LONDON - 8 December 2006 - 3,320 words
Feature: The history of Our Lady in the cinema
Fr Peter Malone
The Nativity Story, as a film, takes its place in a long list
of films that portray Mary. While there are several films which
focus on apparitions (The Song of Bernadette, The Miracle of
Our Lady of Fatima, Gospa) and films which have Mary as a character
(The Miracle) as well as characters who parallel Mary's story
in some way (Agnes of God), the main film focus has been on Mary
herself and her being the mother of Jesus.
Mary was first portrayed in a number of the early silent films
which dramatised the life of Jesus. They are now lost, although
stills are often reproduced. Mary and the infancy stories were
very popular as was her role at Cana and her being at the foot
of the cross.
DW Griffith includes the sequence of the miracle of Cana in his
1916 biblical and historical epic, Intolerance. He also used
a Mary image of the eternal mother rocking the cradle of children.
Mary is also featured with reverence in many episodes of Cecil
B. De Mille's 1927 story of Jesus, The King of Kings.
From 1927 to 1961 when King of Kings was released - the first
mainstream Gospel film in which Jesus spoke - there was an absence
of Jesus films. This seems a strange phenomenon for such a long
period which included the Depression, World War II and the early
decade of the Cold War. By the early 1950s, with The Robe, Jesus
was glimpsed or part of him was seen, like his lower legs and
feet in the Crucifixion scene in The Robe or seen from the back
in Ben Hur. Mary is seen as a crib like figure in the Bethlehem
tableau.
It can be noted that independent Protestant film-makers, especially
in the 1940s and 1950s had no hesitation in presenting Jesus as
a fully seen and speaking character.
Four films from the period 1961-1971 really introduced the character
of Mary to cinema. Irish actress, Siobhan McKenna played her
in King of Kings and Dorothy McGuire in The Greatest Story every
Told (1965). While they were full characterisations of Mary,
the treatment tended to be of the very reverent and restrained
kind. The danger with this kind of representation is that Mary
seems to be something of a statue or paining come to life, but
still the equivalent of a painting.
It was Italian directors who had most success in making Mary more
of a flesh and blood character. As early as 1964, in Pasolini's
Gospel Accordi g to Matthew, the director cast a young girl for
the nativity scenes and the flight into Egypt. She was not a
professional actress and Pasolini wanted audiences to appreciate
her youth and innocence and her response to what God was asking
of her. When it came to the Passion sequences, he cast his mother.
The weeping and wailing Mary at Calvary, rather Italian histrionic
in style, was an older woman who had experienced life and suffered
with her son. Roberto Rossellini also brought this Italian style
to his 1971 The Messiah.
One of the most popular screen portraits of Mary is found in Zeffirelli's
Jesus of Nazareth (1977). With its large scope and eight hour
running time for elevision, the director had plenty of time to
show Gospel scenes at length. Olivia Hussey was Mary, both as
a young girl and as a mature woman. Zeffirelli and his writer,
novelist Anthony Burgess, spent a great deal of time on the infancy
narratives, including an Annunciation where the presence of the
angel Gabriel is suggested rather than seen as well as the grief
of the Crucifixion.
Audiences on either side of the Atlantic had different reactions
to the Monty Python's Life of Brian, North Americans tending to
find it too irreverent, even blasphemous, while the British enjoyed
the style of its satire. Whatever the reaction, it was another
perspective, not so much on the Gospel stories as on the way they
were solemnly treated in biblical epics. Brian,s mother was a
screeching harridan, upbraiding the Magi on their visit (where
they hurried away to the real birth of the Messiah up the street)
and urging the gullible crowds away from the grown-up Brian with
the now famous words, 'He's not the Messiah, he's just a naughty
boy'.
Post-Python, it meant that the Gospel stories would have to be
made differently and not leave themselves open to satire.
The late 70s and early 80s saw the popularity of the telemovie
and the mini-series. Two Mary films came out of Hollywood. The
first dealt with the same period that The Nativity Story covers,
Mary and Joseph (1979). Reviewed poorly, it nevertheless had
quite some appeal for younger audiences who were able to imagine
what her experiences must have been like for Mary (even though
the protagonists were particularly American in look and sound).
There was also The Nativity, focusing on this same period and
the birth of Jesus (1984).
The only appearance of Mary on the cinema screen during the 1980s
was in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
All the characters here are shown as down to earth and earthy,
in keeping with the origin of the film as a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis
rather than a Gospel. One interesting appearance in this film
is Mary, along with other guests, men and women, at the Last Supper.
Again, the 1990s did not have so many Gospel films (except for
local religious groups in different countries making their own
films for localised audiences). The Italian, Mary, Daughter of
her Son, dramatised the life of Mary as did the French Mary of
Nazareth, by French director, Jean Delannoy (1995) which was a
rather literal rendition of the Gospels with many sequences hurried
because of the small budget. But, from 1999 there have been quite
a number.
These include a film explicitly named Mary, made for CBS television
in anticipation of the Millennium. Mary is portrayed with great
reverence by Pernille August. At the same time, there was a Jesus
for the Millennium with Jeremy Sisto giving an attractive performance
as a very human Jesus yet one who conveyed his sense of divinity.
Mary appears quite extensively in this film, very much present
during the public life and ministry of Jesus. She was played
by Jacqueline Bissett.
Mary appears in the animated The Miracle Maker, in the television
film, Judas, where the Annunciation is explained verbally as Mary
talks to Judas in her kitchen. The Canadian-made The Gospel of
John includes the complete text of the Gospel with Mary appearing
at Cana and at Calvary. The appearance is confined by the use
of the actual text.
Which leads to Mary in The Passion of the Christ (2004). Mel
Gibson's take on Mary shows her as older, with an inner serenity
that manifests itself in profound, emotional but restrained grief.
There are brief flashbacks to the very human Mary, anxious as
the child Jesus trips and falls, a playful scene at Nazareth as
Jesus makes a table and he splashes her as she urges him to his
meal. She is shown in the company of Mary Magdalene, especially
at the scourging after which they attempt to mop up Jesus, blood
and at the foot of the cross. Not only are there echoes of the
Pieta, but Gibson has a prolonged take of the silent, sorrowing
Mary staring straight to camera.
In forty five years, Mary has moved from devout and reverent Gospel
figure to a flesh and blood character. This is the context for
The Nativity Story at the end of 2006.
THE PRESENTATION OF MARY
There is very little detail about the life of Mary, especially
before Jesus, birth, in the infancy narratives of Matthew and
Luke. We know that she is from Nazareth and was betrothed to
Joseph who is later referred to as a carpenter. We read the stories
of the annunciation, Mary,s visit to her pregnant cousin, Elizabeth,
Joseph,s bewilderment and dream and his taking Mary as his wife,
the journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus in humble circumstances.
Mary is described several times in Luke as 'pondering all these
things in her heart.' While Luke evokes the story of Jesus, presentation
in the temple, his growing up in Nazareth and the journey to Jerusalem
where he was lost and found, there is nothing else about Mary
after the flight into Egypt.
The early Christian centuries saw imaginative speculation about
Mary,s childhood, her betrothal and incidents in Jesus, childhood.
It is from these rather than scriptural writings that we learn
names for Mary,s parents, Joachim and Anne. There are the stories
of the presentation of Mary in the Temple and fanciful stories
of the choice of her husband: a story of Joseph,s rod, amongst
all the other suitors, rods, blooming into a lily. Another story
involved a family helping Mary and Joseph on their way to Egypt
and one of this family being Dismas who turned out to be the good
thief on Calvary.
What writer Mike Rich has done with The Nativity Story is to set
the historical scene, especially the tyrannical rule of Herod
the Great, his heavy taxing of the people and his lavish building
program. This establishes the situation of Roman rule in Palestine
and the administration of Herod offering the background to the
census which requires Joseph to travel to Bethlehem.
Rich uses the opening of Luke,s Gospel with the prayer of Zachary
in the Temple, Elizabeth,s unexpected pregnancy, Mary,s visit
and the birth of the Baptist. This gives something of the religious
background of the Judaism and religious practice of the time.
What Rich does is to imagine what it was like to live in an impoverished
Nazareth, find a language for Mary and her parents to communicate
in, establish Joseph as a character and the plausibility of the
betrothal. He uses the text from Luke, quite frequently verbatim,
as well as Joseph,s dream from Matthew. The Magi story is an
embroidering of Matthew and his references to Wise Men, stars
and astronomy, and their coming from the East (with their costly
gifts). The massacre of the innocents is also a Matthean story.
This means that the screenplay is a blend of biblical texts and
scenes and some re-creation of period and what it might have been
like in Nazareth. He has written his characters with empathy
and insight so that these incidents are attractive and credible
though, as always, many will have particular reservations.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND
For an authentic portrait of Mary in her times, it is not simply
historical background that is necessary but biblical background.
This is where so many of the Mary presentations fail to give
a rich portrait. Mary, Joseph , their relatives and friends and,
of course, Jesus himself are the last figures of the Old Testament
as well as being at the beginning of the New. This means that
the Mary portrait needs to indicate aspects of the Old Testament
as part of Mary,s religion and spirituality. The Nativity Story
does this quite insightfully at times.
As has been noted, attention is given to the Temple rituals with
Zachary,s turn as priest going into the Holy of Holies (with some
Hebrew recited to remind us of the language of the bible). Later,
Herod is present in the Temple for the ritual slaughter of a cow
as part of a scapegoat ceremony for the removal of sins. When
Joseph eats during the journey to Bethlehem, he prays a grace
in Hebrew. This helps an Old testament atmosphere permeate the
film.
Then there are explicit texts which are worth noting. The prologue
is from Jeremiah highlighting the need for a saviour to come for
salvation for the people. As regards the coming of the saviour,
there is a very pleasing episode where a woman is teaching the
scriptures to a group of children and Mary comes to deliver cheese.
The teacher leads them in the text of God's special presence
on Hereby to Elijah. God is not in the fire. God is not in the
wind. The children attest out loud that God is present in the
gentle breeze. This recitation precedes Gabriel,s arrival and
annunciation of God,s gentle incarnate presence. The text is
later quoted by Elizabeth, and Mary joins in.
When Mary and Joseph arrive in Jerusalem, a street preacher is
shouting texts (and is arrested and taken away). He is quoting
the early chapters of Isaiah which herald the coming of a special
saviour child. Herod is somewhat paranoid as regards threats to
his throne and declares that it is a mistake not to take notice
of prophecies. With the priests, and then with the Magi, he looks
at the text from Micah about the saviour coming from Bethlehem.
While the Magi are presented as more interested in details of
astronomy, they are shown initially as studying ancient Hebrew
texts and, on their way, they also quote from the book of Isaiah.
This is the text which is the basis for stories of people from
the East coming to Israel in search of the saviour.
Luke,s use of the Old Testament is a poetic use, weaving in strands
and quotations from many of the books. Matthew is specific in
naming prophecies that are being fulfilled and quoting them.
One 'if only' would be that the screenplay had incorporated more
of these to make the context richer. Where the screenplay excels
is in its omission of Mary,s canticle, The Magnificat, from the
Visitation story but making it the conclusion of the film. As
the holy family go through the desert to Egypt, Mary proclaims
many of the
verses of the Magnificat (as the strains of Silent Night come
up for the closing credits). With The Magnificat, the film ends
on a biblical high.
THEOLOGY
The Nativity Story is not a theological work but it presents sound
theology. The virginal conception of Jesus is clear from the
way that the Annunciation is staged and the consequences for Mary
and her reputation in Nazareth and Joseph,s dilemma as to what
he should do about his betrothal and impending marriage. It is
quite clear that the residents of Nazareth, including Mary,s close
friends, girls her own age, take a very dim view of her pregnancy.
We see Mary being stoned although this is part of Joseph,s dream,
it reminds us of the applications of the Mosaic law (remembering
the story of the woman taken in adultery in John 8).
The Lukan narrative offers Elizabeth,s pregnancy as a sign for
Mary. The film gives its full attention to the Zachary and Elizabeth
story in Luke and Mary,s presence in her visitation for the last
three month,s of Elizabeth,s pregnancy.
Jesus as saviour is to the fore in the film, especially with the
allusions to Old Testament prophecy. Interestingly, this theme
is emphasised in the Herod story, not only the discussion of the
texts with the Magi but Herod,s initial reading of the texts that
the Messiah from Bethlehem would be an adult. Hence his welcoming
of the census. There is a sequence where Joseph is stopped and
interrogated on his way to Bethlehem as the soldiers search for
the alleged Messiah. It is only after the meeting with the Magi
that Herod looks for a newborn child.
The more conventional presentation of the manger and the crib,
with the visit of the shepherds and the gifts of the Magi, reinforce
the perspective of the divinity of Jesus in conditions that are
witness to his humanity.
SPIRITUALITY
It might he useful to make some distinctions between piety, devotion
and spirituality, even if they overlap.
Piety is a simple religious appreciation of a mystery of faith.
The Nativity Story offers a grounding for Marian piety though
its style is not particularly pious. It is only the presentation
of the Nativity itself, especially the manger sequences with their
tableau of baby, mother and Joseph, the animals and the visits
of shepherds and Magi and light beaming (rather too much like
a celestial searchlight from the symbolic start) on the stable,
that the film could be described as pious. These scenes are like
a Christmas play, very different from the more down-to-earth scenarios
that have preceded them.
Rather, the film offers more for devotion for believers. Devotion
is more an attitude of mind and heart that is deeper than piety.
Devotion means that there are consequences for belief, stronger
understanding of the mysteries of faith and the overflow into
prayer, whether it be the saying of prayers (the Rosary, of course,
comes to mind) or a more wordless, meditative prayer.
Audiences interested in devotion to Mary should be well satisfied.
Only at the nativity itself is she the Madonna. Prior to that,
she is a credible young girl who experiences God in an extraordinary
way and allows this experience to shape her life. She is ordinary
in the best sense, audiences being able to identify with her and
her experience, especially the months of her pregnancy and the
journey from Nazareth. She is not presented as the moving equivalent
of a statue or a holy card as was the case in some previous films.
This Mary is real.
Audiences who have a devotion to Joseph will be very happy with
this portrayal. Here is a vigorous young man, down-to-earth,
puzzled but honourable. He is presented as a three-dimensional
character, definitely not a statue. The scenes where he discusses
with Mary what it will be like with Jesus and whether they will
be able to teach him bring the reality of the incarnation alive
in pleasant detail.
Spirituality is the foundation of piety and devotion. Spirituality
is a way of life in prayer and action. The Nativity Story was
not intended as a spiritual cinema work. But much of it will
work this way. Some devotions separate out particular aspects
of Mary,s life. By telling a story of Mary in the year before
Jesus, birth, a credible story imagining what that year might
have been like, the film gives us Mary as a person. Mary is presented
in real situations, difficult situations of poverty, hardship
and taxation. She is presented in an almost impossible situation,
her pregnancy outside marriage and the consequences for her and
Joseph amidst her own people. We see her developing as a girl,
a young woman of surrender and faith which culminates in joy
in the birth of Jesus. The film ends with her Magnificat prayer
but not the promise of an easy happy ending as she escapes with
Joseph into Egypt.
One striking thing about the screenplay is Mary,s awareness of
Messiah,s in her time. Some commentators suggest that Mary was
privy to the details of God,s plan from the time she encountered
the angel Gabriel. Others emphasise what she did not know and
how, gradually, she had to learn what her motherhood of Jesus
meant. With the prevalence of upstart revolutionaries against
Herod and against Rome at that tome, with the prevalence of Messiah
claimants, it was 'in the air' so to speak that Messiah's would
be born. To that extent, Mary,s listening to Gabriel and learning
of her destiny would not be at all unknown or alien to her.
© Independent Catholic
News 2006
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