Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries)

Infobox Television Film
name = Jesus of Nazareth


image_size =
caption = Robert Powell as Jesus of Nazareth
format = Biographical film
director = Franco Zeffirelli
producer = Vincenzo Labella
writer = Anthony Burgess
Suso Cecchi d'Amico
Franco Zeffirelli
narrator =
starring = Robert Powell
Anne Bancroft
Ernest Borgnine
music = Maurice Jarre
cinematography = Armando Nannuzzi
David Watkin
editing = Reginald Mills
distributor = ITC Entertainment
released = April 3, 1977
runtime = 371 (UK: 2x 180mins)
country = Italy / U.K.
language = Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
English
budget = Estimates vary between $12 million to $18 million
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 26102
imdb_id = 0075520

"Jesus of Nazareth" is a six-hour long Anglo-Italian television miniseries of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus based on the accounts given in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The movie was produced by Lew Grade through his ITC Entertainment company, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and written by Zeffirelli, Anthony Burgess and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, after Zeffirelli was approached by Pope Paul VI to make a film about Christ.

"Jesus of Nazareth" premiered in 1977 on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday on the British ITV network courtesy of ITC's parent company ATV and continues to be broadcast every Easter and Christmas on the History Channel.

For its fifth airing on US television at Easter 1987, TV Guide called it "the best miniseries of all time" and "unparalleled television.".

Newsweek writer Harry F. Waters remarked that:

Rev. Patrick Sullivan of the U.S. Catholic Conference ("New Look at Jesus," April 4, 1977) was quoted as saying:

A review in Variety read:

The miniseries received two Emmy nominations, neither of which it won. The big winner that year was the miniseries "Holocaust".

Cast

Starring
*Robert Powell as JesusGuest Stars
*Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene
*Ernest Borgnine as the Roman centurion
*Claudia Cardinale as the Adulteress
*Valentina Cortese as Herodias
*James Farentino as Peter
*James Earl Jones as Balthazar
*Stacy Keach as Barabbas
*Tony Lo Bianco as Quintillius
*James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea
*Ian McShane as Judas Iscariot
*Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus
*Donald Pleasence as Melchior
*Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas
*Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas
*Fernando Rey as Gaspar
*Ralph Richardson as Simeon
*Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate
*Peter Ustinov as Herod the Great
*Michael York as John the Baptistand
*Olivia Hussey as Mary, the mother of JesusAlso Starring
*Cyril Cusack as Yehuda
*Ian Holm as Zerah
*Yorgo Voyagis as JosephWith
*Ian Bannen as Amos
*Marina Berti as Elizabeth
*Regina Bianchi as Saint Anne
*Maria Carta as Martha
*Renato Rascel as The Blind Man
*Oliver Tobias as JoelCo-Starring
*Norman Bowler as Saturninus
*Robert Beatty as Proculus
*John Phillips as Naso
*Ken Jones as Jotham
*Nancy Nevinson as Abigail
*Renato Terra as Abel
*Roy Holder as Enoch
*Jonathan Adams as Adam
*Lorenzo Monet as Jesus as 12yrs old
*Robert Davey as Daniel
*Oliver Smith as Saul
*George Camiller as Hosias
*Murray Salem as Simon the Zealot
*Tony Vogel as Saint Andrew
*Michael Cronin as Eliphaz
*Steve Gardner as Philip the Apostle
*Derek Godfrey as Elihu
*Renato Montalbano as Jairus
*John Duttine as John the Apostle
*Michael Haughey as Nahum
*Keith Skinner as Obsessed Boy
*Cyril Shaps as Obsessed Boy's Father
*Jonathan Muller as James, son of Zebedee
*John Tordoff as Malachi
*Bruce Lidington as Thomas
*Keith Washington as Matthew the Evangelist
*Mimmo Crao as Saint Jude Thaddeus
*John Eastham as Bartholomew
*Sergio Nicolai as James, son of Alphaeus
*Francis De Wolff as Simon the Pharisee
*Antonello Campodifiori as Ircanus
*Paul Curran as Samuel
*Tim Pearce as Rufus
*Mark Eden as Quartus
*Bruno Barnabe as Ezra
*Simon MacCorkindale as Lucius
*Forbes Collins as Jonas
*Lionel Guyett as Haggai
*Martin Benson as Pharisee
*Peter Harlowe as Valerius
*Carl Forgione as Plotinus
*Donald Sumpter as Aram
*Pino Colizzi as Jobab
*Harold Bennett as Elder
*Immad Cohen as Jesus as Toddler
*Robert Mallard as Quazra
*Andrew Manson as Zealot
*Isabel Mestres as Salome
*Christopher Reich as Circumcision-Priest

Ratings

* Argentina - 13
* Australia - G - (Cut Version) M - (Original Uncut Version)
* West Germany - 12
* Singapore - PG
* USA - Not Rated
* UK - PG

Portrayal of Jesus

Notably, Powell never blinks during eye contact with others throughout the entire film, as did H.B. Warner in 1927's "The King of Kings", and Max von Sydow in 1965's "The Greatest Story Ever Told", giving his character a somewhat unearthly and transcendental air.

See also

* "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (1972) by Franco Zeffirelli

Further reading

* "Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus: A Spiritual Diary" (1984, Harper & Row) by Franco Zeffirelli ISBN 0-06-069780-6, an account of the film from conception (and Zeffirelli's main motivation for making it - removing sole responsibility for the death of Jesus from the Jews) to final edit, and audience reactions to it
* "Man of Nazareth: A Novel" (1979) by Anthony Burgess. Full-length novel based on his screenplay for the movie but containing much additional material.
* "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977, Collins) by William Barclay ISBN 0-00-250653-X, An adaptation of the screenplay, illustrated with color photos from the film.

External links

*
* [http://www.excerptsofinri.com/jesus_of_nazareth.html webpages dedicated to the movie called "Jesus of Nazareth" by Franco Zeffirelli]
*" [http://artsandfaith.com/t100/2005/entry.php?film=40 Jesus of Nazareth] " at the [http://artsandfaith.com/top100/ Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films] list