Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Parable

 Parable
type
TVTItem
 Parable
label
Parable
 Parable
page
Parable
 Parable
comment
Parable is a 1964 short film (22 minutes) directed by Rolf Forsberg.It is a Christian film, commissioned by the Council of Churches for the City of New York, and first exhibited at the Protestant Paviliion of the 1964 World's Fair. The film, told without any dialogue, centers around a traveling circus. As the circus is trundling through the countryside, it is followed by a clown dressed all in white, riding on a donkey. The clown does various good deeds for the people of the circus: he carries the water for the man who was fetching water buckets for the elephants, he takes the place of the man in the dunking booth, and he liberates a magician's assistant from her boss's impaled-by-swords routine. These people become his followers.Finally he enters the big top, where a man named Magnus has a "human marionette" act, a rather terrifying show in which living people are hung from the top of the tent while Magnus controls them as puppets, complete with strings. The clown, seeing this spectacle, makes the ultimate sacrifice.This film was controversial in some quarters in 1964 for depicting Jesus as a circus clown, but it won a shelf full of awards for short films and was screened in churches for many years after. It was an inspiration for the musical Godspell, which also depicts Jesus as a clown.
 Parable
fetched
2024-03-14T08:00:31Z
 Parable
parsed
2024-03-14T08:00:31Z
 Parable
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Parable / int_13e3985d
type
Crucified Hero Shot
 Parable / int_13e3985d
comment
Crucified Hero Shot: The clown, still hanging from the puppet harness and strings after he's been stoned to death.
 Parable / int_13e3985d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_13e3985d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_13e3985d
 Parable / int_3a153596
type
Dead Guy Puppet
 Parable / int_3a153596
comment
Dead Guy Puppet: Magnus does this for a bit with the clown before the enormity of his crime hits home.
 Parable / int_3a153596
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_3a153596
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_3a153596
 Parable / int_471c46f8
type
Allegory
 Parable / int_471c46f8
comment
Allegory: A clown in a circus demonstrating the ministry and crucifixion of Jesus.
 Parable / int_471c46f8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_471c46f8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_471c46f8
 Parable / int_52989fee
type
Narrator
 Parable / int_52989fee
comment
Narrator: One at the beginning that explains the Christian practice of using parables, short stories meant to illustrate a moral point. After that intro the narrator is disposed of.
 Parable / int_52989fee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_52989fee
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_52989fee
 Parable / int_53b6ab6a
type
Jumped at the Call
 Parable / int_53b6ab6a
comment
Jumped at the Call: The water carrier, the man in the dunk tank, and the woman from the magic act don't hesitate to follow the clown.
 Parable / int_53b6ab6a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_53b6ab6a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_53b6ab6a
 Parable / int_5f168ae3
type
I Kiss Your Foot
 Parable / int_5f168ae3
comment
I Kiss Your Foot: The clown and his followers dust the shoes of the audience at the circus.
 Parable / int_5f168ae3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_5f168ae3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_5f168ae3
 Parable / int_716c0b1b
type
And the Adventure Continues
 Parable / int_716c0b1b
comment
And the Adventure Continues: Magnus is shown in his trailer, after the clown has died, tormented by guilt. He then starts smearing white greasepaint over his face. The last shot then shows Magnus dressed all in white as the clown was, following the circus caravan as the clown did.
 Parable / int_716c0b1b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_716c0b1b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_716c0b1b
 Parable / int_81a1960f
type
Silence Is Golden
 Parable / int_81a1960f
comment
Silence Is Golden: No dialogue other than the opening narration.
 Parable / int_81a1960f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_81a1960f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_81a1960f
 Parable / int_84e06c25
type
Evil Puppeteer
 Parable / int_84e06c25
comment
Evil Puppeteer: Magnus is rather cruel to the people in his puppet show, and he participates in the murder of the clown. Then he has a moment of redemption.
 Parable / int_84e06c25
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_84e06c25
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_84e06c25
 Parable / int_8967e17f
type
Back from the Dead
 Parable / int_8967e17f
comment
Back from the Dead: Averted; despite the film being an allegory for the Passion Play, the clown does not come back from death as Jesus does. Instead, he is "resurrected" through Magnus carrying on his legacy.
 Parable / int_8967e17f
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Parable / int_8967e17f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_8967e17f
 Parable / int_8c41d6e9
type
Nameless Narrative
 Parable / int_8c41d6e9
comment
Nameless Narrative: Almost. Magnus is named by the sign on his trailer, but that's the only name we get.
 Parable / int_8c41d6e9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_8c41d6e9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_8c41d6e9
 Parable / int_9397e726
type
Passion Play
 Parable / int_9397e726
comment
Passion Play: The clown is strung up by Magnus and then stoned to death by the people he has angered—the magician, the ticket-seller that he skipped past, and the man throwing baseballs at the dunking booth.
 Parable / int_9397e726
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_9397e726
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_9397e726
 Parable / int_a1b141f4
type
My God, What Have I Done?
 Parable / int_a1b141f4
comment
My God, What Have I Done?: Magnus goes through this after helping murder the clown.
 Parable / int_a1b141f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_a1b141f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_a1b141f4
 Parable / int_b5fb096b
type
People Puppets
 Parable / int_b5fb096b
comment
People Puppets: Quite literally, as Magnus manipulates human beings as a puppeteer.
 Parable / int_b5fb096b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_b5fb096b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_b5fb096b
 Parable / int_d9d864e2
type
Stage Magician
 Parable / int_d9d864e2
comment
Stage Magician: One is doing the impalement trick with swords; he gets very angry when the clown disrupts his act.
 Parable / int_d9d864e2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_d9d864e2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_d9d864e2
 Parable / int_dea5fe1
type
Kubrick Stare
 Parable / int_dea5fe1
comment
Kubrick Stare: From Magnus the puppeteer as he looks up at the corpse of the clown.
 Parable / int_dea5fe1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_dea5fe1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_dea5fe1
 Parable / int_f1e6402d
type
Suddenly Speaking
 Parable / int_f1e6402d
comment
Suddenly Speaking: Sort of. The clown lets loose with an agonized scream as he hangs from the top of the tent. It's a rather dramatic moment as not only is there not any dialogue, there isn't any ambient noise in the short other than that scream, only the soundtrack.
 Parable / int_f1e6402d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_f1e6402d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_f1e6402d
 Parable / int_fd9763d3
type
Non-Ironic Clown
 Parable / int_fd9763d3
comment
Non-Ironic Clown: Instead, a highly symbolic one.
 Parable / int_fd9763d3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_fd9763d3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_fd9763d3
 Parable / int_name
type
ItemName
 Parable / int_name
comment
 Parable / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Parable / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Parable
hasFeature
Parable / int_name
 Parable / int_name
itemName
Parable

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Parable
hasFeature
Allegory / int_dbfe34c1
 Parable
hasFeature
Divine Race Lift / int_dbfe34c1
 Parable
hasFeature
Evil Puppeteer / int_dbfe34c1
 Parable
hasFeature
People Puppets / int_dbfe34c1