Il était une fois Jésus

Wow! This movie has such stunning visuals. The first time I saw an ad for it on TV, I could not tell that they were clay figures. They really looked lifelike. Not only this, but I thought this movie was really a lot better than most of the live action "Jesus" movies I've seen. Its dialogue was a lot more down to earth and probably closer to the way He would have spoken. Even though I was annoyed by the switching back and forth between drawn animation and claymation at first, it grew on me, and I think it had a good effect. Even though the voice actors were too dramatic at times, they really delivered a great performance overall. In short, this movie was a great ending to my Easter.

You remember all those Rankin-Bass holiday Specials from the 60s and 70s, Rudolph and Frosty and Easter things? Well, this is a throwback to them-but with a big budget, excellent voicers(Ray Fiennes, Richard E Grant, Julie Christie, Ian Holm, etc.), terrific animation, great heart.

I liked most of all the straightforward, reverent way in which they portrayed Christ, sure it's from the Gospels without much(if any) contemporary shading-but that is really what the material deserves, in my thinking. If you are going to do the Easter story, and his parables, show the 12 apostles and etc-then this is the way to go about it. I enjoyed the mix of stop motion and toon animation, esp in the parables. There was an interesting mixture of styles too-some looked folky, some looked outta Marvel Comix(whenever Judas saw Christ as some revolutionary figure, for example), some more cutting edge.

It didn't have the walking on water or Sermon on the Mount scenes, but did include Lazarus, a flashback to the nativity, healings and etc. I think they did the gospels proud here,and have done a very good job of it. This deserves to become a classic.

***1/2 outta ****----very good.

The first temptation is to define it as a clever work. From voices to the fair remind of the virtues of clay, from the loyalty to gospels ( yes, indeed, few episodes are missing ) to the splendid solutions for intense scenes.

A film for kids, at the first sight, but, in essence, more for conquest of early fascinations forms for adults.

Intense, graceful, gentle storytelling, it is, like what you expect from an adaptation of the life, teachings and sacrifice of The Savior, a remind, food for faith, rediscover of fundamental events defining Christian identity.

And it works more than well. So, for many reasons, delightful.

This is a great production which is far superior to any of the 'epic' real life re-tellings of the life of Jesus. If you look at the list of theological advisors in the credits at the end of the film you will see part of the reason why - rather than a dramatic Hollywood interpretation of the story, this work is part based on the thoughts of people who have spent a lifetime reflecting on what Jesus meant. That means rather more depth than we get with, for example, John Wayne as a centurion in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Plus the puppets and animation mean that the audience (or at least myself) aren't distracted by the sets and the actors. It's real, but has an other worldly edge that makes it different. Very strongly recommended.

A Surprisingly useful video. As a teacher of Religious Education this movie was always going to be useful to me, but as a synopsis of the New Testament based largely upon the Gospel of Luke, this video offers an uncanny degree of insight. The creators have bothered to research particulars and peculiarities of life at the time of Jesus, and although there are particular details missing that disappoint me (e.g. the absence of the Dove at the Baptism narrative), individual cut-scenes from this movie make excellent alternatives to trying to get pupils to struggle through texts from the New Testament in class.

The frequent transitions between clay and cartoon animation as a theatrical technique needs explanation before use, especially if only watching brief clips, but these do not detract from the pupils own ability to empathise with characters and evaluate stories based on its presentation.

As an overall synopsis various pericopes are omitted, but this can easily be forgiven a movie of a commercial length, and suitable for pupils to watch in the course of an afternoon.

I personally, as a passionate Christian and student of New Testament Theology, find it a moving and engaging presentation, and it is among the DVD's that I'll stick on on a lazy Sunday afternoon: it's fine for the kids to watch (although obviously they don't get much of its meaning), and I'll enjoy it, too.