If you go into a film trying to look for a Christ-figure it can be an extremely reductive exercise. These so-called Christ-hunters go into a film trying to pin all these qualities on the character in question and in so doing fail to appreciate what makes that role unique or memorable. However, there are a group of characters who possess so many Christ-like qualities or whose part in the narrative bares so much resemblance to Christian parable that it's difficult to not start drawing parallels with the son of God. These qualities can include having a glistening benign nature, being a source of wisdom or knowledge in the film or possibly having some supernatural qualities (indeed, the inclusion of a Christ-figure in Sci-Fi is a particularly common trope). The narrative of these characters will always include an element of self-sacrifice but in specific examples may entail a resurrection, a betrayal or some other element relatable to the story of Jesus. The best of these religion-inspired characters aren't carbon-copies of Christ. Nobody wants a Christ-figure depicted so patronisingly similar to Gods son that theres no room for interpretation or worse still Mel Gibsons hateful rendition of the messiah. Rather, it is best when a character is influenced by the Christian messiah while still being a memorable role in their own right, without ever feeling sanctimonious or unoriginal. Here are the 10 greatest Christ figures in Film:
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
