The Nativity Story
| The Nativity Story | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Catherine Hardwicke |
| Produced by | Toby Emmerich Marty Bowen Wyck Godfrey Cale Boyter Catherine Hardwicke Mike Rich Tim Van Rellim |
| Written by | Mike Rich |
| Starring | Keisha Castle-Hughes Shohreh Aghdashloo Oscar Isaac Stanley Townsend Ciarán Hinds Shaun Toub |
| Music by | Mychael Danna |
| Cinematography | Elliot Davis |
| Editing by | Robert K. Lambert Stuart Levy |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000,000 |
| Box office | $46,432,364 |
The Nativity Story is a 2006 drama film based on the nativity of Jesus starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Shohreh Aghdashloo. 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 Vatican City.
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Plot [edit]
The plot begins with the portrayal of the Massacre of the Innocents. The remainder of the movie portrays the annunciation (conception) and nativity (birth) of Jesus Christ to explain why King Herod (Ciarán Hinds) ordered the murder.
Teenage Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes), betrothed to marry Joseph of Judea (Oscar Isaac), is spoken to by God and told that she is to deliver His child and call him Jesus. Mary then goes to stay with her cousin Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo) for the harvest, when she witnesses the birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth, who is past child bearing age, and her husband Zachariah (Stanley Townsend). Mary returns from the visit pregnant, to the shock of Joseph and her parents. Mary is accused of fornication, for which, if she is found guilty, she could be stoned to death in a public execution. At first Joseph does not believe Mary's explanation that she was visited by an angel, and that she has not broken her vow of chastity. He resolves to quietly divorce her, but before he acts on this plan, he is visited by the very same angel. Joseph then believes Mary, and promises to stay by her side.
Meanwhile, Caesar Augustus has demanded that every man and his family must return to his place of birth for the census. For Joseph, as a direct descendant of King David, this involves a 110-kilometer (68 mi) trip across rocky terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the place of his birth. Such a trip (with Mary on a donkey also carrying supplies, and given the terrain) would likely have taken several weeks. When they reach Bethlehem, Mary goes into labor. Joseph frantically seeks a place for the two to stay, but there is no room in any inn or home (thanks in part to the census). At the last minute, an innkeeper offers his stable for shelter.
While Mary's story is being told, a concurrent plot line features the travels of the three Magi, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, who had previously discovered that three planets will align to form a great star. This Star of Bethlehem appears before the Magi, after a visit by the angel, Gabriel. The Magi eventually visit Herod and tell him that a King of the Jews has been born. Herod considers himself to be King of the Jews; thus, he asks them to journey to the East and pay a visit to the newborn Jesus, and report the location back to Herod under the pretense that he, too, would like to worship him. Unbeknown to Mary and Joseph, the Magi show up at the stable in which the family is staying, and present the baby with the well-known gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
As instructed by the angel, the Magi do not return to Herod, but return to their origin via a different route. King Herod realizes that the wise men have defied him, and in retribution demands the murder of every boy in Bethlehem up to the age of two. Joseph is warned in a dream of the danger and flees with Mary and the child to Egypt.
Cast [edit]
- Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Elizabeth
- Oscar Isaac as Joseph
- Stanley Townsend as Zechariah
- Ciarán Hinds as King Herod
- Alessandro Giuggioli as Prince Antipas
- Hiam Abbass as Anna
- Shaun Toub as Joachim
- Alexander Siddig as The Gabriel
Reception [edit]
Box office [edit]
The Nativity Story opened to a modest first weekend at the domestic box office by grossing $7.8 million,[1] with a 39% increase over the extended Christmas weekend.[2] After its initial run, the film closed out with about $37.6 million in domestic gross and $8.8 million in foreign gross, resulting in a worldwide total of almost $46.4 million on a reported $35 million budget.[3]
Critical response [edit]
The movie received mixed reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 38% of 128 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.3 out of 10.[4] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 52 based on 28 reviews.[5]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a positive review saying, "At its best, The Nativity Story shares with Hail Mary an interest in finding a kernel of realism in the old story of a pregnant teenager in hard times. Buried in the pageantry, in other words, is an interesting movie."[6] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post concluded a positive review of the film stating, "The most intriguing thing about The Nativity Story transpires during the couple's extraordinary personal journey, advancing a radical idea in an otherwise long slog of a cinematic Sunday school lesson: that Jesus became who He was not only because He was the son of God, but because He was the son of a good man."[7]
Conversely, many critics felt that the film did not take the story to new cinematic heights. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly noted, "The Nativity Story is a film of tame picture-book sincerity, but that's not the same thing as devotion. The movie is too tepid to feel, or see, the light."[8] Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times said, "This is not a chance to 'experience the most timeless of stories as you've never seen it before' but just the opposite: an opportunity, for those who want it, to encounter this story exactly the way it's almost always been told."[9]
Controversies [edit]
A discussion arose during filming when Keisha Castle-Hughes became pregnant out of wedlock.[10]
Music [edit]
Mychael Danna's score of the film was released as an album on December 5, 2006. The album was nominated for a Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards.[11]
An album of songs inspired by the film was also released under the title The Nativity Story: Sacred Songs. It featured music by artists like Point of Grace, Amy Grant, Jaci Velasquez, and others.[12]
References [edit]
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for December 1-3, 2006". IMDB. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "The Nativity Story (2006) – Weekend Box Office Results". IMDB. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "The Nativity Story (2006)". IMDB. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "The Nativity Story – Rotten Tomatoes". Flixster. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "The Nativity Story". CBS Interactive. Metacritic. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Scott, A. O. (1 December 2006). "The Virgin Mary as a Teenager With Worries". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Hornaday, Ann (1 December 2006). "Chapter and Verse". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (29 November 2006). "The Nativity Story (2006)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (1 December 2012). "'The Nativity Story': A "Story" told with too much naiveté.". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "Introducing Felicity-Amore Hull — Keisha speaks about her labor, delivery, and new little girl". Time Inc. People. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Nominations Announced for 39th GMA Dove Awards on CBN.com (February 14, 2008)
- ^ Nativity Story: Sacred Songs on Amazon
External links [edit]
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