Biblical stories have provided inspiration to filmmakers for over a 100 years. One of the first was Samson and Delilah, coming soon after the birth of film itself on the cusp of the 20th century, with numerous titles released over the decades providing box office fodder to the industry.
Whatever one’s religious beliefs, the life of Jesus Christ is a compelling story, and it is a story producers Iain Canning and Emile wanted to tell from a completely different perspective. An archaeological discovery planted the seed in their minds.
“Obviously, the story of Jesus is one that has been told on numerous occasions by different filmmakers,” says Canning. “The discovery of fragments of parchment in Egypt and Greece which were claiming to be the gospel of Mary Magdalene sparked the idea that it would be interesting to tell the story of a woman within the biblical stories.
“Every generation approaches their own retelling or re-imagining of stories based on the contemporary time,” he continues. “If you’re making a film you’ve got to have some sort of contemporary resonance, otherwise it’s not going to find an audience.
“We felt there was room to tell the story of Mary Magdalene - that the female perspective of this particular story of the life and death of Jesus Christ was a new way in to that story, and that it would also shine a light on contemporary issues.”
The script was written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett. The latter explains that the discovery of the so-called Gospel of Mary was one of the key texts they consulted.
This was a great opportunity to tell a version of the story that we hadn’t seen before
“It presents Mary as a key figure within the Jesus movement,” she elaborates. “It takes the form of a debate between Mary and the male disciples which reveals that she has been a close presence next to Jesus. She has a unique insight into Jesus’s teachings, which she attempts to share with the apostles. The fact that she is a woman and has had this unique insight doesn’t go down well with some of the disciples, in particular Peter, and that creates a fascinating dynamic.”
Canning notes that the filmmakers in no way wanted to alienate Christians with their unorthodox take. “But at the same time, we didn’t want to give in to the idea that a Christian audience wouldn’t embrace a film which was in some ways about equality and feminism.”
He adds that they wanted to find the right director to tell the film in a way that wouldn’t exclude people. That director was Garth Davis, who had previously worked with them on 2016’s Academy-award nominated Lion.
Lion gave Davis the actress he needed to play the part of Mary in Rooney Mara. “When this project came along, I and everyone involved thought of her because she’s got an otherworldly quality. She’s connected to somewhere that’s very unique and special, and, for me, that was Mary.”
For Mara, the film opened her eyes to a new and different way of reading a belief system that formed an important part of her childhood, having attended a Catholic school.
“The first time I read the script, it was with a very cynical outlook,” admits the actress. “Then I spoke with Garth and I understood what kind of film he was making. He got me to look at the story in a different way, so the second time I read it, I saw a lot of opportunity and a lot of beauty in it. I thought this was a great opportunity to tell a version of the story that we hadn’t seen before.
“Most other films about Jesus are solely about him, and this time the film is about Mary Magdalene,” continues Mara. “We still see all of the things that we’re used to seeing in biblical films, but we see it through her eyes. And seeing it through her eyes, we get to see it in a very different light. Mary Magdalene is known by most people to be a prostitute, which isn’t true. We get to see where she comes from and who she really is.”
Mary Magdalene also stars Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus Christ, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter and Tahar Rahim as Judas.
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