Film and apocryphal imitation of the feminine

Judith of Bethulia

Elizabeth Philpot

pp. 184-198

in: Williams Ortiz Gaye, Clara B. Joseph (eds), Theology and literature, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006

Abstract

Shot on location in 1913 in Chatsworth, California, Judith of Bethulia was released in 1914. The film was produced and directed by the legendary American producer D.W. Griffith and starred the actress Blanche Sweet as Judith and Henry B. Walthall as Holofernes. This essay examines the role of both Judith and Holofernes as depicted in the film and relates it to feminist thought of the time just prior to the World War I. It discusses how far the filmmaker distorts facts from the biblical narrative for chauvinistic theatrical effects, in the same way that artists have changed the emphasis of their images through the centuries for differing reasons. In this film, Holofernes occupies the traditional male role of masculine pride, strength, and superiority while Judith is represented as the love-lost maiden who falls in love with him. However, in the end she turns the tables and in true warrior fashion, decapitates him and saves her hometown of Bethulia.