Just a quick note here. I haven’t seen The Nativity Story yet. Most of the reviews I’ve read haven’t been kind to the film, most categorizing it as rather bland. I was watching Ebert and Roeper last night, though, and Roeper gave it a marginal thumbs up. He agreed that it was boring, but both Roeper and guest reviewer Peter Sagal, who gave it a thumbs down, thought that the most interesting part of the story was Joseph. What would it have been like to be Joseph, who in the beginning didn’t have a miraculous visitation and had to believe by faith? Both agreed that the movie could have been less boring if the filmmakers had focused more on Joseph.
It’s true that Joseph often doesn’t get his due. If you are looking for an excellent treatment of Joseph, give Anne Rice’s Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt a try. While the story begins later than the Nativity events, Rice does an outstanding job of capturing Joseph’s character. He is humble and modest, gentle yet manly, aware that his son is beyond him and yet also aware — and obedient to the fact — that he bears the responsibility of raising this unique boy to manhood. The story, of course, isn’t about Joseph. (It’s told in first person from Jesus’ point of view; Rice does a fabulous job.) But after reading Rice’s account, one can visualize how Jesus would have “grown in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Thank you for giving full credit to Anne Rice’s book -available in paperback and well written. My household doesn’t go to movies in theaters (too expensive!) but will probably rent the dvd of The Nativity. It is great to see the upsurge in media about the only story truly worth telling! By the way – I liked the relationship between James and Christ in the Anne Rice book – interesting dynamic and certainly something fully human.
Comment by Linda Sue — December 6, 2006 @ 9:43 am |