Maria di Nazaret

The temptation to be very critic about it or to appreciate it very much are the basic traits. Few scenes are more than beautiful. The rhytm is too alert and it represents only a sketch. Paz Vega offers a splendid performance and the short portrait of Pilat of Pont , well acted by Remo Girone is a charming surprise .

Yes, it is a personal perspective about life of the Savior , with few serious licences.

No doubts, the clothes, rooms, atmosphere of first century in the Middle East are just seductive.

And the smile of Alissa Jung in the role of Mother of God or the clothes and jewels of Antonia Liskova as Irodiada are fundamental good points, like the powerful references to religious paintings.

It is a beautiful film. In fact, this is the only matters thing because it has the gift to offer a voice among so many adaptations of the life of Jesus. The perspective of Mother of God about His Son activity, sufferance and death, resurrection and words is not new and the temptation to compare with the work of Pernilla August is not strange.

But it gives more than a formalistic fresco. And this makes it more than interesting.

So, a voice, not bad at whole.

Those who have read about the story/history of the Virgin Mary know that her family's story is a remarkable one. Mary of Nazareth simply tells the story of Jesus Christ's birth to death all over again -- which of course anyone who wants to see that should watch the famous Zeffirelli version, where the actors, costumes and sets are more authentic. The leading actress seems rather fake in many instances.

The saving grace of the film is St. Joseph, who is relatively well portrayed as the humble and loving husband and father. (No spoilers, but this is literally the best part of the film.)

The film should have focused much more on the story of the title character... through her remarkable death, which does not happen at all. A very disappointing film.

I believe that much effort has been put into this rendition, but there are scenes with Herod's brood and entourage that are distracting and seem to be purely imagined rather than based on reliable sources. I think that extra-biblical sources were consulted, which is certainly ok but I sometimes had trouble distinguishing what came from a reliable source and what was made up.

The best character depiction, in my opinion, is that of Joseph. The least credible depiction, to me, is Jesus. While most everyone else seems to "fit" the region, Jesus looks purely "Anglo" or Germanic--anything but Middle-Eastern. Worse, as a baby he is somewhat dark; as a child he is much lighter; as an an adult, quite Aryan. I was thrown off by this casting.

A wonderful telling of one of the most famous stories in history, the life of Christ, even though interestingly, there is a twist - the story is portrayed from the perspective of Mary, Christ's mother even to the point where a fragment of Mary's childhood is shown; the fact were she narrowly escapes danger sort of tells that the battle of Christ's work on Earth was fought from even when Mary was a little girl. All in all despite the suggestive scenes most of which indicate the element of truth in the story, this story delivers a message, and many of these suggestive scenes are dwarfed by the numerous touching scenes that deliver the message in this film. It's one of those movie where parental guidance is advised for younger viewers, but it is a MUST WATCH.

Wonderful movie! For our family, the author and movie director employed their gifts and talents from the Holy Gospels to create another telling of the "Good News". On a sad note, did anyone notice the beginning of the movie, the husband had to approve the stoning of his unfaithful wife? That's something to ponder. I always wondered why Joseph wanted to break off the marriage proposal in secret. Perhaps to save Mary's life? The staged scenes of the second temple and homes made the movie realistic. All of the actors and actress preformed excellent. Christmas 2013 is just days away. We wish to thank the entire production organization and special gratitude to Netflix for offering us this selection!