Parable (film)
| Parable | |
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1964 publicity poster
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| Directed by |
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| Produced by | Fred A. Niles |
| Written by | Rolf Forsberg |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Angelo Dellutri |
| Edited by | James Miller |
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Production
company |
Fred A. Niles Communications Centers Inc. of Chicago
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| Distributed by | Council of Churches of the City of New York |
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Release date
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Running time
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20 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Parable is a 1964 American short Christian film written and directed by Rolf Forsberg, made for the Lutheran Council and became popular when first screened at the 1964 New York World's Fair in 1964, and again in 1965 at the Protestant Pavilion. The film depicts Christ as a clown and the world as a circus and is considered both a revolutionary Christian film and one which proved to be influential.
In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The film Parable is presented through action and music alone and has no dialogue. It tells the story of handful of people working in an old fashioned circus under the rule of Magnus, a puppeteer who strings up human beings as living marionettes and controls their every move. Christ (Clarence Mitchell) is represented as a clown dressed in white, riding atop a donkey. The clown travels around the circus helping people with their problems and gaining followers until he finally takes the place of Magnus's human puppets and is strung up and murdered. Transformed by the clown's sacrifice, Magnus smears his face with white greasepaint and takes the clown's place on the donkey as Christ resurrected.
Parable was shot in 1964 at The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It was written and directed by Rolf Forsberg with an additional directing credit given to Tom Rook and producer credit to Fred Niles. The cast include Saeed Jaffrey, Madhur Jaffrey, Tom Erhart, and Clarence Mitchell. It is 20 minutes long and was shot on 35mm color film. Production company credit goes to the Fred A. Niles Communications Centers Inc. of Chicago; and the film is distributed through the Council of Churches of the City of New York.
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