Movie Trope: what are your favorite messianic archetype films?

Sometimes they are obvious, sometimes you have to dig deeper, but I have fun watching these films -several are among my favorites.

A definition: "the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death."

This is not a religious thread. I am about as non-religious a person as they come and I can enjoy these films just fine as a non-believer. We should be able to discuss these movies well within the confines of the forum rules.

A few of my favorites (some heavy-handed, some a lighter touch)
Cool Hand Luke
Platoon
E.T.
Deliverance
Gladiator

What are your favorite messianic archetype movies? Do you like them?

 

E.T. is a funny example. He gets stranded and is out of place on earth, he can do miracles and he dies (apparently) and gets resurrected and leaves with some hope of a return. He has a positive impact on Eliot and his family -not sure if they will spread the word.

 

James T. Kirk springs to mind, however mostly in the heavy-handed way he imposes human ethics onto various alien societies. The movies 2, 5 and Generations, however, show him at his judgemental, swaggering best at this.

Also, let's not forget Citizen Kane...particularly within the confines of the protagonists' own mind.

 

I forgot about Kirk, but you may have something there. And Spock dying for his friends in II and getting resurrected in III may fit the bill as well.

 

If we're in with Maximus then we have to mention William Wallace in Braveheart. Obviously Neo from the Matrix.

 

The Mission, both DeNiro and Irons but especially Deniro.

 

The Life of Brian

 

"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"

 

A very obvious one, even down to the name John Coffey (JC). I guess depending on if you like the movie or not you can criticize this as very ham-hande as will as a particularly egregious example of the "magical negro" trope. The image below isn't very subtle. ALl these are valid points. I still like the movie.

 

Karl Childers in Slingblade isn't a messianic figure, but he's a closely-related type of character: a man or woman acting as an extension of a vengeful, justice-delivering Old Testament God. I think other examples of this would be easy to find. Don't want to throw the thread off course here, it just came to mind as I was thinking about the idea at hand.

 

Not disagreeing with you about Cool Hand Luke, but also not really getting it. Could you explain more about what you think makes him a messianic figure?

 

Sure, with Luke he has no defined father (only his mother is seen or mentioned). He performs the miracle of eating 40 eggs as well as escaping from the camp 3 times. He has his apostles, like Drag-line (a fisherman like Peter?) and he gets killed for the sins of others (arguably). He also proselytizes and can persuade and lead the gang. He is even given a biblical name just to make it an easier connection. Finally, watch the last aerial scene -its a pan up revealing the road crossing that the gang is working on as a giant cross. There are several other bits in there that I can't remember just now.

 

William Wallace in Braveheart, absolutely -good one. I am not familiar enough with The Matrix to comment.

 

Karl is a good pick. He performs miracles (fixing small engines others can't) and he sacrifices himself to help his friend.

 

Yes, this one is what I would characterize as the heavy-handed approach. I love this movie and view the Tom Hanks character as equivalent to the Roman centurions who stood by at the crucifixion.

 

He fed the masses juniper berries, It's a miracle!

 

DeNiro in the Mission?

 

It was 50 eggs.
" Nobody can eat fifty eggs !"

 

Or Jeremy Irons? I haven't watched this movie in years, so I forget a lot of the details.

 

Good catch. Why didn't he say something like 25 or 30?

 

Excellent point. And there are a few of his fellow officers that do the same.

 

Can you add some of the details of this movie that fit? It has been too long since I watched it to remember the messianic elements.

 

Good points, I need to watch again - and any excuse to rewatch this is a good excuse. I'm going on memory here, but I also think there's something about Luke's scene alone at night in the church that seems to resemble Christ at Gethsemane - especially the character knowing that the opposition is coming for him and resigning himself to it.

 

And! He should have insisted on scrambled eggs . Hard boiled ones are much harder to eat especially if you have to eat fifty of ' em.

 

Of course if you're gonna have a messianic figure, you got to have a good ANTI-messianic figure