liked the casting of Von Sydow as Jesus. I think the movie's greatest assets, however, are its stunning visual beauty and reverance with which the cast and producers approach the subject.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]