Talking about The Book of Clarence
My Zoom chat with 100 Bible Films author Matt Page, who had a chance to see Jeymes Samuel's love letter to Bible movies when it premiered in London last month.
The Book of Clarence is a sort-of comedy, sort-of drama set during the time of Jesus.
It features a mostly-black cast—including Omar Sy as Barabbas, David Oyelowo as John the Baptist, and LaKeith Stanfield as the title character, a con man who happens to be the apostle Thomas’s twin brother—and at first glance it would seem to do for Bible films what director Jeymes Samuel’s previous film The Harder They Fall did for Westerns, putting people of colour front-and-centre in a genre that had its heyday in the mid-20th century, when mainstream films were a lot less diverse.
But where that film made a point of “correcting” our perceptions of the past by drawing attention to African-American cowboys and cowgirls who had been ignored for most of cinematic history, this new film is, by all accounts, a more deliberately creative fusion of past and present, combining Samuel’s love for Bible movies with his memories of the London neighbourhood in which he grew up.
The Book of Clarence had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival last month—three months before its regular theatrical release in January.
I don’t live in the UK, so I didn’t have a chance to attend the premiere, but my friend and fellow Bible-movie enthusiast Matt Page did manage to see the film, so I thought it might be fun to talk to him about it while I wait for the chance to see it myself.
Matt, for those who don’t know, is the author of the British Film Institute’s 100 Bible Films book, and he writes about the genre regularly at his Bible Films Blog. He has also contributed to my own blog in the past, most notably when he went to Rome to report on a special screening of Risen, the 2016 film that starred Joseph Fiennes as a Roman soldier who investigates the disappearance of Jesus’ body.
Matt and I spoke over Zoom a couple weeks ago, and we talked about how the film fits into the history of Bible films in general, how it depicts the family and followers of Jesus, and how it compares to other films that have dealt with racial representation in biblical stories, from 1936’s The Green Pastures to 2018’s Mary Magdalene.
You can watch our Zoom chat below. Some of the main points we cover include:
How is The Book of Clarence a “Bible film” (7:50) ?
How does The Book of Clarence compare to 2016’s Hail, Caesar! (14:05)?
Is 1960’s Spartacus—one of Clarence’s influences—a “Bible movie” (15:56)?
Accuracy, artifice, and anachronism in biblical films (17:58).
Black actors in 1936’s The Green Pastures and other earlier Bible films (28:42).
How Mary and Joseph are portrayed in The Book of Clarence (34:27).
How Peter and the other disciples are portrayed (45:18).
The presence of black Jews in Jesus’ day (47:37).
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s accent as Peter in 2018’s Mary Magdalene (50:35).
Real-world controversy over Clarence being a “false messiah” (52:15).
The film’s shifts in tone between comedy and drama (1:01:17).
For further reference:
My review round-up from The Book of Clarence’s world premiere.
Matt’s review of The Book of Clarence.
My scene guide for 2018’s Mary Magdalene, which also touches on Peter’s accent.
My post on Hosea movies, which includes a section on 1936’s The Green Pastures.
The many posts at Matt’s blog that mention The Green Pastures.
An article I wrote on 2006’s The Nativity Story and ethnicity in Jesus films.
My review of the 2013 book Son of Man: An African Jesus Film.
My posts on the casting controversies re: 2014’s Noah and Exodus: Gods & Kings.
My visit to the set of 2015’s Killing Jesus, which starred Haaz Sleiman, possibly the first actor of Middle Eastern descent to play Jesus in an English-language movie.
My interview with Chipo Chung, who played Mary Magdalene in 2015’s A.D. The Bible Continues; among other things, she talked about the parallels between African culture and some of the things depicted in that New Testament series.
My article on Middle Eastern Jesus movies for Books & Culture.
My reviews of The Sin, Noah, The Promise, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, and Elijah, all of which are part of an Arabic series called ‘God’s Stories’.
The Book of Clarence is currently scheduled to play in theatres January 12, 2024.
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Past posts on The Book of Clarence:
‘Jeymes Samuel and LaKeith Stanfield are going to make a Bible movie’ (May 16, 2022)
‘The Book of Clarence gets a production company and a new co-star’ (October 22, 2022)
‘Pins and Needles (formerly The Book of Clarence) now filming in Italy’ (November 25, 2022)
‘The Book of Clarence: a lot of new actors, and a few new plot details’ (December 6, 2022)
‘The Book of Clarence gets a release date’ (March 4, 2023)
‘The Book of Clarence gets a test screening’ (June 5, 2023)
‘The Book of Clarence is now coming out in January’ (August 16, 2023)
‘Watch: The first trailer for The Book of Clarence’ (August 29, 2023)
‘October release-date news: The Book of Clarence gets a world premiere, Taylor Swift scares off Angels and demons’ (September 2, 2023)
‘The Book of Clarence — the world premiere round-up!’ (October 13, 2023)