Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Universal, 1973
Starring Ted Neely, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Ellman, and Barry Dennen
Directed by Norman Jewison
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics by Tim Rice

We celebrate the real meaning of Easter with this dynamic rock opera. It originally opened on Broadway in 1971, and despite attracting controversy from various religious groups, was a huge hit. Jewison brought it to the big screen two years later, where it was just as big of a hit...and courted just as much controversy. What was so offensive about this particular version of the passion of Christ? To find out, we head to the Middle East, just as a performing group is about to begin their show, to find out...

The Story: Jesus (Neely) is becoming the most popular of a group of disciples of God. He's being hailed as the Son of God, which makes fellow disciple Judas Iscariot (Anderson) jealous. He's not crazy about Jesus associating with prostitute Mary Magdalene (Ellman), but Jesus defends her and insists that the disciples don't really care about him or his causes. The priest Calaphus (Bob Bingham) is worried that Jesus will be crowned king and that there will be an uprising. While Jesus tries to clear their temple of merchants and to do everything his followers want, the Jewish priests ply Judas with money for the poor in order to get him to tell them where Jesus will be and how to get him. Jesus knows about the betrayal and allows them to toss him into prison, for he knows that there's a higher cause out there for him, and that even when he dies, he'll never truly be forgotten.

The Song and Dance: And song and dance are the words here. This is actually an opera, with no spoken words. Some of the dances that you can see are flat out amazing, with incredible group choreography banging to jangly rock songs of the early 70's. Anderson is the stand-out as the conflicted Judas, and Bingham and Mostel also do fairly well as what amounts to the villain of the piece. Isreal looks stunning in Technicolor, with its glowing greens, earthy yellows, and dusty browns setting off the sometimes-simple, sometimes-glittery costumes well.

Favorite Number: The movie starts off with a bang as Jesus and his followers perform "Heaven On Their Minds" and Judas tries to remind Jesus that he's a man, not a god. "Everything Is Alright" shows off Mary, Judas, and Jesus' differing viewpoints as Judas tries to convince Jesus to focus on the poor, not his own popularity. "Hosanna" and "Simon Zealotes" are big numbers for Jesus and his followers as Simon whips the crowd into a frenzy and tries to convince Jesus to rise against the Romans.

Mary wonders how she fell in love with a far gentler man than what a woman in her trade is used to in the shadowy, beautifully-shot hit ballad "I Don't Know How to Love Him." She also gets to lead the apostles in the mournful "Could We Start Again Please?" after Jesus is arrested. King Harrod's Song" is a wacky vaudeville routine with Harrod and his entourage writhing around his brilliant blue pool.The movie ends with the smash title song, looking more like a 70's rock concert as Judas considers how much easier it would be for Jesus to spread his message with modern technology and communication.

Trivia: The original show opened on Broadway in 1971 and proved just as controversial onstage as on film, especially for its depiction of the Jews as the antagonists. Despite this, it was a major hit, running two years on Broadway and eight in London. It hasn't been back to Broadway since then (though a North American tour proved popular in the 90's), but has been revived at least three times on the West End. A live NBC version in 2018 went over well with critics, but didn't draw in ratings as big as some of their earlier live musicals.

What I Don't Like: If you're a bigger fan of religion or more of a purist than I am, you may be just as offended as many audiences in the 70's by the changes to the story and the darker, grittier tone. While Neely's a fine singer and many of his numbers sound wonderful (especially "Poor Jerulselem" and the first version of "Hosanna"), he's not a wonderful actor and has little chemistry with Ellman. Ellman isn't really much of a prostitute, either. Not to mention, the movie has the same problem as The Wiz - many of those big numbers are set up in shots that are so long, you can't tell half of what anyone is doing.

I'm also throwing out the same general warning that I gave in my review for Rent that this is a rock opera, with no spoken words. If you don't love rock or operas, or are looking for a more typical fluffy story, this is absolutely not the place for you.

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of Webber or 70's rock and can handle the modernized portrayals of Jesus and the apostles, you might enjoy this one.

Home Media: Easy to find on all formats, with the DVD and streaming copies often going for under 10.

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