This totally original "biblical" film (actually focusing on extra-biblical events) boasts an incredibly innovative screenplay, subtly and vividly directed with an excellent cast (including Matteo Bellina, Bekim Fehmiu and María del Carmen San Martín) in magnificent settings.
Most surprisingly of all: A Child Called Jesus is never didactic or overblown and totally credible, based on what we do know of that region from biblical archeology (as the Gospels are frequently problematic in this regard).
The challenge here is: How do you tell a story of Jesus (or any religious figure) as a boy without offending fundamentalists. Here they actually address a few of the biblical discrepancies that don't match up with other historical accounts (eg. the so-called Massacre of the Innocents which has never been corroborated by Palestinian history).
Ostensibly, the writers Vittorio Bonicelli, Franco Rossi and Francesco Scardamaglia must have consulted with rabbinical experts to get all the cultural details right. There is a verisimilitude here seldom seen in similar films.
This was actually made just BEFORE The Last Temptation of Christ and there's nothing presented here that would scare off "secular" or non-Christian viewers.
Best of all is the memorable score by the legendary Piero Piccioni. Looking forward to seeing the original Italian version with sub-titles, though they actually did an excellent job on the English-language version!
Most surprisingly of all: A Child Called Jesus is never didactic or overblown and totally credible, based on what we do know of that region from biblical archeology (as the Gospels are frequently problematic in this regard).
The challenge here is: How do you tell a story of Jesus (or any religious figure) as a boy without offending fundamentalists. Here they actually address a few of the biblical discrepancies that don't match up with other historical accounts (eg. the so-called Massacre of the Innocents which has never been corroborated by Palestinian history).
Ostensibly, the writers Vittorio Bonicelli, Franco Rossi and Francesco Scardamaglia must have consulted with rabbinical experts to get all the cultural details right. There is a verisimilitude here seldom seen in similar films.
This was actually made just BEFORE The Last Temptation of Christ and there's nothing presented here that would scare off "secular" or non-Christian viewers.
Best of all is the memorable score by the legendary Piero Piccioni. Looking forward to seeing the original Italian version with sub-titles, though they actually did an excellent job on the English-language version!