Barabbas

I was hoping this movie would be better than it is. Even if you don't know the book or the 1962 film version, this movie still has to be disappointing.

It is very loosely based on Pär Lagerkvist novella, which tells the story of Barabbas, the bandit who was chosen over Jesus Christ by the people of Jerusalem when given the choice of releasing one prisoner during Passover.

Pär Lagerkvist novel is a moving and thoughtful work. The 1962 Dino De Laurentiis production, although it added a great deal of action to the story, caught the tone of the novel, emerging as a moody, almost surreal epic.

Unlike the book and De Laurentiis' movie, this made for television version starts before the crucifixion. We quickly learn that Barabbas (Billy Zane) is a real tearaway. He either hangs out at a brothel in town or with his gang in the hills. If they'd packed six-guns back then, he'd have shot up the place. Although the Zealots are involved in guerrilla warfare against the Romans, Barabbas is more interested in holding up the odd caravan or two.

There are a number of lacklustre sword fights with the Romans - the production seems a little light on extras - and Barabbas and his crew cook up a scam to rob the promoter of a local gladiatorial show. This sequence, more than any other, undermines the film. Seemingly inspired by the "Spartacus" TV series, it's unbelievable and is reminiscent of the ridiculous action that used to turn up in the old Italian sword and sandal movies of the 50's and 60's.

Eventually Barabbas is caught. Condemned to death then spared while Christ is crucified, Barabbas starts to question why he escaped death, and meets Christians whose faith seems indestructible. Although this crisis of conscience could have given the film a little depth especially after he learns of Christ's resurrection, the script goes off on another flight of fancy, as Barabbas becomes Barabbas PI.

After dressing up in Roman uniform he interrogates the soldiers who were on guard at the tomb of Jesus. Arriving in Rome after a side trip as a slave in a copper mine, Barabbas is sent undercover by Pontius Pilot to find his niece who has become a Christian, knowing that the sect is about to be blamed for burning Rome. However Barabbas inadvertently betrays them. He lands in prison awaiting execution. The last few scenes have the gravitas lacking in the rest of the film as Barabbas sacrifices himself and is then crucified.

Filmed in Tunisia, the scenery looks authentic enough although the film lacks scope and size. But it's the uneven script that sinks it, with much borrowed from other films - not all good ones. A pity really, because Billy Zane actually made a pretty good Barabbas.

Television version about the famous novel by Par Lagerkvist , Nobel Prize in Literature , about the known character was spared of the cruxification of Jesus . Barabbas : Billy Zane is juzged and condemned and subsequently freed by Pontius Pilate : Filippo Nigro , while his wife Claudia : Anna Valle, requests for Christo : Marco Foshi . Along the way , Barabbas is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life, and falls for a good girl : Cristiana Capotondi , combats on arena against sadistic gladiators, upheavals versus Romans and anything else . What happened to the man of violence in whose place Christ was crucified!. The man of violence in whose place Christ died !. The picture that begins the other big ones leave off !.

Standard gory religious spectacle follows the life of the Zelote Barabbas whom Pilate freed when Jesus was condemned to die . Production enough but short in credibility , being shot on location in Tunisia . Billy Zane plays the legendary thief whose physical and spiritual journey starts at the Crucifixion and goes on in the Roman arena with a period in the deep mines in between , ending in a personal sacrifice . Acceptable Italian cast as Anna Valle , Hristo Shopov , Paolo Seganti, Filippo Nigro , Lorenzo Balducci, Marco Foshi , all of them attempt to move this epic along , but fails , though with a good deal to recommend . In the movie appears several Biblical characters as Pontius Pilate and his wife Claudia , Virgin Maria , Mary of Bethany, Lazzaro, St Peter , St Marco, and , of course, Jesus Christ .

This is an inferior version to classic 1961 , one of the most stylish and successful epics of the Sixties directed by Richard Fleischer with Anthony Quinn, Silvano Mangano , Jack Palance , Vittorio Gassman and Ernest Borgnine . This 2012 recent retelling was professionally directed by Roger Young , though with no much originality.

it is his film. and that is the virtue and the sin of movie. because Billy Zane, far to be Anthony Quinn, does a decent job looking to explore his characters nuances. but the script and many actors are not the most inspired choices. sure, it is a nice adaptation of a great novel. a religious film who has not the ambition to be great. a picture of a time, a way and a discovery . the history of a man's change. few beautiful scenes, the landscapes and the desire to suggest more than present are the good points. but maybe not enough for define Barabbas more than a TV exercise to remind a book. because, after its end, Billy Zane seems not be only the lead actor but the only actor. because the realism used in few scenes not covers the absence of convincing dialogues.so, an adaptation of Barabbas. not the best.

It didnt feel as if there was enough story to keep the film going , I found myself fast forwarding bits towards the end.

The film never gains any depth, momentum, coherence or credibility. It's a mess from beginning to end. Ridiculous characters, character behaviour and historical scenarios, and it appears it was mostly filmed in stone quarries in Tunisia.

At times it's a like a bad parody of Life Of Brian! Simply awful film in every department, give it a miss unless you have masochistic tendencies.