Federico Leonardi

The aim of this article is to enucleate the staging criteria for the figure and life of Christ. For this reason it studies the relation between the sources, which are the Gospels and dramaturgy. Clearly, the conclusion is that, a particular dramaturgy innerves Christ’s own life and mission. This idea is expressed in the actor’s hermeneutical hypothesis of God and in the director’s idea of Reign. Therefore, the article analyzes three couples of movies: 1) The King of Kings and Jesus of Nazareth, representing a too divine portrait of Christ; 2) Jesus Christ Superstar and The Last Temptation of Christ, representing a too human portrait of Christ; 3) The Gospel According to St. Matthew and The Passion of the Christ, representing a divine-human portrait of Christ. The final consideration is that no film has yet portrayed the figure of Christ in all its depth, while the hermeneutical hypothesis proposed in the beginning might open new possibilities of dramatization.