The Friends of Jesus - Thomas (TV 2001)
"Gli amici di Gesù - Tommaso" (original title)

When Jesus is taken off the cross at Golgotha, THOMAS arrives there. Like most of the other disciples, he had worriedly taken refuge with friends in Jerusalem after Jesus's arrest. After ... See full summary »

Directors:

Raffaele Mertes, Elisabetta Marchetti

Writer:

Gareth Jones

Stars:

Mathieu Carrière, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Mehmet Günsür

Cast

Credited cast:
Mathieu Carrière	...	Pilato
Maria Grazia Cucinotta	...	Maria Maddalena
Mehmet Günsür	...	Giovanni
Mathias Herrmann	...	Longinus
Hannes Jaenicke	...	Joseph of Arimathea
Enrica Maria Modugno	...	Maria
Matt Patresi	...	Barabba
Danny Quinn	...	Jesus
Ricky Tognazzi	...	Tommaso
Manfred Zapatka	...	Veturius

Storyline

When Jesus is taken off the cross at Golgotha, THOMAS arrives there. Like most of the other disciples, he had worriedly taken refuge with friends in Jerusalem after Jesus's arrest. After Jesus's burial, the disciples decide to leave Jerusalem quickly, but Thomas refuses to leave Jesus' body behind, as he fears that the tomb may be desecrated. When MARY MAGDALENE tells the disciples that the resurrected Jesus has appeared to her, they are all convinced of his god-like nature apart from Thomas. He sets off to look for the corpse. Thomas still has his doubts even when the disciples tell him that Jesus appeared to them, too. Therefore, he meets a legionary who pretends to know where the body can be found. The man leads Thomas into the catacombs for money # but the corpse he shows him is someone else's. Thomas is told to announce to the others that he has seen Jesus's corpse, and put an end to the belief in resurrection once and for all. When Thomas refuses to do so, a life-or-death ...

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Plot Keywords:

mary magdalene | pontius pilate | reference to jesus christ | crucifixion | virgin mary | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official page

Country:

Italy

Release Date:

16 April 2001 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Close to Jesus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Epsilon TV Production, Lux Vide

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Follows Abraham (1993)

User Reviews

Apostle Thomas gets expanded part in Passionplay

It starts with a chase scene through the streets of Jerusalem. I don't remember any chases in the gospels. All is quickly explained then we're back in familiar territory. So it goes speculating then returning to the revered texts.

This a kind of a TV movie treatment of the apostle Thomas. Aside from the Gospel anecdote the movie creates a pretty good story around his lack of faith and a search for the body of Jesus. Joseph of Arimethea is a compassionate figure in bridging the Jewish leadership, Romans and apostles. The supporting cast is quite good.

Fans of The Life of Brian, like me, will get a kick out of the Romans speaking with low British accents. Some stilted dialog might cause amusement too. But the quality acting, visual flair and solid production values make this far superior to the earnest, dogmatic, artless though well meaning Christian productions in circulation.

Historical and Biblical accuracy aside this is good storytelling.