![jesus of nazareth jesus of nazareth](https://previews.123rf.com/images/ggprophoto/ggprophoto1303/ggprophoto130300002/18205123-jesus-christ-of-nazareth-reading-a-prayer.jpg)
![jesus of nazareth jesus of nazareth](https://cdn10.bigcommerce.com/s-7k3urp/products/2232/images/4283/71V61A6ibAL._SL1050___89196.1463078652.1280.1280.jpg)
Ustinov makes King Herod sound like an Oxford don, rolling his Rs and playing the dictionary like a piano. History is haphazard and wild, oscillating between tragedy and comedy.Īt other moments, a touch of mischief creeps in. The shepherds kneel to the newborn baby Jesus against a flourish of trumpets and timpani, for instance. The most significant moments in the Gospels, such as the Nativity and the Passion feel very true to the Gospels. “Jesus of Nazareth” is as comfortable dealing in sincerity as it is wallowing in melodrama. There is no soundtrack, no special effects, no pause for applause. Historical actors do not always deliver their lines with the level of gravitas that a director might wish. History is haphazard and wild, oscillating between tragedy and comedy.
![jesus of nazareth jesus of nazareth](https://cdn.cinematerial.com/p/297x/kub5y19u/jesus-of-nazareth-british-movie-poster-md.jpg)
Theologians may debate about the degree to which history is scripted by God, but it seems clear that history-whether or not it has a script-has no single genre, mood or tone. She does not appear with Robert Powell’s adult Jesus until the very end of the series, probably because it was only too obvious that Powell was older than she was.īut “Jesus of Nazareth” is faithful to history in the very unevenness with which critics have taken issue. Hussey, as the Virgin Mary, never looks a day under 20, despite valiant attempts to age her, in later scenes, by streaking her hair with gray. The costumes-particularly the carefully crimped forelocks worn by Joseph-seem a bit like, well, costumes. The characters all speak English, many with British accents. While it never appears to be deliberately anachronistic, “Jesus of Nazareth” goes to no such trouble. When it comes to historical accuracy in religious movies, it is difficult to top Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” (2004), which takes meticulous pains to capture the sounds and sights of life in first-century Palestine, down to the Aramaic spoken by Jesus and his contemporaries. Rather, I find that the absence of a unified style is the chief strength of “Jesus of Nazareth.” After all, Jesus Christ became a man who lived at a specific moment in history-and history operates by different rules than art.
JESUS OF NAZARETH TRIAL
Though his overall take on it was positive, he noted that its “best sequences.alternate with indifferent or middling material.” He writes: “Key moments like Peter’s great confession of Jesus and the Last Supper are reverentially staged, while other moments like the Parable of the Prodigal Son and Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin are dramatically reimagined-and not infrequently the latter are more interesting and valuable than the former.”Īnd there is a disjunction between reverence and lively drama in “Jesus of Nazareth”-but that disjointedness should not necessarily be taken as a defect.
JESUS OF NAZARETH SERIES
In 2017, the series was described once again as “uneven,” by National Catholic Register’s Steven Greydanus. “Just as one is settling into the substance of a scene, one sees Laurence Olivier lurking in some corner as Nicodemus, or Ralph Richardson as Simeon staggering dramatically into a synagogue.” It is a strange production that sometimes seems unsure of what it is and what it intends to be.ĭisjointedness should not necessarily be taken as a defect. “As with any international casting roster, some performances can be both uneven and jarring,” observed a 1977 New York Times review.
![jesus of nazareth jesus of nazareth](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1373697207824576517/OF-6I3Xw_400x400.jpg)
Scenes of Michael York’s John the Baptist volubly crying out in the desert cut away to shots of Plummer’s Herod cavorting with Herodias Hussey’s ethereal Virgin Mary is replaced on the screen by Ustinov, droll as ever as Old Herod. One might say the series lacks it, lurching between melodrama and something that nearly approaches comedy. Yet, despite its all-star cast, “Jesus of Nazareth” has not achieved the iconic status of the great biblical epics, like “The Ten Commandments” (1956) and “Ben Hur” (1959). The cast of Franco Zeffirelli’s mini-series reads like an honor roll of Hollywood legends: Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Anne Bancroft, Olivia Hussey, Peter Ustinov and James Earl Jones, among others, all took part in his ambitious adaptation of the life of Christ. “Jesus of Nazareth” starred almost everybody who was anybody in 1970s cinema.