Jesus of Nazareth (film)
| Jesus of Nazareth | |
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Jesus of Nazareth VHS artwork
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| Written by |
Anthony Burgess Suso Cecchi d'Amico Franco Zeffirelli |
| Directed by | Franco Zeffirelli |
| Starring | Robert Powell |
| Theme music composer | Maurice Jarre |
| Country of origin | Italy United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Lew Grade Vincenzo Labella |
| Cinematography |
Armando Nannuzzi David Watkin |
| Editor(s) | Reginald Mills |
| Running time | Original: 382 minutes Edited version: 270 minutes DVD edition: 374 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
ITC Entertainment RAI |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Rai 1 (Italy) ITV (UK) |
| Original release | 27 March – 24 April 1977 |
Jesus of Nazareth (Italian: Gesù di Nazareth) is a 1977 British-Italian television miniseries directed by Franco Zeffirelli and co-written by Zeffirelli, Anthony Burgess, and Suso Cecchi d'Amico which dramatises the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. It stars Robert Powell as Jesus. The miniseries features an all-star cast of famous American and European actors, including seven Academy Award winners: Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer (subsequent winner), Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, and Peter Ustinov.
Extra-biblical traditions were used in the writing of the screenplay and some characters (such as Zerah) and situations were invented for the film for brevity or dramatic purposes. Notably, Jesus of Nazareth depicts Judas Iscariot as a well-intentioned man initially, but later as a dupe of Zerah who betrays Jesus largely as a result of Zerah's false platitudes and pretexts. However, in accordance with the Gospels, the film depicts Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as sympathetic members of the Sanhedrin. Many of the miracles of Jesus, such as the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the transfiguration, and the calming of the storm are not depicted, although Jesus healing the blind man and the crippled woman on Sabbath, the feeding of the multitude, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead are presented here.
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