‘Nativity’ delivers nice family film, but no ‘Passion’

Cinema is offering much more than Santa Claus, reindeer and snowmen this Christmas. At least one film calls the season back to its namesake and away from the holiday folklore.

“The Nativity Story” (New Line Cinema) depicts the birth of Christ Himself, but is not wholly free of references to the storybook versions of the Christmas story.

The film — which begins before Mary meets Joseph and ends soon after the birth of the Christ child — tells the Biblical tale of the Savior’s birth, adding traditional non-Biblical accounts. Mary is accurately very young, but Joseph is not much older, breaking with popular tradition.

Mary wears a light blue veil on her head as she rides a donkey into the town of Bethlehem where Joseph, a carpenter, delivers Jesus himself. It plays nicely on screen, but it’s certainly not a strictly Biblical depiction.

Overall, “The Nativity Story” is a quality film with decent acting and commendable performances by Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary,  Oscar Isaac as Joseph and, most notably, Shohreh Aghdashloo as Elizabeth. The dialogue is mediocre, but only falls into the poor category in scenes featuring the Three Wise Men as hokey comic relief.

The setting is interesting and believable until the final scene. The Holy Family gathers in the stone stable with the Three Wise Men and shepherds looking unfortunately similar to a Nativity scene sitting on top of a mantel. Although it is the title of the movie, the film ends with the focus shifting from Christ Himself to the nostalgia associated with Christmas keepsakes.

Religion on the silver screen

Following “The Passion of the Christ,” religious themed films have gradually developed into a genre over the past few years. Although “The Nativity” will be unavoidably grouped in that genre, it will be a largely incorrect classification.

The religious theme is undoubtedly present, but the earnestness and care that was poured into the creation of “The Passion of the Christ” is noticeably absent from “The Nativity.”

It is generally well done, family- friendly and caters directly to an enormous audience. Yet the film does not feel like a labor of faith and love, but more like one created for a market with a goal of commercial success.

Instead of drawing extra content from spiritual thinkers, as was done in writing “The Passion of the Christ,” it seems that Hollywood screenwriters just imagined a few of their own. In one particularly obvious scene, Mary is bucked off a donkey after a snake bites the animal. She falls into the river she was crossing and into an action sequence with absolutely no Biblical basis.

It is symbolism that a Christian grade school student will understand and probably could have conceptualized.

That is not to say that some of the spiritual elements of the film are not handled well. Angels enter and leave as doves and the connection between Elizabeth — pregnant with John the Baptist — and the Virgin is beautifully illustrated.

One of the most captivating aspects of “The Nativity” is the believable development of Mary and Joseph’s relationship. Castle-Hughes portrays the fearfully pregnant Mary as strong, yet scared, and Isaac makes Joseph’s corresponding frustration, fear and belief realistic and credible.

Mary is portrayed as human and not overtly holy. Joseph’s initial anger and eventual acceptance is one of the most moving aspects of the film. These decisions make the characters of Mary and Joseph accessible to the audience, allowing them to become more than figurines praying on a mantel — at least until the final scene when the director places them back up there.

The film runs too long — 101 minutes — and plays into more clichés than it needs to, but even so emerges as an above-average Christian-focused film that is a vast improvement on any theatric attempt at the Savior’s birth thus far.

It’s perfect for Christians looking for a family-focused Christmas film. It’s sweet, but hardly inspiring — unless you know the rest of the story.

Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.