Abstract:

As many commentators have noted, numerous mainstream films feature a plot line loosely based on the Gospel narrative and a protagonist who has some Christ-like features. This paper will argue that in many films the Christ-figure motif is not a minor element; rather, Christ-figure films constitute a genre in their own right. This paper will provide a brief overview of the Christ-figure film, as illustrated by The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and then engage in an analysis of two movies – the Quebecois film C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) and the American film Stranger than Fiction (2006) – that explicitly and humorously demonstrate the interplay of convention and innovation, familiarity and novelty that is the salient characteristic of the genre film.

Author: Adele Reinhartz