Barabbas

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

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.

I'm a Roman/Judean history nut, so when this came out, I had to see it. Three hours later, I have mixed thoughts.

The Good: the plot! It has its shaky moments but overall, this is a decent script. Barabbas comes across as a cynical, self-serving man who undergoes a change of heart and finds redemption. Pilate's wife, Claudia, also has a decent role, far bigger than any other depiction of her ever made—although I can't say the end of her story made me happy! Wandering in and out of different biblical events was also fun.

The Strange: can someone explain to me why Pilate has a beard? It wasn't fashionable for Romans at the time. He's also much too short to be a believable governor, considering Barabbas is about a foot taller. Why does Ester one minute tell Barabbas fornication is a sin against God, then turns around awhile later after following Jesus around and fornicates with him? Also, even though thirty years have passed by the end (which the film doesn't tell us, and most people ignorant of the time period wouldn't know), no one gets any older except Peter… why is that? The Bad: the acting! I'm not sure if it was foreigners struggling to speak in English rather than Italian that turned in such a crop of mediocre and sometimes downright painful performances, or that they just have no talent, but almost no one in this production is memorable. Zane is better than most but still hams it up a bit; I also wonder why Hristo Shopov is wasted in a minor role. He's played Pilate twice before (in Mel Gibson's film, and in a foreign follow-up), so it's strange they wouldn't let him do it again, particularly given that he has five times the presence and "governor-ness" than "this" Pilate. Also, something is "off" in this Jesus, but I'm not sure what; it's slightly creepy in places.

The Result: is a decent film hampered by its low production values; if you can overlook that, it's enjoyable, moving, and quite often surprising in where it leads.

I only saw part of this--near the beginning, but it looked like Billy Zane was having some real fun chewing the scenery. I found that surprising considering the subject matter seems to call for a more somber treatment. (Enjoyed seeing it none the less, and Zane will be the reason I see this in its entirety at some point--I loved the long hair and the bellowing--and the quips, though they probably don't belong here.)

The production values were such that I wish I could have seen this in high def. I appreciated the inclusion of both the Jewish 'rebel' and Roman points of view, while also touching on the plight of the slaves, the impoverished and the diseased. (Though I don't know how deeply the film went on any of these matters.)

I don't know how this ended, but I hope things worked out well for young Ester and old Barabbas!

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.