Other titles: DIE BIBEL: JESUS (Germany); LA BIBLIA: JESUS: EL MAESTRO DE NAZARET (Spanish for The Bible: Jesus: Teacher From Nazareth); GESU/JESU (Italy); LIFE OF MIRACLES (Japan); JEZUS (Hungary)
The Greatest Story...Retold...
"Jesus" is the four hour CBS miniseries, produced by Lorenzo Minoli and Five Mile River Films, which is responsible for the highly respected "Bible" series, of which "Jesus" is the latest addition. Even though the movie falls right into the traditional look and feel of the other installments, "Jesus" is also a very fresh and modern perspective of the life of Christ. Truly a Jesus for the new generation and the millennium. It was the goal of Minoli and Roger Young, as well as the rest of the team involved in this project, to bring to life a very different angle of Jesus Christ from what is usually depicted. They wanted this Jesus to have his humanity on full display, and they more than achieved their goal. There have already been those who have condemned this miniseries, but those who watched it with their eyes and hearts wide open saw nothing blasphemous and something very special and powerful.
Until this miniseries, I have never been able to fully relate to a Jesus portrayed in film/television. This time around, Jeremy Sisto gives the title character a million glittering facets of human emotion: he (regretfully) tells his adoring cousin Mary that he can't marry her, already aware of the extraordinary calling in his life; he dances with children and has
water fights in the sweltering streets of villages; he cries over the death of his earthly father, Joseph, knowing that he cannot have him back; and he feels all of the temptation, confusion, anger and fear that
humans feel, when Satan confronts him during the month of hunger and exhaustion in the desert.
And that is just the beginning. It is a wondrous thing to see Jesus mature and evolve in his three year ministry, from a mere carpenter filled with human frailty, slightly unsure of himself, to the miracle worker and the powerful voice representing the people of God, filled with the Holy Spirit.
Jeremy Sisto gives Jesus not only a huge range of character, but also provides the sweet beauty and delicacy of the young, sinless, virginal man wrapped in white, the perfect bridegroom of the Church, the perfect sacrifice, riding on a
donkey while his people shower him with flower petals and praise his name. The reality of the Savior's pain and suffering is finally brought home during the horrendous, bloody crucifixion sequence. The impact of
his selfless act is poignant and brutal at the same time as the body of Jesus is laid in the arms of his mother Mary.
And of course, we all know
how the story ends. Happy, sad, nothing short of glorious. In a word, perfect from beginning to end.
Nominated for an Emmy for Best Miniseries, 2000
CAST
Jeremy Sisto as JESUS
Debra Messing as MARY MAGDALENE
Armin Mueller-Stahl as JOSEPH
Jacqueline Bissett as MARY
Gary Oldman as PONTIUS PILATE
Stephania Rocca as MARY OF BETHANY
and Jeroen Krabbe as SATAN
Pictures of JESUS
STILL CAPS
BACK to SISTO ACT
Review and commentary by Mari Weir June 2000
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Jesus