14. Barabbas
The Film: This is a high-quality, reverent film that doesn’t fall into the typical clichés that you usually see in religious films and shows great respect to the subject matter and the audience. The acting is without weakness, Anthony Quinn as Barabbas and Richard Fleischer direction is punchy without being vulgar, serious but not ponderous. Mario Nascimbene’s musical score rises above his usual brutality to real eloquence. What’s really interesting to mention here is that the sun went on turning on a full eclipse during the filming of the movie and was captured by the 70 cameras used for the crucifixion scene.
Sign of God? Hmmm, not sure about that, but Barabbas is definitely one of the best religious films out there that it’s definitely worth the viewing of Christians and non-Christians alike.
The Historical Events: Barabbas was a robber in case you’re pro-Roman, or a revolutionary hero (Zealot) if you are a pro- Jew. It really depends on how you see things. Like Jesus, Barabbas was also involved in an insurrection in Jerusalem and was caught and arrested as a rebel on charges of sedition. He had hundreds of followers who were likely to riot in support of him. The Zealots were patriots for Judaea. They desired to rid their country of the Romans and the corrupt temple cultus whose high priests were pro-Roman collaborators and mere puppets of the state.
He’s mainly mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible, in which he’s held by the Roman governor at the same time as Jesus, and whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem while keeping Jesus as a prisoner.