PRODIGALS ALL
  • Begin the Encounter
    • Meaning and Application >
      • Encountering the Text >
        • Text of Luke 15.1-3
        • Text of Luke 15.11-12
        • Text of Luke 15.13-19
        • Text of Luke 15.20-24
        • Text of Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Literary Context >
        • New Testament Context >
          • Luke 9-19
          • Luke 15
          • The Gospels >
            • Matthew 21.28-32
            • John 7.53-8.11
            • Luke 19.1-10
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            • Philemon
        • Old Testament Context >
          • Jacob
          • Psalm 23
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      • Encountering the Cultural Context >
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.1-3 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.1-3
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.11-12 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.11-12
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.13-19 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.13-19
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.20-24 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.20-24
        • Cultural Questions Luke 15.25-32 >
          • Cultural Answers Luke 15.25-32
      • Encountering the Theological Meaning >
        • Keller Prodigal God
        • Nouwen Return
        • Theological Meaning >
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          • Christ
        • Early Interpretations >
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        • Modern Interpretations >
          • Charles Spurgeon
          • Martin Luther King, Jr.
          • Jerry Falwell
          • Barbara Brown Taylor
        • Buddhist Prodigal
    • Artistic Impact >
      • The Prodigal Son in Painting >
        • Art, Exegesis, and Interpretation
        • Palma 1595
        • Rembrandt 1668
        • Tissot 1880
        • Slevogt 1899
        • Quist 1975
        • He Qi 1996
        • Riojas 2000s >
          • Riojas interpretation
        • Janknegt 2002 >
          • Janknegt interpretation
        • Rabodzeenko 2006
      • The Prodigal Son in Poetry >
        • Christina Rossetti >
          • Rossetti poems
          • Rossetti interpretations
        • Rainer Maria Rilke >
          • Rilke poem
          • Rilke interpretation
        • Kilian McDonnell >
          • McDonnell Poems
          • McDonnell interpretations
        • Leah Goldberg
        • James Weldon Johnson
        • John Newton
        • Edith Nesbit
      • The Prodigal Son in Fiction >
        • Marilynne Robinson
        • Alexander Pushkin >
          • The Stationmaster
        • Rainer Maria Rilke
      • The Prodigal Son in Music >
        • Britten (1968) >
          • Britten Libretto
        • Popular music >
          • Robert Wilkins
          • Rory Block
          • Rolling Stones
          • Josh White
          • Keith Green
      • The Prodigal Son in Film/Drama
      • The Prodigal Son in Dance >
        • Balanchine
  • Meet your Trail Guide
  • A Suggested Path

The Prodigal Son in Film and Drama


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Jesus of Nazareth
     This film, originally airing as a television mini-series in 1977, was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starred such luminaries as Robert Powell, Olivia Hussey, Christopher Plummer, Anne Bancroft, and Laurence Olivier.   It has the distinction of being praised by most movie goers, film critics, and Christian voices.   Powell's portrayal of Jesus drew from Warner Sallman's painting, The Head of Christ, and from earlier cinematic portrayals by H. B. Warner and Max von Sydow.   The telling of the parable of the Prodigal Son is a good example of Powell's quiet intensity.
 Watch the 6 minute clip of Jesus telling the parable of the Prodigal Son by clicking here.

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The Parable of the Lost Son
     This visually stunning depiction pictures the action of the parable of the prodigal son through the memories of the elderly father.   It is set in a desert wilderness among the experiences of a bedouin family.   Some of the action is realistic, some symbolic.   The story of the parable is told only up through the return of the younger son.      
                                                            The 10 minute video can be viewed by clicking here.

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The Prodigal Trilogy
     Canadian actor Jason Hildebrand has developed a three part drama introducing audiences to the three main characters of the parable of the prodigal son.   His inspiration for the monologues came from Keith Green's Prodigal Son Suite, Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son, and Nouwen's book of the same name.

Watch Meet the Younger Son by clicking here.
Watch Meet the Father by clicking here (short) or here (long).
                                                    Watch Meet the Older Son by clicking here. (short) or here (long).

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The Prodigal Son
     This short film combines the video production of Dean L. Bauman with the music of Keith Green's Prodigal Son Suite.   Although the music remains the most powerful part of the production, the video is a largely successful attempt to set the story of the prodigal son in a modern American rural setting.

Watch this 14 music video of Keith Green's masterpiece by clicking
here.

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The Prodigal
     This is a humorous but deeply thoughtful and compelling rendition of the parable.   This live stage performance by the Skit Guys is a short but powerful version of the gospel story and its implications for life and relationships.

Watch this 8 minute dramatic presentation of the parable by clicking here.

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Godspell, The Prodigal Son
     This is a clip of the Delta Center for the Arts production of Godspell.   This performance reinterprets not only the parable but the play Godspell in hip-hop style.

Watch this 8 minute clip of the live performance by clicking
here.

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The LEGO Prodigal Son
     Clever, stop-motion video of the parable of the Prodigal Son using LEGO figures.

Watch this 8 minute animation of the parable by clicking here.

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The Prodigal Son
     This recent production by the Mormon Channel depicts the story of the Prodigal Son while being narrated by Jesus.   It is one of a series of video based on Biblical stories produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons).
Watch this 6 minute video of the retelling of the parable by clicking here.

Other films connected, more or less, to the parable of the Prodigal Son:
     The Return of the Prodigal Son ~ 1967 Czech psychological drama about the follow-up to a man's suicide attempt including his efforts to rebuild his relationship with his young wife and his close bond with his psychiatrist.
     Prodigal Son ~ 1981 Chinese kung-fu movie focusing on a son who thinks himself a kung-fu master but whose opponents have been paid by his father to to let him win.

     The Prodigal Son  ~ 1988 Mormon animated production, largely Biblical accurate, with a screenplay written by the famous science fiction writer Orson Scott Card.
     Prodigal Sons ~ 2008 American documentary about the relationships among a transgender man, his gay brother, and their adopted brother.
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