Nativity Scenes Revisited - Part 4: The Nativity (2010)

In the absence of a significant Jesus film this year, the BBC version's of The Nativity remains the most recent portrayal of the events surrounding Jesus' birth. The first three half hour episodes I watched with the kids, but knowing the content was a little harsher in the final episode I watched that one alone.

It's hard to really explain to a 5 year old and a three year old why "funny Joseph" as they had been calling him suddenly got scarily angry, but it speaks volumes of Andrew Buchan's performance that as an adult I could appreciate that his reaction wasn't as extreme as might be expected in the circumstances.

The downsides were perhaps a little more obvious this time around. Whilst I still think this is one of the, if not the, best versions of the Nativity Story on film some of the things that make it good also rein it back from becoming great. Paramount in my thoughts here is the soap-operainess of the whole thing. On the plus side the characters are well rounded, and simply by making it a kind of soap opera a lot of the religious veneer is stripped away. It's unclear how special Mary and Joseph know they are. Weird things are happening to them, yet they are not being transported to another plain of reality - they remain the same people. But then at times it does just feel a little too like Eastenders. In a way that's no bad thing - Eastenders is a far better soap than most in the world as well as in this country - but there's nevertheless a tension between the side of me that likes to see religious fluff blown away, and the side that wants there to be some sense of gravity. Perhaps in the end it's just one or two moments that just take me out of things and make me feel I'm watching a soap opera, and, at the end of the day, I don't watch soap operas.

It also feels a little over long. I'd be interested to see the film cut down to one ninety minute feature. I think it would benefit from being a little leaner. Part of the problem here is that gradually drawing the three threads alive requires each to be kept alive, but that the side stories never land as well as that of Mary and Joseph. That said some of the birthing footage would be amongst the first to go were I trying to chop half an hour out of the programme.

What I do like about the final episode is the way Joseph is shown as returning to his ancestral home rather than, as is usually the case, just a random town. He still has family there, and it's there rejection of Mary, and Joseph's dislike at the way they treat her that sees the two of them stuck in a stable. Lastly the final few shots of this catch something of the otherness of this moment. Some films do it with soaring scores attempting to direct your emotions, other with lighting or dialogue. Here however, it's with quietness and humility. Suddenly it makes no sense that these Magi and these shepherds even, are on their knees worshipping a little baby. It's odd and yet there they remain rooted to the spot and aware of their own smallness in the presence of one smaller even than themselves.

Biblical Studies Carnival: Dec. 2010

Photo by Tim Parkinson, used under a Creative Commons Licence

Joseph Kelly has posted a massive Biblical Studies Carnival for December 2010. It contains a link to one key post on The Nativity, which I had missed - an article by Helen Bond who acted as historical consultant for the programme.

Review Round-up for The Nativity

The fourth and final part of the BBC's Nativity aired earlier this evening , so I thought this would be as good as time as any to link to a few reviews. I'll start with my own review at rejesus.co.uk. It's shorter and more concise than my review for this blog and as I didn't have to leave out too much detail then it seems to have benefited form being re-edited.

Generally the series seems to have been something of a hit. The broadsheets (ignoring the pay-walling Times for obvious reasons) all praised it. The Independent praised Jordan's script. "He has done a proper stand-up job on The Nativity, pulling off the considerable trick of making the miraculous sound credible". The Telegraph is also in favour particularly the "impressive performances as Mary and Joseph by Tatiana Maslany and Andrew Buchan, who wear the haunted but determined looks of humble people suddenly endowed with terrifying responsibility." Their editorial also praises the production and they have a few photos from it in their Nativity Picture Gallery. The Guardian was similarly positive:

That's what is nice about this new telling of an old story: it will resonate, and it's relevant. It's very human, too, because that's what it's about, the characters and what happens to them and between them, rather than the message. In short, it's not preachy, and that's a relief.

The paper also had a story about an objection to the programme by Rabbi Jonathan Romain. The BBC denied Romain's claim that the portrayal of Nazareth's synagogue leader was anti-Semitic citing his overall role in the story. And it's not just Romain who's objecting. According to the Daily Express, the media's go-to Christian-nutter-spokesman Stephen Green of Christian Voice is criticising the programme for using its "imagination". Whatever next! To give Green his due, he also raises a number of other objections, all of which are equally ridiculous.

Back in the real world. Doug Chaplin has been reviewing each episode straight after broadcast (see 1, 2, 3, 4). I'm really glad Doug has done this, not only because it's far more in-depth than my own reviews, but also because going through episode by episode results in a very difference approach and discussion. Overall Doug is positive about the drama but not about the history.

It's also got good marks on the IMDb: 8.6 at present. I think that's a little high personally, but I'm kind of pleased to see it doing well. It also did well in terms of ratings. According to digitalspy.co.uk the first episode was watched by "an impressive 5.21m" placing it second for the night behind only David Jason's Come Rain Come Shine's 5.78 million. This is slightly higher than the audience for 2008's The Passion which peaked at 4.9 million viewers. The Nativity has held on fairly well too. Episode 2 recorded 4.8 million.

If you've not yet had a chance to watch it, all four episodes are available from the BBC's iPlayer for another week. I'm fairly sure that this will be UK users only.

You can read my previous posts on this production here. I've had a few comments on the assumed inaccuracy of the magi and the shepherds arriving at roughly the same time. If I get time I may devote a post to this question, but for now allow me to point towards a sermon by Ben Witherington III and Mark Goodacre's podcast, both of which (indirectly) explain why this is at least a possibility.

Review: The Nativity (BBC1)

I think I’ll always remember the Christmas of 1981. My little brother had been born just a couple of weeks before and landed his first acting role, as baby Jesus in our church’s re-enactment of the first Christmas. This year has provided another similarly unforgettable moment when my daughter Nina performed in her first school nativity play.

Given how many people have taken part in a nativity play, it seems strange that professional actors so rarely get the chance. The 2006 film The Nativity Story was the first time an English language film on the subject had been cinemas since 1914. Television has proved a more popular medium with a couple of US TV movies from the 1970s and 2007’s Liverpool Nativity among them. Nevertheless, a decent, recent, historical attempt at explaining the origins of our culture’s most widely celebrated seasonal festival is long overdue.

Whilst The Nativity isn’t flawless it certainly goes a long way to addressing the imbalance. Tony Jordan’s script skilfully blends together the two differing accounts from the gospels of Matthew and Luke, weaving in scientific theory and cultural exposition with great ease without ever being ruled by them. Take for example the trouble that Mary and Joseph have finding accommodation in Bethlehem despite it being the town his family is from. It somehow manages to answer queries such as this, whilst simultaneously nodding to some of the now cherished traditions that have grown up around the text.

The biggest problem with the programme is that while Jordan’s experience in writing a soap opera gives it a realistic ordinariness, things occasionally feel a little bit twee. This is primarily the case in the opening episode where Joseph and Mary spend a little too long during their betrothal party starring gooily into one another’s eyes. That said, it certainly improves thereafter.

This may in part be due to the actors. Andrew Buchan’s turn as Joseph is overall very good, but I only bought into his character once Mary had revealed she was pregnant. From there he undergoes an emotional journey which mirrors his physical journey, drawn towards his destiny step by step, one small act of goodness at a time. In contrast Mary (Tatiana Maslany) spends most of the series trying to formulate exactly what it is that she is involved in, only for all the pieces to drop into place once Jesus is born.

If the first episode is the weakest, then the last is certainly the strongest. It’s here we see Jordan pulling together the film’s three main threads into a quite moving finale. Wisely Herod’s slaughter of the innocents is excluded which means that the story’s climax is Jesus’ birth and the arrival of the shepherds and the magi. Jordan has talked about this being a “love story” (a genre of which I must say I’m not hugely appreciative) but making this aspect of the story culminate at the same time as the more important story does underlines the latter’s importance. God’s son has come to Earth.

At its heart The Nativity is a very human take on the story. When Gabriel appears to Mary it’s very low-key. There’s no dazzling light, indeed as he appears to Mary outside, and during the night, it leaves open the slight possibilities that this might not be an angel at all or that she may only be dreaming. Joseph’s encounter is stripped down even further. Gabriel remains off-screen, so we only hear about what has happened because Joseph tells us next morning. This is, for me, is actually one of the best and most inventive parts of the series, holding very closely to the biblical text, and yet offering a very fresh interpretation of it that seems very plausible in such a sceptical age.

The human emphasis on the story is apparent in other ways. The only parts of the gospel accounts to be excluded are the announcement of John’s birth, the encounters with Simeon and Anna, and the songs of Mary and Zechariah. Then there’s the birth scene itself which breaks from certain traditions in order to deliver a fairly realistic portrayal of the child’s birth. Of all the attempts to depict the moment that Christ came into the world this is definitely the most plausible. And added into this mix are the back stories of the Magi and one of the shepherds.

Overall, I think this is probably my favourite portrayal of these events on film. Whilst it doesn’t quite match up to the best aspects of The Nativity Story, it certainly stays well above that film’s worst. The Nativity Story never quite knew what it wanted to be. This production is much more sure footed, and, as a result it’s more consistent. Jordan and director Coky Giedroyc are content to take their time over the first few episodes to build their characters, setting up very effective cliff hangers at the end of each episode in an attempt to pull the audience back the following night. Those who take the bait will find it well worth the wait.

Part 1 of The Nativity airs tonight at 7pm on BBC1, with parts 2-4 showing from Tuesday to Thursday at the same time

Trailer for BBC1's The Nativity

Mark Goodacre has the news that a trailer for BBC1's The Nativity has gone online at YouTube. The trailer is definitely going for that traditional family feel, and Jordan's soap-operaexpertise is very much to the fore in the snippets of the confrontation between Mary and Joseph. I have to say I really like what I've seen of the annunciation. The Angel Gabriel is really quite unremarkable and naturalistic, which should prevent the programme dating as others that have gone for a more supernatural angle have in the past. This even makes Pasolini's young girl look a little showy. It will be interesting to see whether that opens the door for any of the characters, not to mention the audience, to view this event sceptically.

There's also a piece on this in print edition of the Christmas Edition of The Radio Times with a brief capsule review of each episode available online.

Jim Davila has linked to an article on the programme in yesterday's The Independent. It's by Gerard Gilbert, who was actually an extra in The Jesus Film (1979), and he goes on to discuss a few of the well-known Jesus films, including this witty line on The Passion of the Christ: "At least the actors spoke in subtitled Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic, so we didn't have to listen to English being turned into a dead language, as it is in most Jesus films."

Lastly, there a small website on the film courtesy of the Church Media Network.

The Nativity: Broadcasting Dates

Mark Goodacre has the news that Red Planet's website finally has the broadcasting times and dates for the BBC's The Nativity. The four episodes will be screened on BBC1 from Monday 20th to Thursday 23rd December 2010, starting at 7pm. Each episode will be half an hour.

There doesn't seem to be anything new on the BBC's website. Even the Christmas highlights page on the Religion homepage doesn't mention it.

I did come across an article by Peter Graystone of the Church Army who saw the film at a press preview screening in October. He talks about some of the details of the programme, and is incredibly positive about it. Here's a quicjk excerpt:

It is not just moving, it is funny (very), believable (totally), sexy (yes!), tense and profoundly full of the grace of God. And the awe of God too - the writer Tony Jordan has worked a miracle.

I'm hoping to get in touch with someone regarding this film soon, but I've barely had a chance over the last fortnight to try and contact the relevant person.

More on The Nativity (BBC)

The BBC have just released their press pack for next month's The Nativity. There are still no dates for the broadcasts, although in the interview for the press pack writer Tony Jordan says it will play in prime time the week before Christmas. There are also interviews with Tatiana Maslany (Mary) and Andrew Buchan (Joseph), as well as Al Weaver who plays Thomas the Shepherd.

I've written a piece previewing this production for rejesus.co.uk and there was a brief mention of it in Monday's Daily Telegraph. Christianity.org.uk has a couple of extra photos, including one of Peter Capaldi.

Audio Interview on The Nativity

On Thursday I picked up on a post from Mark Goodacre about a soon to air programme from the BBC, The Nativity.

I got an email shortly afterwards from Raspberry Rabbit and an anonymous comment telling me towards an interview with the series' writer Tony Jordan from this year's Churches Media Conference. You can listen to the mp3 at Raspberry Rabbit's blog. Thanks to both of them for pointing me towards it.

This seems to be exactly the same forum that Nigel Stafford-Clark was interviewed at in 2007 in the run up to the BBC's The Passion. This is further evidence to support Mark's theory that this production will be very similar to that one.

News on BBC's The Nativity

Mark Goodacre has just unearthed news of a new BBC drama called The Nativity which will (presumably) be going out this Christmas. I'm a little surprised not to have heard anything about this before. Mark links to a BBC press release from April which was quickly picked up by both The Telegraph and The Guardian and, of course, the BBC's own website.

Top billing seems to be going to The Thick of it/In the Loop's Peter Capaldi who will play one of the wise men (Balthazar). Quite how much screen time Capaldi will get remains to be seen. The programme, which will be shown in four parts, will "focus on the love story between Mary and Joseph and their 'emotional turmoil' over her pregnancy".¹ I can't help but think that, come the broadcast, I might find myself hoping that the wise men will get sufficiently lost to enable Balthazar to really lose it. But in all seriousness a more restrained performance is probably what he needs right now.

Other actors include Art Malik as Nicolaus, Andrew Buchan as Joseph, Tatiana Maslany as Mary, and Vincent Regan as Herod. I've long been a fan of Malik's and thought he would be well suited to a role in a Jesus film. 2010 has obviously been his year for that: he also features in this year's Ben Hur. Buchan was good value in Cranford and I suspect he'll be a good, if a little traditional, Joseph. I thought Maslany and Regan were both new to me, but Maslany provided a voice in Eastern Promises and Regan has good epic-film form having had smaller parts in Troy, 300, Jeremiah, Clash of the Titans and Joan of Arc/The Messenger.

The Nativity has been written by former Eastenders writer Tony Jordan. Three years ago Jordan revealed, in an interview with The Guardian that he'd been working on the script for two years, which means that it's been a five year project for him. Stark contrast with Mike Rich who penned the script for The Nativity Story in just 6 weeks (although had researched it for a year before hand)². Jordan's Red Planet Pictures are producing and there are a few pictures showing there on their page on the programme.The first photograph here appeals to me more than the second. The blue dress gives a strong nod to tradition, but a weaker nod to historical probability. I think I prefer the grittier approach to the material as found in the earlier parts of The Nativity Story. Mind you all that had evaporated by the time baby Jesus arrived so it's not a fair comparison, and this is just a publicity shot, so I'll withold judgement until I've actually seen it, particularly given so many of the other quotations surrounding the film seem so positive.

All in all it seems that this film will be something of a prequel to the BBC's The Passion (2008). Certainly more in that direction that The Liverpool Nativity from 2007. Hopefully I'll be able to find out a bit more about this over the next few weeks. Roll on Christmas.