This is an interesting though average retelling at the life of Maria Magdalene and Christ from a Roman political , historical and religious view point . This Biblical movie deals with the story of a notorious harlot (Ivonne De Carlo) who must choose between her lascivious lifestyle , the love of a Roman general called Caio Marcello (Jorge Mistral) and affection of her decent-minded brother named Lazzarus (Terence Hill) and sister (Rossana Podesta) . Magdalene is tormented by delusion and nightmares after learning her bad life until she meets Jesus . The film includes some major events referred to the New Testament with descriptive Biblical passages such as Lazzarus's resurrection , the revolt led by Barrabbas (Andrea Aureli) and his struggle to deal with seek the best course of resistance to Roman oppression embodied by the political savvy Pontius Pilate (Philippe Hersent) , the arrest of Jesus in Mount of Olives , Golgotha Crucifixion , among others .
Set against the magnificent backdrop of classic Rome, "The Sword and the Cross" is a colorful version of Jesus Christ and Maria Magdalena's life with a true international all-star-epic treatment but being middlingly shot and reaches an exciting peak at the ending . It is not completely reverential at some Biblical characters such as Judas Iscariote , Pontius Pilate and Barrabbas portraying the man less a thief than as a political revolutionary . Filmed on a relatively mediocre scale , being efficiently produced by Ottavio Poggi . Life of Maria Magdalane is regularly written by notorious screenwriter Sandro Continenza and the same producer Ottavio Poggi. Good main cast , as the American Ivonne De Carlo is passable as the lascivious Maddalena and the Spanish actor, early deceased by committing suicide , Jorge Mistral , sometimes is a little wooden . Support cast is nice such as Massimo Serato as Anan , Andrea Aureli as Barabba , Nando Tamberlani as Caifa , Philippe Hersent as Ponzio Pilato and Terence Hill or Mario Girotti , prior his successful Spaghetti Westerns . Evocative as well as atmospheric original music by Roberto Nicolosi . Including glowing cinematography by Raffaele Masciocchi , filmed surrounding Rome , Lazio ; however being necessary a right remastering . The motion picture was regularly directed Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia , a craftsman who realized several adventures and Peplums , such as : "Amazons of Rome" , ¨Anibal¨ , "Ursus in the Valley of the Lions" , "Il Falco D'Oro" and " Semiramis , The Queen of Babylon¨ , among others .
Other pictures dealing with divine presence of Jesus Christ are the followings : ¨King of Kings¨ , released in 1927, , first silent version by Cecil B. DeMille with H. B. Wagner ; ¨King of Kings¨ by Nicholas Ray with Jeffrey Hunter , Robert Ryan , Carmen Sevilla , Frank Thring , Rip Torn , Rita Gam , Harry Guardino ; ¨The greatest story ever told¨ (1965) by George Stevens with Max Von Sidow , Charlton Heston , Jose Ferrer , Sidney Poitier , Claude Rains ; ¨Gospel according to Matthew¨ by Pier Paolo Pasolini with Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus ; ¨Jesus Christ Superstar¨(1977) by Norman Jewison with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson ; ¨Jesus de Nazareth¨(1977) by Franco Zeffirelli with Robert Powell , Olivia Hussey , James Mason , Laurence Olivier , Anne Brancfort , Fernando Rey ; ¨Last temptation of Christ¨ by Martin Scorsese with Willem Dafoe , David Bowie , Harvey Keitel , Ian Holm , Harry Dean Staton ; and ¨The Passion of the Christ¨ (2004) by Mel Gibson with James Cazievel , Maia Morgenstern and Monica Belucci.
Set against the magnificent backdrop of classic Rome, "The Sword and the Cross" is a colorful version of Jesus Christ and Maria Magdalena's life with a true international all-star-epic treatment but being middlingly shot and reaches an exciting peak at the ending . It is not completely reverential at some Biblical characters such as Judas Iscariote , Pontius Pilate and Barrabbas portraying the man less a thief than as a political revolutionary . Filmed on a relatively mediocre scale , being efficiently produced by Ottavio Poggi . Life of Maria Magdalane is regularly written by notorious screenwriter Sandro Continenza and the same producer Ottavio Poggi. Good main cast , as the American Ivonne De Carlo is passable as the lascivious Maddalena and the Spanish actor, early deceased by committing suicide , Jorge Mistral , sometimes is a little wooden . Support cast is nice such as Massimo Serato as Anan , Andrea Aureli as Barabba , Nando Tamberlani as Caifa , Philippe Hersent as Ponzio Pilato and Terence Hill or Mario Girotti , prior his successful Spaghetti Westerns . Evocative as well as atmospheric original music by Roberto Nicolosi . Including glowing cinematography by Raffaele Masciocchi , filmed surrounding Rome , Lazio ; however being necessary a right remastering . The motion picture was regularly directed Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia , a craftsman who realized several adventures and Peplums , such as : "Amazons of Rome" , ¨Anibal¨ , "Ursus in the Valley of the Lions" , "Il Falco D'Oro" and " Semiramis , The Queen of Babylon¨ , among others .
Other pictures dealing with divine presence of Jesus Christ are the followings : ¨King of Kings¨ , released in 1927, , first silent version by Cecil B. DeMille with H. B. Wagner ; ¨King of Kings¨ by Nicholas Ray with Jeffrey Hunter , Robert Ryan , Carmen Sevilla , Frank Thring , Rip Torn , Rita Gam , Harry Guardino ; ¨The greatest story ever told¨ (1965) by George Stevens with Max Von Sidow , Charlton Heston , Jose Ferrer , Sidney Poitier , Claude Rains ; ¨Gospel according to Matthew¨ by Pier Paolo Pasolini with Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus ; ¨Jesus Christ Superstar¨(1977) by Norman Jewison with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson ; ¨Jesus de Nazareth¨(1977) by Franco Zeffirelli with Robert Powell , Olivia Hussey , James Mason , Laurence Olivier , Anne Brancfort , Fernando Rey ; ¨Last temptation of Christ¨ by Martin Scorsese with Willem Dafoe , David Bowie , Harvey Keitel , Ian Holm , Harry Dean Staton ; and ¨The Passion of the Christ¨ (2004) by Mel Gibson with James Cazievel , Maia Morgenstern and Monica Belucci.