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The Apocalypse Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: Not Rated by GoodTimes Entertainment Directed by: Raffaele Mertes Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes Cast: Richard Harris (The Apostle John), Bruce Payne (Emperor Domitian), Vittoria Belvedere (Irene), Valerius (Benjamin Sadler) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

There have been many films about the end times, but few have had all that much to do with the actual Book of Revelation. Most apocalyptic movies have been more interested in giving the ancient prophecies a modern spin than in bringing the Scriptures themselves to life—and they have usually accomplished this by spinning a web of hokey political conspiracies and horror–movie shock effects out of thin air. Thus, these films have tended to reflect the social and cultural preoccupations of their makers much more than anything particularly biblical.

Thankfully, there is none of that in The Apocalypse, a European TV–movie (now available on video in North America) which brings some of the visions of John to life more or less as he recorded them. But the filmmakers, evidently convinced (and understandably so) that the Book of Revelation, as written, might not lend itself to a conventional dramatic structure, have imposed a fictitious story of their own on the proceedings—and while it is good to see Revelation put within its proper first–century setting, the results are often quite banal.

The basic premise certainly has potential. John (the late Richard Harris), the last surviving personal witness to the Resurrection, is imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos and sending letters of encouragement to persecuted Christians. However, because John keeps his identity a secret and goes by another name on Patmos, the Christians in nearby Ephesus are not sure exactly where he is. Meanwhile, the Roman Emperor Domitian (Bruce Payne), who has proclaimed himself divine, wants the Christians to worship him, and he gives his generals orders to put the rumors of John's continuing leadership to a definite end.

This is where things become somewhat trite. The Christians in Ephesus send one of their own, a woman named Irene (Vittoria Belvedere), to Patmos to look for John. The Romans send one of their own, too, an undercover agent named Valerius (Benjamin Sadler) who poses as a Christian and, it turns out, has already struck up a romance with Irene while posing as a member of her secret church group. Oh, and just before accepting this assignment, he discovered that his birth parents were Christian martyrs.

Will Valerius renounce his cloak–and–dagger ways for the cross? Will Irene forgive Valerius when she discovers his deceit? Will true love prevail? And, perhaps most importantly, will the viewer care? The skeptical Roman soldier who falls for the pretty Christian girl is a staple of early–church movies like Quo Vadis? and The Sign of the Cross, and The Apocalypse doesn't do anything especially interesting with this cliché.

There should, perhaps, be nothing surprising about this strange mix of biblical intrigue and pedestrian storytelling. The Apocalypse, first broadcast overseas in 2002, is the final chapter in The Bible Collection, a series of films produced by the Italian company Lux Vide in partnership with other networks and producers from around the globe. Stylistically, the series has been all over the map; a few episodes have been directed by former art–house darlings like Ermanno Olmi and Nicolas Roeg, but the others were put together by industry veterans who have rarely, if ever, worked in any medium other than television.

The most distinctive characteristic of this series is the way it emphasizes the humanity of its protagonists, sometimes incorporating elements of Scripture that other Bible movies would rather ignore. For example, Joseph (which was broadcast in the United States on TNT and won the Emmy for best mini–series in 1995) includes the rape of Dinah, the sacking of Shechem by her brothers Simeon and Levi, and the quasi–incestuous behavior of Reuben and Judah—all of which is perfectly scriptural, and all of which serves to underscore the contrast between Joseph's virtues and his brothers' vices.

Similarly, in Moses, the titular prophet (played very effectively by Ben Kingsley) is not a Charlton Heston–esque pillar of authoritarian wrath, but a deeply emotional man who rejoices when God gives the Hebrews the Law, and who grieves when they are punished for their idolatry. And while Jesus (broadcast on CBS in 2000) may have brought its title character a little too down to earth—making him less a rabbi who spoke with authority than a roving, smiling hippie—the film explored what it meant for Christ to submit his human will to the will of God like no other film produced before or since.

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