The Jesus Video (film)

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Movie
Original title The Jesus video
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2002
length 182 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Sebastian Niemann
script Martin Ritzenhoff
production Christian Becker , David Groenewold , Anita Schneider
music Egon Riedel
camera Gerhard Schirlo
cut Moune Barius
occupation

The Jesus Video is a science fiction - adventure film with elements of the thriller - genre from 2002. The two-part TV movie was the Pack Rat Filmproduktion GmbH , directed by Sebastian Niemann on behalf of ProSieben produced and broadcast in two parts. It is based on the novel of the same name by Andreas Eschbach . However, the plot in the film differs significantly from the guidelines in the book.

action

During an archaeological excavation in Israel , the German student Steffen Vogt accidentally found the skeleton of a man whose age is dated to around 2000 years using the 14 C method . Confusion is caused not only by a modern titanium splint on the deceased's thigh and an amalgam filling in a tooth, but also by a plastic bag lying next to the bones. In addition to a letter, the scientists will find the operating instructions for a camcorder with a built-in hard drive . However, this model is a camcorder that Sony will not bring to market for three years at the earliest.

There is only one possible explanation for Steffen: he found the skeleton of a time traveler . Since his colleagues declare him crazy and the businessman John Kaun, who finances the excavation, out of the blue declares the find a top secret, he starts looking for the camera on his own. He is certain that the time traveler filmed Jesus , especially since there are references to this in the letter. But it is precisely this sensational discovery that sets in motion a dangerous conspiracy: the Vatican fears that the video will be published because the content could destroy the foundations of the Catholic Church . A conservative splinter group within the Vatican, the Lucanian Order, instructs its agent Scarfaro to prevent the video from appearing by all means.

When Steffen secretly fetches a copy of the computer printouts from the laboratory of the University of Jerusalem , he is caught, identified and soon afterwards pursued by several ruthless opponents. The persecutors steal the second part of the letter, cut off all possibilities for Steffen to leave Israel and murder his friend Dan when Steffen tries to get the story out to the public with his help. On his escape, Steffen turns to the young Israeli Sharon, whom he met during the excavation and with whom he fell in love. Sharon and her friend Yehoshua, a research assistant at the Jerusalem Archaeological Institute, volunteer to help Steffen after Dan's murder. In the laboratory, Yehoshua succeeds in making an imprint of the letter visible on the paper of the instruction manual. Instead of an indication of the hiding place of the camera, however, you will only find a puzzling code: L15,4U.

While Sharon and Yehoshua go to a bar mitzvah celebration , Steffen returns to her apartment. There he is attacked and kidnapped by Scarfaro's men. They try to find out information about the hiding place of the camera from him through torture , but Steffen cannot tell them anything. After two days he is able to free himself when the Lucanians want to get rid of him in the desert, and he returns to his friends. Through a joint research, they find out that the camera must be hidden in the Western Wall , but the place marked with the code is about 20 meters below the ground.

Kaun and his team have also followed this trail and drive up a thumper to create a profile of the ground. Steffen and his friends kidnap the car at gunpoint. In the middle of the Negev desert, they are finally alone with Kaun. The businessman behaves peacefully and shows them the video recording of an unusual experiment that took place in one of his corporate laboratories, in which an object was moved four seconds into the past - the first approach to a functioning time travel technology. In a subsequent initial experiment with a living organism, however, a paradox arose when the time-shifted rat materialized again inside out and the technician interrupted the experiment before it could be transported back into the past. On the basis of his statements, Steffen, Sharon and Yehoshua discover that Kaun has no connection whatsoever to the Lucanian order and that his persecutors therefore belong to a second, independently operating party.

Finally, the three friends leave Kaun alone and flee with the Thumpers recorded. However, they cannot interpret the data and ask Professor Wilford, Steffen's boss, for help. The scientist then reveals to them that evidence (a ballpoint pen marked "JK Enterprises") that John Kaun's company must have been involved in time travel had been found in the same area during an earlier archaeological excavation in the 1930s. He tells them about a system of tunnels underground in Jerusalem, which, however, has now been flooded by groundwater. Steffen points out that he has experience in diving and goes into the tunnel.

Before the professor can bring the required map of the tunnels to them, however, he is murdered by his assistant Roland, who works for the Lucanian order. Roland claims to Steffen, Sharon and Yehoshua that the professor sent him. But Sharon finally discovers the true disposition of her companion. In the ensuing conflict, Yehoshua is critically injured. Steffen manages to outsmart the Lucanians and flee with his friends. But Yehoshua dies before he can receive medical attention.

Steffen, who was able to leave the tunnel at another exit without having found the camera, persuades Sharon to continue the search despite the death of her friend and the acute danger to his life. In a library they find references to an old legend that tells of a "mirror" into which Jesus looked and which "caught his face" and was found and kept centuries later by an order of Armenian monks. The trail leads the two young adventurers to a monastery in the middle of the Negev. The Lucanians have already been there and staged a massacre in the church. However, a monk survived and goes with them to a secret chamber where the camera is kept.

When Steffen and Sharon leave the building with the camera, their Lucanian pursuers appear with two helicopters. After a wild chase and shooting, the two young people's car is stopped and Sharon is hit by a bullet. Steffen is captured by the Lucanians. But when the camera is connected to a PC and the video is running, Steffen experiences a surprise. First of all, the body of Jesus can be seen in the burial chamber, but then Steffen sees himself and Sharon in the video. In the hope that this video will prove that Sharon must still be alive and that he will take the journey into the past with him, Steffen moves towards her motionless body.

A detachment of the Israeli army , called by Kaun , turns up and forces the enemy to surrender. When Scarfaro tries to kill Steffen anyway, he is shot by Kaun. A ricocheted bullet hits the tank of the helicopter in which the video is located, causing it to explode, destroying the camera. Steffen tries desperately to reanimate Sharon. Against all odds, an army doctor actually manages to bring her back to life.

After their recovery, Steffen and Sharon, together with Kaun, watch the recovery of Steffen's own skeleton from the burial chamber. Kaun hands Steffen his card so that he can contact him should he decide to travel back in time. Although Steffen says that he could decide not to take the trip, he and Kaun know that the answer has already been determined.

Reviews

"Exciting TV production with imaginative locations and spectacular action."

- Focus: film

“Of course, as some other criticism has already done, you could express yourself extremely angry about these changes, but as already said, they actually result extremely logically from the framework conditions of television. [...] And in fact the changes just listed would be less serious than one would assume if one had retained the message of the novel. Because every reader of 'Das Jesus Video' will know that the identity of the time traveler is actually unimportant and ultimately it does not matter in the overall context whether a Jesus Christ has ever really lived or not, because his person was not important, only his message. And unfortunately it is precisely this central aspect of the novel that falls completely flat in the television adaptation and instead makes room for an action-packed hunt for a video camera from the past of the future. "

- Florian Breitsameter, www.sf-fan.de

"Despite small mistakes, 'Das Jesus Video' is a TV two-part series that is well worth seeing, which offers some material for discussion and which will keep you busy for a few days afterwards."

- moviesection.de

"Rarely logical, but colorful and entertaining."

- Cinema .de

Awards

background

  • The film is set in Israel. For security reasons, however, another country was sought for the shooting. The first considerations were Turkey, Egypt and Spain. Ultimately, the production decided on Morocco. Casablanca served as a substitute for Jerusalem ; further scenes were shot in the desert city of Ouarzazate and the surrounding area. Among other things, the Western Wall was rebuilt there. Both cities have often been the backdrop for large film productions and had the necessary infrastructure and local film companies.
  • The monastery seen towards the end of the film is a film set that was built a few years earlier as a backdrop for Bible films. It's just a shell made of wood and plaster.
  • In order to appear authentic, props such as souvenirs and items with Hebrew letters were imported from Israel.
  • The shooting lasted twelve weeks.
  • The title song Desert Rose was written by the singer and actress Anna .
  • The audience rating of the two-parter when it was first broadcast on ProSieben was 29.3 percent.

International evaluation

  • US title: The Hunt for the Hidden Relic
  • US video: Ancient Relic
  • French dubbed version: À la poursuite du passé
  • Spanish version: El enigma de Jerusalén
  • Hungarian dubbed version: Az elveszett Jézus-videó nyomában
  • Brazilian cable television: O Vídeo de Jesus

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ complete review

Web links