Maria di Nazaret

We just saw Mary of Nazareth last evening and it was wonderful! Our church rented the screen for the evening. The experienced was enhanced by our praying the Rosary as an audience prior to the movie beginning. What a shame that a movie like this is not readily available to the public. The portrayal of Mary was done so beautifully - her purity and innocence just shone through! The role of Joseph was realistic and heartfelt. I loved the respect that St. Joseph was shone in this portrayal as protector of his precious family. We loved the portrayal of Mary's relationship with Jesus which is very emotional at times. I have seen so many biblical movies but this one was the most tender, gentle and beautiful witness of our Mother and her Son. I would see this movie again in a heartbeat and would strongly recommend it to all believers.

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.

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!

Not the actual story, but a cleaned-up version removing most of the things a modern audience would not wish to know about.

Quite nicely done.