Easter can be associated with a lot. At least the Norwegian Easter celebration can be associated with a lot; skiing in snow covered mountains, oranges, Kvikk lunsj, Easter eggs, criminal literature, lamb, closed mountain passes, gardening, fixing the boat... The last few years, we have seen a change in the Easter traditions. For some, the Easter means a lot of films on TV or Netflix. No matter what media you prefer, I will give you a few suggestions for films to see in Easter.
We skip the news an go straight for the issue. The first film I would recommend is an epic film few films could beat: Ben-Hur from 1959. The film is based on the book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Charlton Heston have the lead role as Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who wrongly gets sent to slavery.. And now, he seeks revenge The film Ben Hur doesn't focus on Easter, but the theme got stories from the bible as a spine. The most memorable bible related scenes in the film is taken from the Easter time.
If epic dramas aren't your bowl of film, you may try out the sci-fi-comedy Critters 2 from 1988. In this film, we follow Charlie McFadden and Brad Brown for the second time when their little town – Grocers Bend – get invaded by small and bloodthirsty hairballs. These hairballs are the extraterrestrial Critters. Critters are kinda like Mogwai, but with an impressive set of teeth and without the ears. Critters 2 is set during the Easter celebration, so this is a perfect choice.
We have Easter traditions in Norway that is special for Norway, We have traditionally celebrated by go skiing in the mountains. As indicated, oranges and Kvikk lunsj (chocolate) are enjoyed on the trips. These trips are often based from a mountain cabin. This concept is the basis for the next film; Dead snow (Død snø). Deaf snow is a horror comedy directed by Tommy Wirkola and deals with a group of students who have their Easter break in a mountain break. The first night, they got a visitor that tells them a scary story about Nazis that were in the area during WW2. After the visitor leaves, strange thing starts to happen and the feast of blood starts.
If blood feasts is not for you, you should go for Killing Jesus from 2015. This is a superficial film with a running time of 2 hours, nut it's well produced. The film tells the general life story of Jesus. The film is tame, but it works well for retelling why we celebrate Easter.
Passion of the Christ is NOT that tame. This is a film that really kicks you in the guts! Even is this is a film defined as drama and not horror, you may coin the genre called torture p'rn. Never before have this definition fitted and misfitted a film as much as with this film. Passion of Christ is directed by Mel Gibson and deals with the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus.
Jesus had a hellish end of his life, we all know that. He was tortured and crucified. No matter if we think Jesus is the son of God or not, we have to feel bad for him while watching "the Passion". The violence was one of two main reasons why this film became controversial; it was just too much violence! Both the film and Gibson were accused for anti-Semitism. The discussions around the film and Gibson was a global one. Even the Vatican joined the discussion. No matter why we stand; its still a reminder why we celebrate Easter.
Lets just hope future generation don't think we celebrate Easter because of an egg-laying bunnyrabbit.