Sunday, April 9, 2017

Easter Theatre: Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

With Easter a week away, I thought we'd revisit one of the classic miniseries of the 70's.

Jesus of Nazareth spanned over 6 hours in all, spread out over a few nights on NBC. Director Franco Zeffarelli brought the Gospels to life. His interpretation was epic in its scope, with an all-star cast to match in support of a relative unknown, Robert Powell, cast in the title role. I believe it was released in theatres overseas, but not so sure about an American theatrical release.

As Jesus of Nazareth marks its 40th anniversary this year, let's take a close look at a trailer:



Compare this, if you will, to Mark Burnett & Roma Downey's recent miniseries, The Bible, which spun off the movie, "Son of God". The Burnetts took creative liberties with the source material, which made the movie fall a bit flat. I'd sooner have Jesus of Nazareth on DVD, thank you.

Rating: A.

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