Friday, April 13, 2007
The Nativity Story
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: Yes, this is yet another jesus dvd that is a Jesus movie. We rented it first. For some unknown reason, I had the idea that maybe we had enough Jesus movies for Mom and she'd consider this one overkill, but I was wrong, which is why I purchased it for her. We've watched it several times.
I appreciate it for the explanation it contains of certain cultural customs to which members of "The Holy Family" would have been obligated, but, more than this, some of the oblique symbology of the birth of Jesus is explained, such as the signficance of the gifts received from "the wise men". There is strong enough emphasis on the importance of the visiting of the shepherds that I finally understood this aspect of the Jesus Nativity Story. And, the parallel story of Elizabeth and Zechariah is well woven into the presentation.
My mother, of course, is enthralled with the movie. The more apparently realistic Bible movies are, the more she likes them. This one rang a bell for her. She even enjoyed the offhand comic relief of the three wise men.
I may have mentioned this before: I'm not Christian, never have been, actually, even though I was raised in what would be considered a typical Christian household of the 50's and 60's, which is to say, only mildly religious but with a strong emphasis on morality and ethics, not necessarily connected to but often echoing Christianity in particular. Because my mother is deeply spiritual, though, and uses Christianity as her spiritual touchstone (and, for a few other reasons, as well), I spent a fair amount of time (still do, in fact) investigating and thinking about Christianity. I've been at the point, for some years, where I firmly doubt the existence of the historical Jesus as presented in Christianity (even the Christian gospels hint that the Jesus they present never existed) but, because much of the symbology and beliefs are ubiquitous in many theistic and nontheistic religious doctrines and practice, the entire area of spirituality bounded by religion fascinates me and Christianity, being the first religion to which I was introduced, thus the one with which I am most familiar, is a good jumping off point for me. This movie, in particular, is a succinct reminder of the power of the Jesus story, Jesus mythology and Christian dedication. As well, while I was absorbing Elizabeth's story alongside Mary's, I was suddenly struck by the importance of the mothers of gods, in stories such as these, always being in some way barren, or, in the case of the births of great leaders of a theistic religion, the birth itself or the baby being threatened, thus the birth of the god or the leader is usually (except, for instance, in the case of Abram/Abraham), somehow miraculous. I don't know why I never before paid attention to this.
Soon after we watched this movie a few times and had some stimulating conversations about Christianity in particular and spirituality in general, I decided to rent The God Who Wasn't There so Mom could get a better idea of why Christianity interests me but doesn't cause me to "fall on [my] knees". No, this isn't a movie we'll be purchasing. I was familiar with most of the stuff in it when I originally saw it and don't need it as a resource. But, Mom found this movie interesting and worthy of discussion, although it didn't sway her belief in her religion. I didn't expect this. Even those of us who aren't swayed by beliefs in gods and the ritual detail of god centered religions often have belief systems that make no rational sense but hold sway over us, anyway. At any rate, something I realized when we discussed spirituality and religion from the point of view of The God Who Wasn't There is that Mom is firmly centered in life-here-and-now rather than death-in-the-sweet-by-and-by. This, I think, is the important difference between her spirituality and that of many people who consider and call themselves Christians.
The Nativity Story is not nearly as spiritually powerful for me as, say, The Little Buddha, for instance, but it's provocative, nonetheless, and I can count on it to trigger interesting discussions about religion and spirituality between my mother and me.
Well, well, well. I found loads of Christian reviewers covering this movie, usually positively (if there was any negativity at all in these reviews, it was a minor haggle over biblical representation of the story vs. this movie's representation), but I was able to find only two secular critics weighing in. Of those, I chose the, well, the longest, to connect to the title of this post. It was also the better of the two I found, and the kinder. I think what most secular critics wanted was more of a The Last Temptation of the Christ presentation. Although I'm a secularist, myself, I notice that most secularists who go to the movies are allergic to any religious presentation even when it is sincere and subtle. Guys, this story is well acted by some extraordinary actors, well directed, well filmed and well told. It's not trying to convert you. It's just telling an old, old story. Relax. It's not going to jump into the theater (or your living room) and strangle you until you become Christian.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Keisha Castle-Hughes Mary Oscar Isaac Joseph Hiam Abbass Anna Shaun Toub Joachim Shohreh Aghdashloo Elizabeth Stanley Townsend Zechariah Ciarán Hinds Herod the Great Alexander Siddig Angel Gabriel
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2006
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
Labels: bible-movies1, Christmas, drama7, female-director2, jesus-dvds, mom-favorite1, oscar-isaac, period3, religion1, spiritual1
