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If
Biblical realism were a genre of film,
The Nativity Story
would be the prequel to The
Passion. Although the two films were
produced by different studios and
directors they share many of the same
traits.
Both films
present a more accurate portrait of
those events than the previously
sanitized versions from Hollywood. Gone
are the Anglo white faces and non-stop
singing of high notes from an unseen
choir. Newly arrived are darker faces
you’d expect to see in the Middle East
and scenes previously considered ill
suited for family audiences, such as the
depiction of King Herod’s shock troops
in full armor dragging children from
their homes for summary execution.
The shear
terror exhibited by the children in
these scenes is palpable and for some
surely disturbing. Yet I did not find
this depiction as disturbing as the
lengthy scene of Jesus being tortured in
the The Passion.
Mel Gibson
proved in The Passion
that, by selecting the right actors and
projecting the look and feel of the
period, one can take familiar words in
the Bible and translate them into a
powerful visual format that suddenly
transports the viewer back in time.
You’re not
watching actors reading lines on a stage
in a mock drama that you’ve seen
countless times before. Rather, you’re
lost in the present, convinced that what
you’re seeing is exactly how it must
have been in that moment in time.
Director
Catherine Hardwicke succeeds in creating
the same sense of time travel for the
movie-goer with her film The
Nativity Story.
Hardwicke’s international casting
provides a solid foundation for the
movie. Krisha Castle-Hughes (Whale
Rider) plays Mary, and Oscar Isaac
is Joseph. Academy Award nominee Shohrch
Aghdashloo (an Iranian Actress) plays
Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin and the mother
of John the Baptist.
And,
adding some authenticity to the film, is
Mary’s mother, played by Hiam Abbass.
Abbass was
born in
Nazareth.
Much like
a cast in a Robert Altman film there are
no particular stand-outs or
disappointments in the acting
department. All pull their own weight
delivering the story faithfully. Well, I
take that back. What you see prior to
the birth of Christ in The
Nativity Story may not be
entirely accurate but it is the most
tantalizing part of the film because we
never hear about this part of the untold
story.
Out of
economic necessity, Mary’s poor Jewish
parents inform Mary they have arranged
her to marry “a good man” named Joseph.
At first Mary does not embrace the
prospect of marrying this older man and
seeks refuge in an olive grove where she
is visited by Gabriel (Alexander Siddig)
who tells her the Holy Spirit will cause
her to bear a son. Mary soon becomes
pregnant.
When
Mary’s parents get the news they are not
happy, refusing to accept Mary’s
explanation of Immaculate Conception.
Neither does anyone else in Nazareth
believe in Mary’s story except for
Joseph, proving he is indeed “a good
man.”
Instead of
being overjoyed with the prospect of
being the parents of the Messiah, newly
wedded Mary and Joseph are fearful,
defensive and confused. In short, they
react the way one would expect normal
human beings to react.
In the
final stage of Mary’s pregnancy, she and
Joseph leave Nazareth bound for Joseph’s
hometown of Bethlehem and—no
surprise—find no room at the inn.
If you
didn’t read the book and were waiting
for it to be made into a movie, now’s
your chance.
The
Nativity Story
General Audiences: B
A
timely film for the holidays and a more
realistic rendition of the days before
the Immaculate Conception. Nothing
objectionable
Family Audiences: B
Good
Sunday school lesson for children. King
Herod’s dragnet scene probably
inappropriate for impressionable
children six and under. Rated G for some
violent content. |
