Movies - Jesus of Nazareth

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Jesus of Nazareth is a six-hour, sixteen-minute television miniseries of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus based on the accounts given in the Christian gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The movie was produced by Lew Grade through his ITC Entertainment company, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and written by Zeffirelli, Anthony Burgess and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, after Zeffirelli was approached by Pope Paul VI to make a film about Christ.

Jesus of Nazareth premiered worldwide on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday in 1977 and continues to be broadcast every Easter and Christmas in the US (shown on the History Channel).

As attested by reviewers on , , and , it remains the most critically-acclaimed and publicly-beloved film on Jesus. For its fifth airing on US television at Easter 1987, TV Guide called it "the best miniseries of all time" and "unparallelled television."

Newsweek writer Harry F. Waters remarked that:

:"Rarely have the humanity and divinity of Christ been evoked with as much passion, sensitivity, and ecumenical deference as Zeffirelli has brought to the story."

Rev. Patrick Sullivan of the U.S. Catholic Conference ("New Look at Jesus," April 4, 1977) was quoted as saying:

:"Zeffirelli has succeeded admirably in making Christ's story understandable to a modern secular audience".

A review in Variety read:

:"Passion, beauty, and brilliant storytelling are all on display in this six-hour-plus epic from Italian director Franco Zeffirelli. Robert Powell is superb in the title role, and with the overwhelming success of this TV movie throughout the world, has perhaps become what Jesus looks like in many people's minds. The story begins with the arrangements of the wedding between Joseph and Mary, and chronicles the nativity, the encounter with John the Baptist (a ferocious Michael York) and everything up to the crucifixion and resurrection. This film is beautifully shot on actual locations, with haunting music by Maurice Jarre and an all-star cast, including Anne Bancroft, Laurence Olivier, Ian Holm, Ernest Borgnine, Peter Ustinov, James Mason, Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. Zeffirelli has created a thorough, but never dull or dogmatic, retelling of the story, and the result is a uniquely transcendental film that holds the power to inspire no matter what the viewer's beliefs or background."

Cast

Robert Powell
as Jesus; Powell never blinks during eye contact with others throughout the entire film, giving his character a somewhat unearthly and transcendental air.
Olivia Hussey
as Mary
Anne Bancroft
as Mary Magdalene
Ernest Borgnine
as the Roman centurion
Claudia Cardinale
as the Adulteress
Valentina Cortese
as Herodias
James Farentino
as Peter
Ian Holm
as Zerah
James Earl Jones
as Balthazar
Stacy Keach
as Barabbas
James Mason
as Joseph of Arimathea
Ian McShane
as Judas Iscariot
Laurence Olivier
as Nicodemus
Donald Pleasence
as Melchior
Christopher Plummer
as Herod Antipas
Anthony Quinn
as Caiaphas
Fernando Rey
as Gaspar
Rod Steiger
as Pontius Pilate
Peter Ustinov
as Herod the Great
Michael York
as John the Baptist
Tony Lo Bianco as Quintillius

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Jesus of Nazareth (film) ]

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Movies - Jesus of Nazareth

Cast

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