The Nativity Story

October 31, 2007

The Nativity Story, previously titled Nativity, is a 2006 film starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, the Oscar-nominated actress of Whale Rider and Shohreh Aghdashloo, the Oscar-nominated supporting actress of House of Sand and Fog. Filming began on May 1, 2006 in Matera, Italy and in Morocco. New Line Cinema released it on December 1, 2006 in the United States and one week later on December 8 in the European Union. The film made history as being the first film ever to stage its world premiere in the Vatican City.

Plot summary

The film follows the life of the Virgin Mary and Joseph from the time of the Annunciation in Nazareth to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Thus the film shows, among other things, the Visitation (Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, who at an advanced age is pregnant with John the Baptist), and the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the journey of the Magi, the Star of Bethlehem, and the vengeful rage of King Herod.

Biblical accuracy

Mike Rich, screenwriter of The Rookie and The Nativity Story, drew heavily from the Christian Gospels. A number of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish theologians were also consulted.

Nevertheless, several differences from Scripture can be observed in the film.

• The angel Gabriel is described in the Gospel of Luke as "standing on the right side of the altar of incense." In the film, it is mostly a whispering voice and changes in the smoke from the incense.
• It is held that Mary delivered the Magnificat at her meeting with Elizabeth. In the film, she delivers it voiced-over as a sort of epilogue.
• According to the Gospels, the angel that announced the birth of the Christ child to the shepherds was joined by a heavenly host praising God. In the film, Gabriel makes the announcement and disappears.
• In the film, the Magi visit the nativity scene itself, on the night Jesus was born. According the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men visited when he was a [one-year old] toddler as surmised from Matt. 2:16 (KJV) "Then Herod,… slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,… from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men." Herod wanted to make sure he killed the rival King who had been born not a few days, but many months before. In the film, this slaughter takes place on the night Jesus was born rather than one to two years later as recorded in the Gospels.
• The Gospel of Luke records that Joseph and Mary named Jesus eight days after his birth and presented him at the temple in Jerusalem on the fortieth day after his birth, and records the meeting with Simeon and Anna. This is not shown in the film; since the wise men and Herod’s slaughter are placed on the night of Jesus’ birth the family flees to Egypt soon after the wise men leave.

Additions

The film also made additions to the story which are neither confirmed nor denied by Biblical accounts.

• In the film Mary is reluctant to marry Joseph. This, however, speaks of the cultural demands put upon Mary and Joseph. Arranged marriages were customary. Extra-biblical accounts say that Joseph was older than Mary, a distant relative in some cases, and unknown.
• The Magi are portrayed as the traditional Three Wise Men, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, of whom one is reluctant at first to join the search for the Christ child. Though the three gifts are specifically mentioned in the Biblical account, the exact number of Magi is unknown.
• The star that heralds the birth of Christ is portrayed as an alignment of two planets and a star, seen progressing all through the film. (The Bible never elaborates on the nature of the star.) It is important to note, however, that the nature of the star as presented is one of the theories that NASA has put forth in the past few years.^{[citation needed]}

Cast

• Keisha Castle-Hughes - Mary: Jesus’ mother
• Oscar Isaac - Joseph: Mary’s husband
• Shohreh Aghdashloo - Elizabeth: Mary’s elder cousin and mother of John the Baptist
• Stanley Townsend - Zechariah: Elizabeth’s husband
• Ciarán Hinds - King Herod: King of Judea
• Alessandro Giuggioli - Prince Antipas: Herod’s son
• Hiam Abbass - Anna: Mary’s mother
• Shaun Toub - Joachim: Mary’s father
• Nadim Sawalha - Melchior: one of the magi
• Eriq Ebouaney - Balthasar: one of the magi
• Stefan Kalipha - Gaspar: one of the magi
• Alexander Siddig - Angel Gabriel
• Farida Ouchani - Ruth

Box Office

The film opened to a modest first weekend box office of 8 million USD, but its weekend draw over the extended Christmas weekend increased by 39%.

The movie closed out with just under 40 million USD domestically. Worldwide, it grossed approximately $44.3 million USD, which does not make a profit when the box office cut is deducted (the studio typically receives half the box office gross).

External links

• TheNativityStory.com - official site
• An In-Depth Look at the Set and production from Christianity Today
• The Making of the Movie by Rose Pacatte F.S.P. from St. Anthony Messenger
• Script Review. IGN FilmForce. Retrieved on 2006-05-04.
• The Nativity Story at the Internet Movie Database
• The Nativity Story Christian Review Grace-Centered Magazine
• "The Nativity Story: A great Christmas movie!" by Valeriano Avila

• Besarnya Penghargaan (0)

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