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Christ Walking on the Water

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Wikipedia article




'Christ Walking on the Water' is an 1899 French short silent film directed by Georges Mlis.

Production



In the summer of 1899, Georges Mlis and his family took a vacation on the coast of Normandy. During the vacation, Mlis made three short actuality films: 'Bird's-Eye View of St. Helier (Jersey)', 'Steamer Entering the Harbor of Jersey', and 'Passengers Landing at Harbor of Granville'. He also filmed the open sea, to use as a backdrop for multiple exposure effects for two fiction films: 'Neptune and Amphitrite' and 'Christ Walking on the Water'.

'Christ Walking on the Water' was based on the story told in Mark 6:45-52. The film was Mlis's second film based on religious themes; the first was 'The Temptation of Saint Anthony', made the previous year.

Themes



The film depicted Christ in a simple storytelling fashion, emphasizing his magician-like qualities and the dramatic effect of the superhuman miracle. Mlis was not the only early filmmaker to favor this uncomplicated Christology; the religious films of the Lumire brothers use a similarly straightforward approach.

Release and reception



The film was released by Mlis's Star Film Company and is numbered 204 in its catalogues, where it was advertised with the parenthetical subtitle 'excut sur mer vritable'. It may have influenced Ferdinand Zecca's 1907 film 'La Vie et Passion de Notre Seigneur Jsus-Christ', which features a similar scene of Christ walking on water.

'Christ Walking on the Water' is currently presumed lost.

References




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