Understanding Judas
An upcoming TV movie gives us a glimpse into the mind of the man who betrayed Jesus. Charlie Carner, who directed the film, tells us all about it.
by Mark Moring | posted 3/04/2004
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Hot on the heels of The Passion of The Christ comes another film about Jesus — well, sort of. Judas, a made-for-TV movie airing Monday, March 8, on ABC, is billed as an "interpretive dramatization" about the disciple who betrayed Christ. Its release less than two weeks after The Passion is no accident, says director Charles Carner: "Given the attention that Mel Gibson's film has received, ABC felt the time was right to show Judas now."
Charlie Carner with Jonathan Scarfe (Jesus)
The film, featuring Johnathan Schaech (That Thing You Do) in the title role and Jonathan Scarfe ("ER") as Jesus, is the final project of the late Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser, founder of the Humanitas Prize and Paulist Productions. Judas was executive-produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Tom Fontana ("Homicide: Life on the Streets," "Oz"), who also wrote the screenplay—some of which is taken straight from the Gospels, and some of which is clearly not.
Carner, 46, a devout Catholic, is a veteran writer and director. He wrote the feature films Let's Get Harry and Blind Fury. He wrote TNT's Crossfire Trail, starring Tom Selleck, the highest-rated cable movie in TV history. We recently caught up with Carner to ask about his latest directorial project, Judas. Our conversation started with our complaints about the frigid weather here in Chicago, where Carner grew up. He fielded our questions via phone from warm, sunny Southern California …
I'd be glad to trade places with you right now. It's about nine degrees here.
Charlie Carner: Nine? Oh, a heat wave!
Exactly. But let's talk about Judas. How would you describe the film?
Johnathan Schaech as Judas
Carner:
Judas tells the story of Jesus from a unique perspective, that of the man who betrayed him.
Why did you want to be a part of this project?
Carner: I'm a Catholic, and I always look for opportunities to combine my faith and my professional work. When I heard about this project, I was very interested because it would give me a chance to combine filmmaking and religion. Father Frank DeSedario, the executive producer, was familiar with my work, and he approached me about directing it. Once I took a look at the script by Tom Fontana, I jumped on.
The film opens with a young Judas watching his father being crucified. Obviously we don't read about that in Scripture. Was that poetic license?
Carner: The event itself, a mass crucifixion of the Jews, was based on an historical event. There had been an uprising in Judea, and the Romans put it down violently with literally thousands of crucifixions. The poetic license, or dramatic license, is based somewhat on recent biblical scholarship and speculation, which is that Judas either was a Zealot or a sympathizer with the Zealots. So that was one of Tom Fontana's concepts—that Judas's father was a revolutionary who was crucified, and Judas himself inherited that revolutionary spirit. And thus, when he encounters Jesus, he's looking for a warrior king like David, someone who will literally liberate the Jews.
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