Vatican to Host World Premiere of 'The Nativity Story'

Los Angeles (AP) - On Sunday, November 26th, New Line Cinema's "The Nativity Story" will become the first feature film ever to premiere at the Vatican, it was jointly announced Thursday by New Line's President and COO of Worldwide Distribution and Marketing Rolf Mittweg, and Stefano Dammicco, CEO of Eagle Pictures, the film's Italian distributor. "The Nativity Story" is scheduled for a Dec. 1, 2006 release in the U.S., and will open in territories worldwide throughout the month of December.

The premiere, to be held at the Vatican's Aulo Paolo VI (Pope Paul VI Hall), will be attended by "The Nativity Story's" director Catherine Hardwicke, actors Shohreh Aghdashloo and Oscar Isaac, producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, screenwriter Mike Rich, and 7,000 invited guests of the Vatican. The event will serve as a benefit, with contributions going toward construction of a school in the village of Mughar, Israel - which has a diverse population of Christians, Muslims, and Druze and is located approximately 40 kilometers from Nazareth.

"We are very proud of 'The Nativity Story' and extremely grateful that the Vatican has embraced the film in this way," says Mittweg. "We believe it isthe perfect venue to present the film's universal message of hope and faith, a message we are sure will resonate around the world."

"'The Nativity Story' is an extraordinary event, and this premiere is a fitting way to reach out to our community and share the experience," says Dammicco. "It is a privilege for Eagle Pictures to be New Line's Italian partner on the film."

The event has been made possible due to the collaboration of the PontificalCouncil for Culture, the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, the Vatican Film Library, the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" (for Human and Christian Development), the Vicariate of Vatican City State, and the Foundation for Sacred Art and Music.

"The Nativity Story" chronicles the arduous journey of two people, Mary and Joseph, a miraculous pregnancy, and the history-defining birth of Jesus. This dramatic and compelling story comes to life in a major motion picture starring Academy Award(R) nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") as Mary, Oscar Isaac (upcoming "Guerrilla") as Joseph, and Academy Award(R) nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo ("House of Sand and Fog") as Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. "The Nativity Story" is directed by Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown") from a screenplay by Mike Rich ("The Rookie," "Finding Forrester").

:-)

This site has a review of the movie - http://www.nativitymovie.blogspot.com/

I found The Nativity Story basically absolutely beautiful and faithful to the biblical account. The script fudges and makes allowances for dramatic needs, but these add to the story in believable and interesting ways, unpacking just what it would have been like for Mary to be preggers without a husband in a strict Jewish village. And there are snippets of things that will figure into Christ's story, such as crucified men (rebels Herod is getting rid of) and a scene where Joseph and Mary buy a fish and eat it on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

The casting and acting are great. Mary and Joseph (Keisha Castle-Hughes and Oscar Isaac) are both beautiful to watch. Castle-Hughes has a nontraditional earthy beauty that really works for Mary, who is portrayed as a very real person in this story. She spends much of her time looking worried. She goes to Elizabeth's for the reassurance of seeing for herself that what the angel told her was true, that Elizabeth is pregnant. And at first, Mary doesn't even want to be betrothed to Joseph, but she slowly falls in love with him, a sweet and touching love story. Also, the cinematic representations of God are all low key and un-hokey. And Herod is totally and appropriately creepy and incredibly hard of heart, and so is his son. The wise men are the happiest people in the movie—I liked that touch—very self-assured and king-like and often funny.

The settings are gorgeous. Mary and Joseph and the wise men undertake their respective journeys against great barren landscapes of stone and shifting sand. The village of Nazareth is satisfyingly built of rough stones with people crowded into tiny rooms. The villagers are always busy, making cheese, pressing out grapes. The film goes with the theory that the Star was really the coming together of three heavenly bodies (I think two planets and one star)—a once in every 3,000 years occurrence—and as the film unfolds, the stars are shown again and again in the night sky, coming ever closer together.

I found the film a trifle ponderous and slow in places, especially in the beginning (not the very beginning, in which Herod slaughters all the babies in Bethlehem, but after that). I wish the pace of the movie were a little faster, especially the first third. Also, the music seems to be all long, drawn-out chords that seemed to say “isn't this all terribly important,” which adds to the overall ponderous effect.

It seems to me it would be just about impossible to make a good movie about this very familiar and dearest of stories. Yet somehow, by making Mary and Joseph very real people, what God did through them seems even more wondrous. The movie ends in Mary's voice, speaking the Magnificat over images of herself, Joseph and baby Jesus traveling on their donkey over sand dunes to Egypt—a lovely and resonant finish.

Ending sounds nice, and still pictures from the movie look beautiful. Don't like that Mary "spends much of her time looking worried" though. Hope they did a good job with it.

The movie ends in Mary's voice, speaking the Magnificat over images of herself, Joseph and baby Jesus traveling on their donkey over sand dunes to Egypt—a lovely and resonant finish.

Such a beautiful prayer! I have this on CD and love it.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

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