Shawn Boskie is hoping “The Last Supper,” opening in theatres March 14, conveys the story of Jesus’ final night with His disciples in a way that’s steadfast to the Bible yet offers a different perspective and sparks discussion.
Filmmakers focused the Easter season theatrical release on those who would betray and turn away from Jesus.
“That was the objective – to follow Judas and Peter,” said the Canyon Productions CEO of the story, seen through the eyes of Peter, who would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed, and Judas, who would commit the ultimate betrayal.
Boskie, during a prescreening Tuesday at Harkins Theatres Arrowhead in Peoria, shared with the audience how producers “wrestled with a lot of these scenes,” like the manner of Judas' suicide. Traditionally, he takes his own life on a field outside of Jerusalem, though in the film, he hangs himself from an archway in Jerusalem.
“There was some debate about the artistic, creative license versus what’s traditionally held,” said Boskie of that scene in the movie, co-written and directed by Mauro Borrelli, executive produced by Grammy Award-winner Chris Tomlin and brought to the big screen by Boskie’s Canyon Productions, Pinnacle Peak Pictures (“God’s Not Dead,” “The Case for Christ”), Great American Pure Flix and Grand Canyon University (read the GCU press release here).
Despite that push and pull and returning to Morocco to shoot additional scenes to build the film, “We enjoyed making this movie,” Boskie said. “It was hard. It was worth it. We wrestled with the director. We wrestled with the writers.”
Boskie, a member of GCU’s Board of Trustees, said the message in the end is “that we have a savior that saves, and that nobody is beyond redemption.”
The film features pivotal moments in the Bible, such as Jesus (Jamie Ward) feeding the 5,000, multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish into enough to feed a multitude gathered to hear His Word. Also included are scenes of the Messiah healing a boy who cannot hear or speak and Jesus turning over tables in the temple.
But the bulk of the film focuses on Jesus’ Passover meal before His death, when He washes the feet of His disciples and changes the usual tradition for the meal in what He says and does, offering bread as His body and wine as His blood, and telling His disciples that one of them will betray Him.
“Honestly, it (the film) exceeded my expectations,” said Grace Yen, a senior chaplain ordained through the International Alliance of Community Chaplains.
“I especially want to encourage the believers to watch this because it gives a very unique perspective on the story of Peter within the story of Jesus’ sacrifice,” Yen said. “We see Peter’s struggles and eventual triumph.”
In the film, when Jesus tells Peter (James Oliver Wheatley) that he will deny Him three times, Peter refuses to believe it, but true to Jesus' word, it happens. Peter is grieved to have failed not only Jesus but Judas (Robert Knepper), who had fallen into the dark, and himself. When he sees Judas hanging, he apologizes that he didn’t help him, and in the movie, he considers following Judas into despair and death until he remembers Jesus' words to him: that Jesus had faith in Peter to continue to lead and bring the light.
“I think it’s very encouraging for believers,” Yen said, “because we are called, like Peter, to be witnesses for the ends of the earth. It was very inspiring that we could do the same, like Peter, because we have the same calling.”
Beatrice Hernandez, a parishioner of St. Matthew Catholic Church in Phoenix, attended the screening with daughter Betty, who is about to take her first Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Hernandez said the film filled in the gaps she hasn’t seen explored in other films.
“We have seen the Passion of the Christ. This fills in those intimate parts that we just don’t see, especially Peter remembering what Jesus told him at the Last Supper: ‘I’m praying for you.’ I think that’s the part where he was able to forgive himself and forgive Judas at the same time. That humility, the love of Jesus, and that was what he was supposed to do here – to carry on.”
Debbie Hutson, a teacher at Phoenix's Northwest Christian School, told Boskie in a talk with the audience after the film, “Every bit of dialogue and all the things pointed to the blood and the body of Christ in every scene, to the point where you really understand in a new way that the Last Supper was really the big part of it all.
“It all came together in that one event, in that one moment, and everything you (filmmakers) did that led up to that just wove its way to that. I really saw that. This highlighted all of that in a really amazing way as a movie.”
Hutson said she has seen films featuring the Passion of the Christ and was expecting that story, but she got something different.
The film, “just made the body and the blood of Jesus and what He says as the important part, not the healing of the blind. All of those things were good, but it was His words they kept highlighting. This is about My body and My blood. It’s about Me sacrificing Myself for you. It's different than other movies.”
Hutson’s husband, Kris, superintendent at Dream City Christian School, said the moment that stood out for him was when Jesus changed the normal customs during the Last Supper.
“He was changing tradition. … You don’t’ know if they (the disciples) really figured it out at that moment or not, but that was awesome, that segment you made,” he said as he gave his feedback to the film’s producers.
GCU elementary education freshman Hailey Nichols McPherson said what she took away from the film was that not all of Jesus’ followers were at His crucifixion. Peter did not witness Jesus’ death – something she did not realize, nor did some others at the screening, including GCU assistant professor Dr. Remilyn Mueller.
The most poignant scene in the film for Mueller was when Jesus and Peter exchanged looks when the rooster crowed and both knew Peter had denied Jesus.
"My self-reflecting question is, 'How deep is my relationship with Jesus that one look can hold so much meaning?'"
She also found it meaningful how Peter showed empathy for Judas, despite his betrayal. "While this information was not specified in the Bible, it is still possible because they did the same thing. One betrayed Jesus, and the other denied Him," Mueller said. "If there was any disciple who would deeply understand what Judas did, it would be Peter. As I pondered this possibility, I think that Judas and Peter embody two types of people today. Both failed miserably and went through a season of darkness and hopelessness but one gave up and the other stuck (around) long enough to witness the resurrection glory."
A darker takeaway for McPherson: “How easily people betray people,” she said. “ … What’s sad is that if we were with them, we’d probably do the same.
McPherson said of "The Last Supper," "I would encourage anyone to watch it because I think there are bits and pieces of the Bible that we misinterpret. It’s interesting to see it from different people’s perspectives. It’s a good story.”
GCU Manager of Internal Communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at lana.sweetenshults@gcu.edu or at (602) 639-7901.
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“The Last Supper”
Release date: March 14
Starring: Jamie Ward, Jesus; Robert Knepper, Judas; James Oliver Wheatley, Peter; James Faulkner, Caiaphas; Charlie MacGechan, John
Executive producer: Chris Tomlin
Production companies: Canyon Productions, Pinnacle Peak Pictures, in partnership with Grand Canyon University and Great American Pure Flix,
Director: Mauro Borrelli
Writers: Mauro Borrelli and John Collins
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Related content:
GCU press release: Grand Canyon University teams up with Christian film big hitters for new theatrical movie
Christian Post: 'The Last Supper' offers cinematic journey through Jesus' final days this Lenten season
