Finally I had time to go and see this film. It pretty much follows the story. As I commented to my friend that went with me – it is sort of the Readers Digest Condensed Version. The time lines are condensed to make those Christmas card like scenes with the shepherds there and the wise men there with the light from the star glowing down onto them. Now this may have been exactly as it was but of course there was no journey into the temple for the presentation and none of those prophecies spoken.
The one thing I thought was out of place was the music. I love Christmas carols but I doubt they were playing in the background as Mary gave birth. A bit more Jewish music would have been appropriate – just my own taste I suppose.
I thought that the portrayal of Mary and Joseph was fairly realistically human and I appreciated that. The angel was maybe not quite as splendid as to cause the shepherds or Mary to actually “fear”. The chaos and brutality of Herod was there and certainly the injustice of this brutal regime was displayed well. I doubt that it was any less brutal than what was portrayed. Makes one a bit more able to portray the culture that Jesus was born into.
All in all not a bad film. Could probably done just as well as an HBO movie but I’m glad I saw it on a big screen.
Now to read The Real Mary by Scot McKnight to get a more scholarly picture.
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