Classic Reel: 'Barabbas'

Cast: Anthony Quinn, Vittorio Gassman, Silvana Mangano, Ernest Borgnine, Arthur Kennedy and  Valentina Cortese 

Year of Release: 1961 

Director: Richard Fleischer

Plot: A look at Barabbas' life after the Crucifixion and Resurrection. 

Barabbas appears in the New Testament, but we don't know much else about him. The Bible calls him a 'notorious prisoner,' and in movies and TV, he's often shown as a zealot or assassin—like Stacey Keach played him in the 1977 miniseries. This religious epic goes even further, drawing from the novel by Nobel Prize winner Par Lagerkvist to imagine more of Barabbas' story.

Anthony Quinn played Barabbas as a rough rebel, murderer, and thief. After six weeks in prison, a Roman officer tells him he’s free because the people chose him over 'the Nazarene who committed blasphemy.' At first, Barabbas is shocked, then overjoyed by his luck, but later events make him question everything. Quinn shows us a cynical, flawed man who had a tough start in life and despises hypocrites, especially the Jewish high priests and the Romans, whom he thinks are worse sinners than he is. He refuses to take responsibility for Christ’s death, though it’s clear he feels guilty for being pardoned instead. Even after seeing the sky darken at Christ’s death, talking with the Apostles, and meeting the resurrected Lazarus, Barabbas still sees Christ’s teachings as pointless.

Quinn shows Barabbas as someone who acts like he doesn't care about being chosen, but deep down, he can't escape his guilt, especially after a personal loss. He commits another crime on purpose, but instead of being executed, he is sent to do hard labour in the sulfur mines. This makes him wonder if he is meant to live forever. Years later, when a Christian prisoner attacks him, Barabbas uses Christ’s words, 'Love one another,' sarcastically—not to protect himself, but to call out the Christian as a hypocrite who can't follow his own beliefs. Barabbas doesn't really get Christianity or why the Christians he meets, including the Apostle Peter, hold on to their faith despite Roman oppression. He also can't understand why Christ allowed himself to be sacrificed.

Throughout most of the film, Barabbas is either deeply troubled or stubbornly cynical, refusing to believe in miracles even though he escapes execution twice and survives an earthquake. Quinn makes Barabbas seem unlikable but believable, showing a man who only believes what helps him and mostly just wants to survive, yet still wonders why God spared him. Only after a big misunderstanding does Barabbas finally understand, when Peter gently explains what Christianity truly means.

Of all the Romans in the film, Jack Palance really stands out as a cruel gladiator who seems almost devilish, killing without a second thought. This only makes Barabbas think even less of the world around him. Vittorio Gassman plays Barabbas' Christian friend, who at first doubts he can live up to Christ's teachings, but then does his best to help Barabbas find the right path.

The sets and costumes add to the film's authenticity, but the most memorable aspect was the darkening of the sun as Christ dies, a sight that deeply haunts Barabbas. The ending of the film is heartbreaking, leaving viewers wondering how some of us can sleep at night.  However, the gladiator scenes were cliché; gladiators weren't even in the book! Must there always be gladiators when Romans are depicted? Sheesh! 

While the film is a fictionalised account of the pardoned criminal, it depicts the themes of guilt, religious prosecution,  faith and eventual redemption. It's a totally different choice for an Easter film, but an interesting one. One can't help but wonder if the real Barabbas developed a conscience after his controversial acquittal and actually found redemption, or resumed his criminal ways and met a violent end. 

VIDEO: BARABBAS 

Trivia: 

-Anthony Quinn later appeared in the 1976 Islamic epic, The Message,  as  Hamza, the uncle of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). 

- Anthony Quinn and other cast members later appeared in the 1977 miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth. Quinn played Caiaphas, a  Jewish High Priest and Head of the Sanhedrin. Ernest Borgnine played the Centurion, and Valentina Cortese played Queen Herodias.  

-The sun darkening during the Crucifixion/ Christ's death was an actual solar eclipse. The director deliberately delayed shooting in order to capture the moment for the haunting scene.  

 Quote:

 Barabbas: I was the opposite of everything he taught, wasn't I? Why did he let himself be killed instead of me?