The Nativity Story























Original DVD9 by JackieALF







Info





Original Title: The Nativity Story

Country: Usa, Italy

Year: 2016                    

Genres: Biblical

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Screenplay: Mike Rich

Production: New Line Cinema

Distribution: Eagle Pictures (Italy)







Cast





Keisha Castle-Hughes -> Maria

Oscar Isaac -> Giuseppe

Hiam Abbass -> Anna

Shaun Toub -> Gioacchino

Shohreh Aghdashloo -> Elisabetta

Ciarán Hinds -> Re Erode

Alessandro Giuggioli -> Antipatro e Archelao

Stanley Townsend -> Zaccaria

Alexander Siddig -> Arcangelo Gabriele

Stefan Kalipha -> Gaspare

Nadim Sawalha -> Melchiorre

Eriq Ebouaney -> Baldassarre







Plot



The plot begins with the portrayal of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Nativity. The remainder of the movie portrays the annunciation (conception) and birth of Jesus Christ to explain why King Herod the Great ordered the murder.

One year before the massacre, Zachariah, a rabbi in Jerusalem, is making an offering, when he is told in a vision by the Archangel Gabriel that his wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son. Zachariah does not believe him, stating that he is too old, and Gabriel tells him that he will be unable to speak until the boy is born. In Nazareth, 12 year old Mary is farming when soldiers come to collect taxes. One man, unable to pay, has a third of his land seized and his daughter pressed into debt slavery. Mary, betrothed to marry Joseph of Judaea, is visited by Archangel Gabriel and told that she will become pregnant with God's son, whom she is to name "Jesus". He tells her that God has blessed her cousin Elizabeth with a child despite her old age. Mary visits her before the harvest, where she witnesses the birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who regains his speech. Mary returns from the visit pregnant, to the shock of Joseph and her parents, who fear that Joseph will accuse her of fornication, a sin punishable with death by stoning according to the Mosaic Law. At first Joseph does not believe Mary's religious explanation, but decides not to accuse her. Still shocked and angry, Joseph is later visited in a dream by the Archangel Gabriel, who tells him of God's plan for Mary's son. Finally believing, he is ashamed of his earlier doubts.

Meanwhile, Roman emperor Caesar Augustus has demanded that every man and his family across the Roman Empire return to his place of birth for the census. A direct descendant of King David, Joseph is forced to travel 110 kilometers (68 mi) across Palestine's rocky terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the place of his birth. With Mary on a donkey laden with supplies, it takes the couple nearly four weeks to reach Bethlehem. Upon arriving in town, Mary goes into labour, and Joseph frantically seeks a place for her to deliver. There is, however, no room in any inn or home because of the crowds arriving for the census, but at the last minute an innkeeper offers his stable for shelter.

Meanwhile, three Magi—Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar—travel towards Judaea after having previously discovered that three planets will align to form a great star. This Star of Bethlehem appears before the Magi, after a visit by the Archangel Gabriel. The Magi visit Herod and reveal to him that the Messiah is still a child and he will be a Messiah"for the lowest of men to the highest of kings." Shocked by this, Herod asks that they visit the newborn Messiah and report the child's location back to him, under the pretence that he, too, would like to worship him, while in fact he plans to kill the baby for fear of a new king taking his throne. The Magi arrive at the stable where Mary is giving birth to Jesus, and they present the Infant with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Suspicious of his intentions, the Magi avoid Herod, returning home via a different route. Herod realises that the Magi have tricked him and orders the death of every boy in Bethlehem under the age of two. Joseph is warned in a dream of the danger and flees to Egypt with Mary and Jesus as the film ends.





General Info



Compression: No

Movie Quality: DVD9

Size: 7494 Mb

Languages: Italian, English Ac3 5.1

Subtitles: Italian, English

Colors

Runtime: 96 min.

Menu: Yes

Extra: Trailer







Screenshots