Movie Review By Mark Roberts @http://www.markdroberts.com/A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the soon-to-be-released film, The Nativity Story. I explained that I had seen the script, and was excited about the possibilities afforded by this film. Well, now I've seen an advance screening, and my excitement has been multiplied considerably.
I'll write a more reflective review of the film shortly before its release on Friday, December 1. Today I want to note a few salient points that make The Nativity Story such a fine movie.
1. The movie is faithful to the biblical accounts of Jesus's birth.
The Nativity Story takes the gospel accounts at face value. It doesn't, for example, engage in all sorts of speculation about how Mary came to be pregnant, the sort of thing you find in secular scholarship and anti-Christian websites. Rather, in The Nativity Story, as in the gospels, Mary becomes pregnant by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit. This will bother folks who want to debunk the Christian story, but it will please others, and not only Christians, but also non-Christians who don't need to turn every movie into an axe to grind.
2. The movie provides a creative, compelling, and historically-sensible picture of life suggested by but not specifically mentioned in Scripture.For example, those who wrote the film did their homework with respect to cultural customs and historical realities in Galilee during the time in which Jesus was born. They rightly portray the feeling of what it was like for Jewish peasants to live under the twin terrors of Rome and King Herod the Great. The Nativity Story even provides the "back-story" of the Magi. No doubt some critics will object to the traditional portrayal of three Wise Men from the East. The film even uses the names of these men as they have been passed down in Christian tradition, though there's no biblical record of their names or even really who they were.
If you're looking to The Nativity Story to provide the definitive documentary on the birth of Jesus, then you'll be disappointed. But if you're looking for an excellent bit of creative filmmaking that affirms but goes beyond the biblical material, then you'll be quite pleased. Is this movie exactly what I would make if I had the chance? I doubt it. Is it better than what I would make? No doubt about it. Is it well worth seeing? You bet.
3. The movie doesn't offer up too much religious schmaltz.
I was worried, for example, about how this film might portray the angels. I mean, I love The Glory of Christmas at the Crystal Cathedral, but I was hoping that The Nativity Story would avoid having beautiful blond female angels fly around in the sky. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you how the angelic presence is portrayed in the film. But I will say that I found it to be within the scope of reasonable art, rather like some of the classic paintings of the Annunciation to Mary.
4. The Nativity Story dramatizes aspects of the Christmas story that I had not before considered.
I've studied the birth accounts of Jesus for over thirty years. I've taught on them and preached on them. But certain aspects of the story only now have become real to me. For example, it never dawned on me to think of what Mary must have experienced in her own family as she told the "tall tale" of being miraculously impregnated. I sensed in The Nativity Story the vulnerability of Mary and Joseph in a new way.
5. The Nativity Story does not turn its major characters into glow-in-the dark, other-worldly superman and superwoman.
When you're dealing with Mary and Joseph, your walking on holy ground, and not only holy ground, but holy ground about which many people have strong feelings. I wondered how The Nativity Story would portray these two characters. Overly pietistic? Plastic and unbelievable? Iconoclastic? Or . . . ? What I found was a pleasant surprise. Mary seemed like a real, fifteen-year-old faithful Jewish girl, but not at first a saint in the making. Nothing in the film demeans Mary, mind you. But she isn't envisioned as spending hours in prayer, either. Joseph was portrayed as even more believable, as someone I could relate to in a powerful way. In one of my favorite scenes, he and Mary are talking quietly about their experience of the angel. Joseph said the angel told him not to be afraid. "Are you afraid?" Mary asks. "Yes," he admits. "Me too," Mary agrees. This, it seems to me, captures what was surely the experience of the real Mary and Joseph, even as they faithfully followed the angel's lead and trusted God in an extraordinary way.
6. The Nativity Story includes some stunning scenery and wonderful music.
The movie was filmed on location in Italy and Morocco. In fact, the filmmakers used the ancient city of Matera in Italy, the same location Mel Gibson used for The Passion of the Christ. I'm going to buy the soundtrack by Mychael Danna as soon as it's released (December 5, apparently).
My Recommendations
First of all, be sure to see this movie! It's well worth the price of admission, especially in the season leading up to Christmas.
Moreover, if at all possible, see the film on its opening weekend (December 1-3). Why then? Because opening weekend numbers are what Hollywood execs scrutinize when they consider what sort of movies to make. On the heels of The Passion of the Christ and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a strong opening for The Nativity Story would surely lead to the making of other films that reflect faithful Christian values and ideas. (My personal hope is that the opening weekend of The Nativity Story will surpass the opening weekend of Borat by a longshot!)
But, second, don't only see the film, get others to see it! If you're a pastor, let your church know about this movie. If you're a youth leader, tell your kids. If you're a blogger, blog about it. Invite your friends and neighbors.
A note of caution for parents: This film contains a few intense scenes (Roman soldiers, the killing of babies in Bethlehem, and two birth scenese). These are filmed tastefully, without blood. The PG (not PG-13) rating is appropriate. But I don't think I'd bring children under 7 to the film, especially if they're apt to be scared.
If you're inviting folk who aren't Christian, surely let them know that The Nativity Story is a faithful retelling of the Christmas story. No need to pretend. But even non-believers will enjoy this movie, especially when the Christmas season is upon us. There is nothing "preachy" about this film, nothing that would offend a non-believer.
In two weeks The Nativity Story will be opening in over 3,000 theatres around the country (and 8,000 worldwide). This gives you time to make plans to see it, and to tell lots of folks to join you. Please help me in getting out the word!
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