July 21, 2008

The Nativity Story

The Nativity Story is a remarkable, if frustratingly restrained, act of imagining the tale of Christ's birth as a flesh-and-blood drama actually set in Israel two millenia ago. Written by Mike Rich (Finding Forrester) and directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), the film makes very strong impressions in a scene-by-scene way. Beginning with the slaughter (bloodlessly portrayed; this is a PG movie) of Bethlehem's innocents under orders from a paranoid King Herod (a dark and knowing Ciar?n Hinds), the film then jumps back a year to the prophecy that informs Zechariah (Stanley Townsend) that his wife, Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), will bear a child. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's cousin, the adolescent Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes), struggles with her family to make ends meet and is promised to the carpenter Joseph (Oscar Isaac). Soon comes word to Mary, via an angel, that she will carry, while still a virgin, the long-awaited Messiah who will liberate the Jews from Herod and his Roman benefactors. Thus begins a detailed account of Joseph and Mary's hard travel to Bethlehem, while three Magi spend months crossing the desert trying to rendezvous with some point below the convergence of three heavenly bodies in the night sky. Hardwicke and Rich anchor all this in period detail, though what proves most moving are relationship nuances, especially the friendship and trust that emerge between Mary and Joseph after he is told in a dream that she speaks truthfully about her miraculous pregnancy. While The Nativity Story should appeal to almost anyone as a straightforward narrative, it is far from a secular version of the familiar Biblical tale, and thus feels a bit stifled. It might have been nice if the film could have breathed a little more with imagination, but The Nativity Story makes up for it by ingeniously weaving hints of things to come, later in Christ's life, into the action. –Tom Keogh

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Excellent movie
I teach religion in a Catholic high school and its hard to find good movies that both interest my students and are fairly accurate to the Bible story. Many movies add so many fictional elements that they are worthless in class, while often those that do not are so boring that my classroom soon resembles the nap room in a kindergarten! The Nativity, however, was accurate enough to satisfy this teacher, while the storyline and characterizations engaged my students. This movie was excellent for an understanding both of the probable personalities of Mary and Jospeh and for an understanding of what it must really have been like to live through this marvelous event 2000 years ago.

5 Stars An Amazing Movie
I loved this movie. It wasn't overly dramatic and kept to what the bible actually says. The little bits that were added did not change the true bible story.

5 Stars Great Movie
Great things are accomplished when they are done via simplicity. This film is one of those examples. Music is also a powerful element in this presentation. I reccomend it to everyone.

5 Stars Moving Movie
This movie touched my heart as I watched it. To see the life style of Mary and Joseph was quite moving. Mary's acceptance, and then Joseph's, of the coming of Jesus was very touching. I pray that I would be as accepting of news from God as they were.

5 Stars The Nativity Story
This movie gives a most realistic look at what life was like at the time of Jesus' birth. I feel it gives a very human picture of Mary and Joseph and what they had to go through. I highly recommend this movie.