JESUS OF NAZARETH
In the entire history of mankind, there has never been a more controversial, admired and most talked about person other than Jesus Christ. So much has been written about this revered Holy Man who is so misunderstood despite the fact that He willingly offered His very own life on the Cross as a supreme sacrifice so that all of mankind may be saved.
For those who prefer watching movies rather than reading the Bible, I highly recommend that you see this great classic film in its entirety; as it will surely change your perspective of Jesus Christ. It has touched and inspired many of my friends including skeptics who have seen this movie many times over.
n a person's lifetime, JESUS OF NAZARETH is one must see great movie on DVD, I enthusiastically encourage everyone to watch. The entire movie consists of a two (2) discs DVD with Disc 1 focusing on the origin and birth of Jesus and Disc 2 detailing His life, work, teachings and suffering.
While each Disc is about three hours in viewing duration; but under the artistic masterpiece and superb direction of the multi-awarded Film Director Franco Zeffirelli; the entire story was so engrossing in its realistic presentation that the viewer intensely enjoys uninterrupted viewing; hardly noticing the duration time has passed by.
It was originally presented by Sir Lew Grade and produced by Franco Zeffirelli Productions in 1977 as a television mini-series televised as continuing episodes with a total running time of 6 Hours and 22 Minutes.
The powerhouse award winning casts boast of Hollywood's greatest actors during their production time which had included Robert Powell, Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, Valentina Cortese, James Farentino, James Earl Jones, Stacey Keach, Tony Lo Bianco, James Mason, Ian McShane, Sir Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn, Fernando Rey, Rod Steiger, Peter Ustinov, Michael York, and Olivia Hussey as the Blessed Mother Mary.
This magnificent classic is the greatest Jesus movie of all time and what never ceases to amaze me is the par excellance performance of Robert Powell as Jesus Christ. He actually looks and talks like Jesus.
Even Director Zeffirelli was so impressed at his outstanding performance; he noted that Robert Powell never blinked his eyes even in the delivery of his long parts, which to him was the mark of a great actor as it was the first time he has witnessed such.
The following review is an excerpt of my movie review of Jesus of Nazareth as featured in Amazon.com:
No doubt about it, this for me is the greatest film on the life and story of Jesus Christ. While the Passion of The Christ centers on the actual suffering and was graphically vivid for the excruciating pain our sins have inflicted on Jesus, the movie Jesus Of Nazareth focuses more on his teachings and the impact of His earthly presence among those who have come into actual contact with Jesus.
This timeless masterpiece is a creatively brilliant humanist portrayal of the divine virtues of Faith, Hope, Love and Humility as Jesus teaches us to emulate.
In various scenes within the movie, Jesus emphasizes the fact that "All who were fortunate enough to see what others dreamed to see and to hear what others longed to hear" refer to the fortunate crowd who have actually witnessed the teachings of Jesus in the flesh as compared to those who only read in the Holy Scriptures about the coming of the Messiah.
But the greatest irony of all was those who were indeed fortunate enough to witness Him in the flesh were even the ones who rejected His Holy Presence even questioning the selfless purpose of His foretold Divine Mission, were the very same religious leaders entrusted to preach the Scriptures.
Well fortunately for us all, Jesus of Nazareth is now on video and although I've probably seen this over a dozen times; it never ceases to amaze me that I always get a different perspective of spiritual enlightenment and contemplative appreciation of the same impressionable scenes every time I watch it during Lenten Season and Christmas.
Now as a video viewer, you have two choices. You can either embrace and come to love the film as strong as your faith in Jesus or you can reject it by pressing the eject button and stow the discs away in its protective jewel box.
Either way, it's worth one complete viewing which guarantees not only five star entertainment but an all star casts entertainment. This spectacular masterpiece film is always great no matter how many times one watches it; since the story is about the life of the greatest superstar of all time who ever walked the earth, none other than Jesus of Nazareth.
EDWIN L. YAP
Makati City, Philippines
2008 All Rights Reserved
