the end and the beginning

At the end of that rather odd film Jesus Christ Superstar there is an image of a shepherd in the sunrise leading his sheep across a hill. I thought that was a good image of the resurrection - as far as it goes.

At the beginning of a film about Jesus that I'd make, either under Paul Verhoeven's tutelage or on my own, I'd have a similar image... though not first. The film would be The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, a go-to author for Paul Verhoeven. And the very first image would be from the life and death of James Pike:

As I understand it, he went into the Judean desert, alone, in a rental car, looking for some answers about the premature death of his son. And his body was found there....

So the first image as the dawn enlightens would be dark, then sound: the radio in a car. Then the light comes up and we see the car at the bottom of a shallow desert wash, the right door open in the gray dawn. The radio is playing.

And over the car, above, on the crest of the bank above the wash, is the shepherd. That is how I would start.

The end, and the beginning. Rest in peace, Jim.