The Nativity Story

I took a break this week, fleeing to Bay Fair Cinemas to seek multi-medi-c inspiration in watching the recently recent movie "The Nativity Story." It was a nice surprise. The filmmakers tell the story in a most understated and gentle way, as opposed to the over-the-top-gratitutiousness that marked The Passion of Christ (at least for me). What most struck me in the film was the fantastically realistic and accurate way in which it portrayed the desperation and waiting of the people during the reign of Herod under the Roman Empire in ancient Palestine. The people were poor, oppressed by their own collaborating King, forced to pay taxes they couldn't afford in order to build fortresses for their King. Throughout the film there are depictions - both visible and implied - of what happened to those that questioned Herod's authority, spoke out to express their hope and need for a Messiah King, and the reality that all power resided in the hands of the Empire and those that served it. In the film the actors are dirty, brown skinned (check out a recent site I found and theo-design work being done by friend Steve Baretto), live in poverty, and live in great fear of the Roman soldiers, King Herod and even each other.

I found the repeating line that the baby would be "the king of kings for the lowest of men to the highest of kings" to be an appropriate catch-phrase for articulating the theological and political undertones of the whole Nativity story found in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. I loved the portrayal of the shepherds - the ultimate overlooked social outcasts who end up being the first to hear of the good news and to come and greet this anointed child.

The movie is great for showing the harsh reality of daily life, the historical context for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and giving a glimpse of the desperate hope and ardent longing for the Messiah to come and deliver the people. There is also a great depiction of the young-age and all the consequential character development of Mary who was an early teenager as opposed to a middle-aged-botticelli-looking-madonna.

Check out the movie trailer at the official movie site http://www.thenativitystory.com/