Franco Zefferelli directed this masterpiece of religious filming with loving hands. To his credit, Zefferelli chose to eschew any political spin of his own and stuck to the bare accounts of Jesus’ life from the four gospels. This makes the film all the more powerful, as the camera lovingly records the miracles of the Lord without comment, leaving it to the viewer’s imagination for explanation.
Using an all-star cast, including Robert Powell as the Messiah, Olivia Hussey, as his mother "Mary", James Mason, as "Joseph of Arimathea", Laurence Olivier, as "Nicodemus", Peter Ustinov, as" Herod the Great", Anthony Quinn, as "Caiaphas", Rod Steiger, as "Pontius Pilate", and James Farentino, as "Simon Peter". The cast list goes on and on and all are top-notch actors doing some of their best work.
The story follows the life of Christ from the visitation of the virgin, Mary, until the crucifixion of the Son of Man. Every scene of this film is pregnant with meaning and is marvelous to watch.
The movie very insightfully shows that, right from the beginning, Jesus was not accepted by his peers. His approach to life was completely different from the average Jew of his day. Although conforming in all ways to their faith, he nonetheless introduced the spiritual elements that breathed life into the lifeless law of Moses. This created enemies for the young Messiah, because he rocked the boat of the powers that be, particularly the Jewish collaborators with the Roman overlords, characterized by Herod and Caiaphas.
Cinematography is immaculate, with location shots of the holy land depicting accurately the conditions under which Jesus led his life. Score by Maurice Jarre perfectly matched the action and dramatized everything in a harmonious manner.
At 380 minutes, the three-tape video is riveting. I cannot remember any filler, although others may disagree. I believe the editing was first rate, along with all other attributes of this cinematic treat. When it was over, I wished it would go on longer, if you can believe that a six-hour movie could be too short!
I have the "Greatest Story Ever Told", and "King of Kings" and I prefer this account to either, although both are excellent in my opinion.
Why don’t you take a look at "Jesus of Nazareth" and see if you agree?
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