May 6th, 2008
Jesus of the day: "Einzug nach Jerusalem"
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Today I watched the first volume of Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth". It's a TV mini series that premiered in Italy and the USA early 1977 which happens to be the year of my birth.
It's starring Anthony Quinn, Claudia Cardinale and Peter Ustinov among others. The first volume in my DVD edition lasts 82 seconds and covers the time from the marriage of Joseph and Mary until before the beheading of John the Baptist.
With Sir Peter Ustinov playing Herod the Great, the movie gains some rather comedic momentum that stops with Herod ordering the massacre of the innocent. I found this movie to be ok until Jesus appears. He is blonde and has steel blue eyes. A bit strange with Joseph and Mary having dark brown eyes and dark brown hair.
It's even stranger when you see that in one of the deleted scenes the kid has brown eyes, too. I suspect they have edited the blue eyes in during post production. I haven't seen the other volumes so I suspect that the actor playing Jesus as a grown man has blue eyes as well.
Now, I'm usually one to cry (or nearly cry) in movies and I have to admit that there was one scene in Franco Zeffirelli's movie version of the birth of Jesus that nearly made me cry. It's the scene when the three kings arrive at the stable and are talking to Mary. These are just three very nice and kind personalities. I was moved in a spiritual way but in a personal kind of way. It's hard to explain, really.
Info on the movie at IMDB.
Find out more about this Jesus, click here.
TOMMI BREM © 2008