Lent Reviews Year 6 Week 6: Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

     Jesus of Nazareth originally aired during the Lent and Easter season of 1977. It is directed by Franco Zeffirelli and written by Zeffirelli, Anthony Burgess, and Suso Cecchi d'Amico (Bicycle Thieves, The Leopard, The Taming of the Shrew). It stars Robert Powell as Jesus.

     Jesus of Nazareth was an extremely ambitious undertaking. The middle part of a loose trilogy, which began with Moses the Lawgiver in 1973 and ended with A.D. (chronicling the Acts of the Apostles) in 1985 (all of which were co-written by Burgess), it seeks to present a fairly comprehensive adaptation of the four gospels. Never before had this much running time been devoted to the a film about Jesus' life. Like all Jesus films, the real challenge for the writers is to construct a traditionally structured story from the rather episodic Gospel accounts. Because this is a miniseries, broken up into 4 episodes, they had an advantage. Consequently, Zeffirelli, along with Burgess and d'Amico, do an admirable job weaving all the disparate threads together into a relatively cohesive narrative. The first episode focuses on the Nativity story from Luke's Gospel. Episode two focuses on the preaching and execution of John the Baptist (Michael York) and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Episode three continues the story of Jesus ministry and the tensions between Him and the Sanhedrin. Finally, the last episode, drawing primarily from John's Gospel, focuses on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, His betrayal and death, and (all too briefly) His Resurrection.

     Zefirelli is a great director and imbues many of the gospel episodes with a real cinematic flair. For instance, the scene where Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal's son is simply amazing. A revelatory re-imaging of the calling of Peter (James Farentino) and Matthew (Keith Washington), here Peter resents Matthew for collecting taxes for the Romans and creating an undue burden for his family. When Jesus goes to Matthew's house for supper, he is shocked that this man, who he has recognized as a prophet would, "eat with tax collectors and sinners." Undaunted, Jesus invites Peter to come with him. Jesus then relates the story of the prodigal son, as Peter listens from the doorway, and it becomes clear that in this scenario, Peter is the elder son, resentful that his sinful younger brother is being treated with mercy. He and Matthew then tearfully reconcile.

     The portrayal of the Annunciation, witnessed by her Mary's mother Saint Anne (Regina Bianchi), is beautifully subtle. The angel is not seen or heard, we only hear Mary's (played by Olivia Hussey) response to it, as she kneels before a window with moonlight shining through. Zeffirelli's framing hear is immaculate. Brilliant too is the scene where John (John Duttine), following Jesus instruction to proclaim the kingdom of God, goes to visit the Blessed Mother, greeting her with the words, "Blessed are you among women" to which she replies, "Anyone who obeys our Father in Heaven is His mother, His sister, His brother." This line is often used by some protestants to attack Mariology so having her say it, thus leading John to the Father through her, strikes me as a particularly Catholic choice.

     This is something of an anomaly as many other choices in the film (for instance Mary has birth pains when Jesus is born) are more conciliatory toward Protestants and people of other Judeo/Christian faiths. It was the intention of the filmmakers to make the story 'acceptable to all denominations and there is special care placed on the film's portrayal of Jews. The Sanhedrin are more sympathetic then usual, and Pilate is shown to be just as culpable for Christ's death as they. Both Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus are given prominent roles and are shown trying to defend Jesus at his trial. Zeffirelli was clearly influenced by Vatican II's Nostra aetate (the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions) and its condemnation of antisemitism and recognition that Christians and Jews share a common heritage. Because of this, Jesus' own Jewish heritage is stressed again and again. We even see his Bar Mitzvah, despite the fact that this ceremony was introduced over a thousand years after Jesus died!

     With all that said, the series does come up short in some places. Though Herod's (Christopher Plummer) interest in Jesus is established (in a scene from the synoptic Gospels where he wonders if perhaps it is John the Baptist raised from the dead) his meeting with Jesus before the crucifixion is not portrayed, making the passion narrative feel a bit incomplete as a result.

     The presence of Ian Holm's fictional pharisee, Zerah, is a bit intrusive at times. His propose in the story is to manipulate Judas into betraying Jesus. They take this a little too far and make Judas into more of an innocent dupe then the conniving Zealot he is usually portrayed as. He is also shown to wield a certain degree of influence with Pilate. That a former zealot like Judas would trust a man who was respected by the Romans seems to me a bit dubious. Finally he is continually shown during the passion scenes, walking alone in the temple as Jesus carries his cross. I found this distracting and ultimately pointless.

     By downplaying the especial guilt of Judas and the Sanhedrin, the film emphasizes the fact that we are all culpable for Jesus' death. As Peter tells the other apostles after the resurrection, "I denied him because I was a coward! We are all cowards! We accused Judas of being a traitor, but we all betrayed him! We all abandoned him." Nevertheless, changing Judas' motivations so drastically problematic, especially in light of his suicide so soon afterward.

     In some ways Jesus of Nazareth is The Godfather saga of Jesus movies, similar in it's subdued, realistic approach and in it's universal appeal and acceptance into the popular culture (if not so much in its near perfect execution). Robert Powell, cast in part due to his resemblance to Warner Sallman's Head of Christ, has become an iconic and popular image of Christ in his own right. The same can be said, though to a lesser extent, for Olivia Hussey's Virgin Mary. Also like The Godfather, Jesus of Nazareth has become a staple of TV broadcasts, particularly around the Easter Season.

     All of the cast, indeed, embody their characters as well or better then in any other adaptation of the Gospels. James Farentino's Simon Peter is a grizzled, self-doubting man, struggling to reconcile his zeal for Christ with his all too human timidity. Ian McShane's Judas Iscariot, despite some of the writing issues, still manages to convey the traitor's conniving and failure to surrender his own vision for Christs. Micheal York's Baptist is every bit the powerful orator that Heston (The Greatest Story Ever Told) and Ryan (King of Kings) were. Christopher Plummer is a suitably besotted yet deeply conflicted and guilt ridden Herod Antipas. Rod Stieger is at once world-weary, comprehending, and merciless as Pilate. Olivia Hussey is easily my favorite on-screen Mary with the possible exception of Maia Morgenstern (The Passion of the Christ). Humble, compassionate and on fire with love for her Son her performance inspires that Marian devotion that is so dear to us Catholics.

     While Robert Powell is, generally, a more reverential and remote Jesus he still has plenty of relatable human moments and his subdued delivery of Christ's parables and teaching is incredibly effective. As per Zeffireli's instructions, Powell rarely blinks during film, echoing both H.B. Warner (The King of Kings) and Max von Sydow (The Greatest Story Ever Told). This accentuates the actor's already penetrating eyes. For the scenes dealing with the passion, Powell fasted on a diet of only cheese for twelve days prior to shooting. Portraying the child Jesus Lorenzo Monet is a good match for Powell, though his (obviously dubbed) voice is a bit distracting.

     Jesus of Nazareth, despite its flaws, remains one of the best (and easily the most iconic) portrayals of the life of Christ on film. Highly recommended!

Score: 9/10

P.S. I am sorry that this is fashionably late (as is pretty much par for the course on this blog) but this was a daunting review! Happy Easter everyone!