I had high hopes for “The Nativity Story.” While there were a few moments worthy of praise, I have to say that this film was disappointing.
I won’t waste time quibbling over historical discrepancies in this adaptation. After all, the best moments of this movie are the awkward conversations between Mary and Joseph as they undertake the arduous journey to Bethlehem We have no idea if any such moments happened, and yet there is still a ring of authenticity to these scenes.
And I don’t even want to rant about the cheesy special effects and the heavily sentimental soundtrack that only detract from the story instead of enhancing it. And the intended comic relief of the three wise men–I don’t think the story of the nativity is one that benefits from a little levity.
But the biggest flaws in this “Nativity” stems from a desire to to be so reverential in its depiction of Christ’s birth that the humanity of the story is often lost in translation. When Jesus’ birth is backlit like something out of a Broadway musical, it seems to only distance the audience from this miracle.
The realness of this story comes in moments like when Joseph is struggling with the news that his new bride is pregnant, and he then asks God for a sign that this pregnancy is of supernatural means but gets no response. In that moment the audience is brought closer to the genuine drama of this historical event.
As Hollywood continues to try to understand the success of “The Passion” and attempts to reach the faithful moviegoers of America, I think they are overlooking the obvious. Part of “The Passion’s” success was because Gibson realized that the gospel is on one level, full of mystery; and on another level, it is a story that is meant to be found offensive by some.
“The Nativity” manages to challenge no one’s thinking and offers very little in the way of spiritual mystery. So maybe it is not such a mystery after all why so many Christians failed to show up at the theater last weekend.
posted December 5, 2006 at 6:51 pm
I totally agree, the movie was disappointing. I also posted a review at The View From Her.
posted December 6, 2006 at 5:19 am
I was rather dissapointed in the movie as well. I did not have any pre-ideas of what to expect of ‘hollywood’ for this movie. I did, expect to appreciate the purpose of Jesus being born and to cherish this precious salvation all the more but those moments never arrived. It is sad to say that I found the best part of the movie to be when mary was thrown into the river off the mule or donkey (that could have really happened).
posted July 24, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I appreciate the comments about The Nativity Story. I very much appreciated New Line Cinema investing in a major release of this movie. Unfortunately, I felt that it was more a opportunity to cash in on the success of The Passion, than a true desire to produce a movie which was faithful to the Bible. The criticism that the backlit scene seemed like a Broadway play is certainly valid but there were many other even more troubling compromises which are hard to explain. Particularly disturbing was the wise men deciding not to return to Herod by consensus rather than based on a message from God. For many years I have been troubled by our interpretation that the Inn Keepers were so cold hearted that they turned an expectant Mary away. To me that just doesn’t make sense. I understand that Bethlehem was crowded at the time, but knowing the defference that expectant women receive in our society, it is hard to imagine less defference to them in the first century, especially since a monument to Rachel was within signt of Bethlehem as a constant reminder of the hazards of childbirth. Putting all of this together, I recently wrote a book titled; Flower, A Story of the Nativity. I strived to be faithful to the Bible while providing explanations as to why the murder of the innocents was not widely reported, what became of the wise men and why we don’t hear of them again, why only Matthew reports about them, an many more. My main character is named Flower, she is the inn keeper’s wife and she is a formidable woman. The inn is indeed full, but Flower is not about to turn Mary away without help and her solution turns out to be perfect and very relevant to Jesus’ mission. The book was recently published by Habitation of Chimham Publishing and is available at Amazon.com. I would appreciate your consideration of this book as an answer to the problems of the commercial version. I guarantee that you will like the story and lear a great deal about the people and the times. ISBN 9781606430811, Flower, A Story of the Nativity by Wayne E. Stahre
posted December 11, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I generally avoid mainstream movies based on the Bible but with The Passion fresh in my mind, I was looking forward to The Nativity Story and went on the opening weekend. The music and imagery were magnificent but something was missing. There was no imperative nothing that left the theater with me except for a frustration with the deviations from history and scripture. In the movie Herod is depicted as a middle-aged man in apparent good health instead of the paranoid, disease ridden old man he was. The movie settles on three wisemen and has them arrive at Jesus’ birth instead of two years later both deviations from the Bible which only serve to continue confusion, but the most objectionable part is where the movie deliberately alters the narrative as when the wise men decide on their own not to return to Herod. Try as I might, I was unable to understand why the movie did that. It would have been preferable to leave that scene out rather than do what the producers did. Because of these weaknesses, Habitation of Chimham Publishing commissioned and published Flower, A Story of the Nativity. Flower is as historically and Biblically accurate as possible with a host of memorable characters. It is told from the perspective of the innkeeper’s wife who, though the inn is indeed full, has a more suitable location for the Lamb of God to be born. Finally, Flower does not shy away from the most unpleasant part of the Christmas Story, the death of the innocents. In fact, one of the reasons Flower was written was to address that event and to show that even a tragedy like that can be part of God’s plan and make sense when we trust Him.
Merry Christmas.