Many reviewers complained The Nativity Story was too safe and the story too simple, but that's what makes me like it so. While not an edge-of-your-seat nail-biter, (and thankfully avoiding overt brutality during the slaughter of the innocents) the quiet, relaxed atmosphere and overall tranquil pace helped create for me a world in which people were simply living and living simply, waiting for a gift that would change their lives, but working hard and praying faithfully until that day arrived.
Released last December and now available on DVD, the movie follows the life of Mary and Joseph in the year leading up to that most wonderful of births. Director Catherine Hardwicke has crafted a film that is tender, subtle and visually stirring, succeeding in portraying the normalcy of life that was forever altered when an angel appeared to Mary. For me, when Mary asks Elizabeth why God chose her, saying, “I am nothing,” the point of the film was spoken, emphasizing the “nobody” that Mary was, along with the village from whence she came, the way God chose to enter this world, and the lesson that Jesus taught again and again. Bearing that in mind, I am further struck by the great faith that young Mary displayed when she submitted herself to God's will.
Keisha Castle-Hughes, who some might recognize from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, is mesmerizing — her plain looks, small voice, and meek demeanour are offset by passionate eyes, combining to create a character who draws you in, portraying the quiet humility yet unwavering spirit and strength that Mary surely possessed.
Castle-Hughes' performance is bolstered by Oscar Isaac who plays the honourable Joseph, Shohreh Aghdashloo as a joy-filled and faithful Elizabeth, and Ciarán Hinds whose King Herod is cold and perfectly paranoid. The trio of Magi who explain the significance of three stars that will come together and appear to align for the first time in 3,000 years on the night Jesus is born, provides comic relief — which at times seems slightly stilted, but is generally enjoyable. The one complaint is while the characters appeared authentic in their ethnicity, baby Jesus still managed to be white.
I'm not a religion scholar; nor am I a theology or history student. I can't tell you how accurate this film actually is — how the director got things right or wrong, how long it actually took to travel the 100 miles from Nazareth to Jerusalem on foot, if tween-aged Israelites would have played and laughed and goofed around with members of the opposite sex, if marriages in Nazareth happened with as little fanfare as my garbage pick-up on Tuesday mornings. But it does capture the unrest among the Israelites as they toiled under Herod's reign, the lifestyle and living conditions of the village where Jesus was born and grew up, relationship dynamics, and the hope of a people as they awaited their Saviour. The inspiring shots of the Judean hills, the crowded, bustling streets of Jerusalem, the gravel roads, stone houses and dirt floors of Nazareth, the vastness of the desert, and the mighty beauty of the temple all helped bring the story to life.
A great addition to Sunday schools, church libraries, and maybe even your personal DVD collection to be pulled out each Christmas, The Nativity Story shows us what life might have been like for Jesus' parents, and how his arrival changed their lives forever.
