Monday, November 26, 2007

Jesus and His Evil Twin

German filmmaker Robert Sigl has a new project in the works, The 13th Disciple.

In the movie, Jesus has an evil twin brother. Yes, Jesus the Son of God.

This has Palme d'Or written all over it. I'm sure it would get a warm reception from the ultra-sophisticated elites at the Sundance Film Festival.

Jesus. Evil twin. What's not to love?


PANAJI, India (Reuters) -- There's no mention of him in the Bible but the plot of a fantasy film set in India gives Jesus Christ a twin brother -- and an evil one at that.

German filmmaker Robert Sigl's "The 13th Disciple" is still in the planning stage but producer Mario Stefan is in India's western tourist state of Goa trying to attract an Indian co-producer for the project.

"It's a fantasy-adventure film and takes place completely in present-day India," Stefan said on the sidelines of the 38th International Film Festival of India, which opened over the weekend.

The story traces the journey of two German archaeologists looking for evidence that Jesus visited India.

The researchers, who are twins themselves, find that Jesus had an evil twin brother who is reincarnated in the present as the scheming head of a religious sect.

Sigl's script had been lying around for several years after the original producer died in an accident, Stefan said.


Whoa!

The original producer of Sigl's 13th Disciple died in an accident. Hit by lightning?

That might be a bad omen.

...Stefan said he didn't expect any controversy over "The 13th Disciple" which will have Jesus Christ only in the background and not as a character.

"It will be made clear from the beginning of our film that it's fiction," he said. "Even the 'Da Vinci Code' was fiction but there was a lot based on real ideas."


It was clear that The Da Vinci Code was fiction. That didn't keep people from using it as "proof" to debunk Christianity as we know it.

When the subject is Jesus' evil brother, there's going to be controversy.

For example, the evil twin's father is God.

Are we to believe that God had parenting issues when it came to his other son?


..."If you deal with religious themes, you have to be prepared and also (careful) that you do not hurt any feelings," said Stefan. "Our film is not based on true events nor is it giving any religious message."


Clearly labeling the film a work of fiction doesn't mean Christians won't be offended by Sigl's depiction of the scheming evil twin of Jesus, head of a present day religious sect.

And how can the film not give ANY religious message if it's about Jesus' evil twin?

It obviously has the potential to be extremely offensive to Christians.

I certainly don't think Sigl should be kept from making his movie.

There are a lot of people out there who would enjoy another movie that mocks Christianity.

I have no doubt that Sigl would have an audience for his fictional, inoffensive, non-religious story of Jesus' evil twin.

It seems that he wants the attention such a film would bring from the Christian community. He's inviting controversy.


Sigl can't be that naive to believe he could do a movie about Jesus' evil twin and it would be no big deal.








2 comments:

Bernd Späth, Autor said...

No, it´s not a PR stunt, nor is it sleezy. If you know Robert Sigl just a bit, you´ll know he´s not afraid to chop even the holiest taboo into little pieces. This is how he works.
Maybe, he was too cautious by presenting his story as non-offensive. You always WILL offend those who are narrow-minded enough to feel upset, and it´s just good like that. Otherwise, what would arts be for?

Regards
Bernd Späth, author

The Team said...

As a writer, I get all sorts of comments regarding my work especially when it comes to anything that is religious. My work is fiction though there are people who take offence and I have had my share of verbal abuse and negativity. BUT, all in all movie making is to be enjoyable and not to take it all to heart. It is purely entertainment and if people do not like this, don´t watch it. I think Robert is amazing and respect someone who is not afraid to show what he is about.