MovieGuide(R) on The Nativity Story

Agape Press ^ | November 14, 2006 | Dr. Ted Baehr

[Sopater]

MovieGuideÒ on The Nativity Story

By Dr. Ted Baehr
MovieGuide
November 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - Following are information and comments from Christian movie reviewer Dr. Ted Baehr on the upcoming New Line Cinema movie The Nativity Story, which open in theaters on December 8. More details about this film and others are available at Dr. Baehr's website, MovieGuide.org.

Mary, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Joseph, played by Oscar Isaac, flee the wrath of King Herod by escaping to Egypt with Baby Jesus

TITLE: THE NATIVITY STORY
Genre: Biblical epic
Intended audience: All ages
Quality*: 4 stars
Acceptability**: EXEMPLARY: Biblical, usually Christian, worldview, with no questionable elements whatsoever

VIEWER WARNINGS:
Language: None
Violence: Brief or action violence
Sex: None
Nudity: None

The Nativity Story is one of those very rare movies that brings the Gospel alive in a compelling, soul-stirring, entertaining, and inspiring manner that shatters expectations. It is a sacred movie and a divine revelation in the best sense of these words. It is a human story with depth and breadth and height and all the right elements to capture the audience.

The movie opens by quoting Jeremiah 23:5-6: "'The days are coming,'" declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.'" The rest of the movie references and quotes Scripture throughout.

The intensely paranoid King Herod sends out the troops to kill all the innocents in Bethlehem and stop the prophecy that there will be born a King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Herod is intensely superstitious and played brilliantly. Thus, this movie starts, as it should, with a bang. It then flashes back to a year earlier in the town of Nazareth, showing a brief moment of tranquility in the life of Mary and Joseph.

Suddenly, the Roman troops are upon the village demanding tribute for Caesar. Mary's father loses part of his land and his donkey. Joseph the carpenter buys the donkey back from a greedy soldier and gives it back to the father, asking for Mary's hand in marriage. Mary protests a little, but she is betrothed and must spend a year before they consummate the marriage.

Soon, an angel of God comes to Mary to tell her that she is with God's child, born by the Holy Spirit. She goes to see her cousin Elizabeth, who in her older age is also with child. (A previous scene shows Elizabeth's husband, the priest Zechariah, entering the temple and being struck mute when he doubts the word of the angel that Elizabeth had become pregnant.) When Mary returns to Nazareth, it is clear that Mary is pregnant. Joseph is devastated but decides to continue with the marriage after an angel appears to him in a dream. At the same time, the magi in Babylon are preparing to follow a unique astrological sign, which forms a brief new star that will lead them to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Mary have to journey to Bethlehem to register for the Roman census, and the prophecies of God are fulfilled.

The Nativity Story has one of the best scripts ever for a biblical story. What makes a movie compelling is a sense of jeopardy, and that sense of jeopardy is present throughout this movie. The dialogue, the plot development, the turning points are refreshingly dramatic, so good in fact that they will elicit tears at certain points. The Nativity Story is compelling drama that carefully avoids gruesome, graphic violence. Even the slaughtering of the ox at the temple does not show the blade entering the animal, yet it causes the audience to wince.

Catherine Hardwicke's direction is superb. Joseph and Mary are very human, very Jewish and very much in love. Each character has a terrific character arc. Probably the best part of the movie is the costuming and the settings. Having spent some time in Israel researching other movies, I can attest to the authenticity of even the smallest details of life in Israel in the first century. The crucifixions, the agriculture, the ephods, everything is done exquisitely. There is one moment where Mary has an attitude, but it is very brief and natural. A later statement, however, declares that Mary is always trustworthy, that she keeps her promises and therefore she is honored by God. Her complexities add depth to her character and make the story of Mary and Joseph more profound.

The Nativity Story is a nearly perfect movie. It should be a movie that every Christian would want to see. It is certainly a movie that every Non-Christian should see. It testifies in every way to Jesus the Messiah and is clearly and consciously evangelistic. Such statements that this baby is the "greatest King" and "God made flesh," that the gold is for the King of the world, that the frankincense is for the greatest priest of all, and that the myrrh is to honor the sacrifice, and many, many more pointedly proclaim the story of the Christ and the great news that there is salvation in none other.

CONTENT OVERVIEW: Very strong Christian worldview with very strong moral content; no foul language; light violence with very little blood includes people beaten and whipped by Romans, people on crucifixes by the side of the road, sanitized depictions of the slaughter of the innocents by King Herod, crucifixion of rebels, pushing, and shoving, but nothing exploitive; no sex but hugging, light kissing and two childbirths, nothing shown but very intense; no nudity; passing a cup of wine; and, nothing else objectionable.

RATING: G
RELEASE: December 8, 2006
STARRING: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac Guerrilla, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Eriq Ebouaney, and Ciarán Hinds
DIRECTOR: Catherine Hardwicke
WRITER: Mike Rich (read exclusive AgapePress interview)
DISTRIBUTOR: New Line Cinema

---

* "Quality Rating" refers to the production values in the movie, the entertainment quality of the production, and whether the movie fulfills what it tries to do. A four-star rating does not guarantee that the movie will meet MovieGuide's criteria for what makes a truly fine, much less great, work of art. That kind of criteria depends a lot on one's moral and spiritual values, issues that Acceptability Ratings (explained below) are meant to address.

** "Acceptability Rating" is based on a traditional view of the Bible and Christianity. Some movies receive positive ratings because they fit a biblical worldview of ethical monotheism, even though there is little specific Christian content in them. Acceptability Ratings take into account cognitive stages of development, moral issues and theological issues; and help parents with children and the media-wise adult viewer.

© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.

[Sopater]

Anyone else heard much about this movie?

[siunevada]

Hugh Hewitt interviewed the screenwriter, Mike Rich, for an hour yesterday.

From the bits I heard, he made a real effort to write a script for a good movie. Spent a year in research before he started writing.

He was more interested in the characters than in a straight line narration of the events.

[Chickensoup]

Is it going to be in theatres?

[Chickensoup]

Is it going to be in theatres?

[RobbyS]

Yes, I think it opens onm December 1. A premier at the Vatican!

[Sopater]

Is it going to be in theatres?

Yes, according to the article:

The Nativity Story, which open in theaters on December 8

[scripter]

Selected theatres from the previews I saw over the weekend.

[siunevada]

According to Mike Rich on Hugh Hewitt, New Line is going for a wide release. He said 3000 screens in the U.S. and overseas release at the same time as the U.S. release.

[scripter]

According to Mike Rich on Hugh Hewitt, New Line is going for a wide release. He said 3000 screens in the U.S. and overseas release at the same time as the U.S. release.

I hope so as it looked good.

[Pyro7480]

Catholic ping!

I hope to see this before it comes out. I may have an opportunity soon. I'm really curious to see how Our Lady is portrayed. The following excerpt has furthered my curiosity:

There is one moment where Mary has an attitude, but it is very brief and natural. A later statement, however, declares that Mary is always trustworthy, that she keeps her promises and therefore she is honored by God. Her complexities add depth to her character and make the story of Mary and Joseph more profound.

[baa39]

It opens on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (12/8). I wonder if they meant that deliberately as a tribute to Mary?

[Pyro7480]

Your assistance is requested. Consider the following excerpt from the above movie review:

no sex but hugging, light kissing and two childbirths, nothing shown but very intense;

I'm guessing that they depicted the Theotokos having labor pains. Criticism was directed (this site for example) at the well-known Jesus of Nazareth miniseries for its depiction of Mary giving birth to Jesus. I read EWTN'S article on Mary's Virginity During Jesus' Birth, but I'm still a bit puzzled.

The EWTN article states,

The Western Fathers seemed to emphasize Mary's physical integrity; for instance, Pope St. Leo the Great said, "She (Mary) brought Him forth without the loss of virginity, even as she conceived him without its loss...(Jesus Christ was) born from the Virgin's womb because it was a miraculous birth." On the other hand, the Eastern Fathers emphasized Mary's joy and freedom from pain in giving birth to Jesus, the Son of God. In either case, remember, the Gospel of St. Luke simply stated, "She gave birth..."

Kosta, Kolo, Campion, et al, is there anything from the Fathers that you could add to that?

My other concern is the Vatican's hosting of the world premiere of the movie. This could be problematic, given the above.

Your thoughts are appreciated!!

[Campion]

Dogma holds that the birth of Christ was accomplished in a manner that did not destroy the Blessed Virgin's "virginal integrity". Small t-tradition indicates that it occurred in a miraculous manner; the Protoevangelium of James, I think, says that there was a bright light in the cave, and then the Savior appeared outside Mary's body.

But I don't think that necessarily precludes labor pains. As a father, I can tell you that, for a first baby, labor pains can go on for a long, long time before the actual birth.

[mockingbyrd]

This is just my personal opinion, but I firmly believe that the Blessed Mother Mary gave birth, just like all other mothers at the time. I don't get the concern with the state of her hymen before or after birth. She would have still be just as much a virgin seeing that some women are born without a hymen, and they are virgins during part of their lives. So I don't get the big deal. And since God impregnated her miraculously, I am sure that He preserved her physically however He saw fit.

But I throughly disagree with the thought that Our Lord passed through her as a "beam of light." That, to me, trivializes her motherhood, her womanhood. Pregnancy, labor and birth are some of the most heroic things a woman will ever do. Not to mention that the physical process of birth is extremely beneficial to the baby. To take this away from Our Lady is to remove her further from women. And from motherhood.

Did it hurt? That I don't know, I do believe it would have been hard work though. I argued in my senior thesis that the pain that was foretold to Eve was not the actually pain of birth but the pain of raising children, the struggles, the doubt, the worry, the hard choices. Obviously Our Lady was spared all that.

My problem with this theory is that it treats birth as a consequence of sin. Perhaps labor pains are, but then all pain and suffering is the result of the fall. And Our Lady wasn't spared the other pains of this world, her only child died in front of her, how much worse can it get? The physical process of giving birth is the most incredible gift. (and yes I've done it drug free...twice, so far)It is a bonding experience, the first time you and your child work together to achieve an end. There aren't words to describe it, and I seriously doubt that Our Lady was denied this experience.

[NYer]

Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary.

Oscar Isaac as Joseph

THE NATIVITY STORY - Official Web Site

Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[trisham]

Joseph the carpenter buys the donkey back from a greedy soldier and gives it back to the father, asking for Mary's hand in marriage. Mary protests a little, but she is betrothed and must spend a year before they consummate the marriage.

**************

? Am I missing something here?

[CT-Freeper]

No, I don't think you're missing anything. What do you think is missing from the statement?

[Northern Yankee]

I've been following this movie for some time.

They filmed it in Matera, Italy. The same place Mel filmed The Passion.

It seems much of Mel's recipe for success was followed.

[Northern Yankee]

From what I understand much consideration was given in the portrayal of Mary.