The director rejected the proposal at first, but Grade finally convinced him to agree he accepted the job shortly before Christmas 1973. The role of director was offered to Franco Zeffirelli - a religious Roman Catholic who knew the Pontiff from his days as the Archbishop of Milan, when he often visited Zeffirelli's school - on the Pope's initiative, who insisted that either he would make Jesus of Nazareth 'or no one else'. Two weeks later, while dining with a RAI executive, Grade told him he intended their companies to prepare such a film. At the end of the interview, the Pope told him he hoped his next project would be about the life of Jesus. The miniseries was conceived when Lew Grade was received by Pope Paul VI, who congratulated him on the making of Moses the Lawgiver (1974), a television film starring Burt Lancaster and which was produced by Grade's ITC Entertainment and the Italian television network RAI. Sergio Nicolai as James, son of Alphaeus.Keith Washington as Matthew the Evangelist.Jonathan Muller as James, son of Zebedee.Olivia Hussey as Mary, the mother of Jesus.The film’s storyline concludes with the non-Biblical character Zerah and his colleagues gazing despairingly into the empty tomb.
The familiar Christian episodes are presented chronologically: the betrothal, and later marriage, of Mary and Joseph the Annunciation the Visitation the circumcision of John the Baptist the Nativity of Jesus the visit of the Magi the circumcision of Jesus the Census of Quirinius the flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Innocents the Finding in the Temple the Baptism of Jesus the woman caught in adultery Jesus helping Peter catch the fish the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32) a dialogue between Jesus and Barabbas (non-biblical) Matthew's dinner party the Sermon on the Mount debating with Joseph of Arimathea the curing of the blind man at the pool the Raising of Lazarus (John 11:43) the Feeding of the Five Thousand the Entry into Jerusalem Jesus and the money changers the Last Supper the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Peter denying Christ and repenting of it the judgment of Jesus by Pilate (" Ecce Homo") the Johannine Passion Narrative (John 18-19 including the Agony in the Garden) the Carrying of the Cross the Crucifixion of Christ (Laurence Olivier's Nicodemus recites the " Suffering Servant" passage as he looks helplessly on the crucified Messiah) the discovery of the empty tomb and an appearance of the Risen Christ to his Disciples. It takes a fairly naturalistic approach, de-emphasising special effects when miracles are depicted and presenting Jesus as more or less evenly divine and human. The storyline of Jesus of Nazareth is a kind of cinematic Diatessaron, or " Gospel harmony", blending the narratives of all four New Testament accounts. 5 Narrative deviations from the Gospels.It is generally well-praised, but was not received without controversy. Jesus of Nazareth premiered on the Italian channel Rai 1 on 27 March 1977 and was first aired in the United Kingdom on the ITV on 3 April 1977. 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. However, in accordance with the Gospels, the film depicts Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as sympathetic members of the Sanhedrin. 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.
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.Įxtra-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. 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.
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