The two-year period of Mary and Joseph's life, which culminates in their leaving Nazareth and journeying 100 miles to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. Begins with the slaughter of Bethlehem's innocents under orders from a paranoid King Herod. Goes back a year to the prophecy that informs Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth, will bear a child. Elizabeth's cousin, the adolescent Mary, struggles with her family to make ends meet and is promised to the carpenter Joseph. Mary is told by the angel Gabriel that she will carry, while still a virgin, the long-awaited Messiah who will liberate the Jews from Herod and his Roman benefactors. Friendship and trust emerges between Mary and Joseph after he is told in a dream that she speaks truthfully about her miraculous pregnancy. Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem. Three Magi spend months crossing the desert trying to rendezvous with some point below the convergence of three heavenly bodies in the night sky.

Christian

In a story of profound faith revered by much of humanity, one young woman struggles with the destiny for which she is chosen--to give birth to the Son of God and to become the object of salvation for billions of souls--a deeply moving journey told in A Nativity Story. The Academy Award-nominated star of Whale Rider, Keisha Castle-Hughes, portrays Mary, a young wife and soon-to-be mother upon whom a seemingly impossible burden will be placed. Over the two years before the birth of Jesus, as Mary realizes that she will bear a child fated to change the world, she discovers the inner strength, faith and grace that have earned her the veneration of billions of people for two thousand years.

This is a classic already in my mind. It is a must watch every year. ( )

Nativity
The Nativity Story
USA 2006
GENERE: Rel. DURATA: 90′ VISIONE CONSIGLIATA: RAG.
CRITICA: 2,5 PUBBLICO: 2
REGIA: Catherine Hardwicke
ATTORI: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Shaun Taub, Hiam Abbass, Ciarán Hinds

Prodotto da New Line, scritto da Mike Rich, 3ª regia della giovane, eclettica e cattolica Hardwicke. Racconta, con devota fedeltà ai Vangeli, la storia di Maria di Nazareth (Galilea) nei due anni precedenti alla nascita di suo figlio Gesù (Jeoshua) a Betlemme. Le tappe: il fidanzamento col falegname Giuseppe; l'annunciazione dell'Angelo (in carne e ossa); il rischio di essere lapidata come adultera; le tasse del dispotico re Erode e il censimento su ordine dei Romani occupanti; il viaggio faticoso a Betlemme; l'arrivo dei Re Magi (che provvedono agli intermezzi umoristici); la nascita nella grotta. Per un'ora il racconto è asciutto con curiose notazioni sugli usi ebraici in materia di matrimoni e rapporti sociali. Poi si trasforma, anche nella colonna musicale, in un presepe in movimento da catechismo per minori. La 16enne australiana Castle-Hughes (già ammirata in La ragazza delle balene) dà fierezza pudica e occhi presaghi a Maria, ma anche gli altri non sfigurano. Sguardo perspicace della regista sui corpi adolescenti. Esterni a Matera e in Marocco.