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November 21st, 2006

The Nativity Story

The film ‘The Nativity Story‘ is coming to cinemas in the UK from the 8th of December. I do not know whether it is any good, though this image would suggest to me that work is still needed on the costumes if they are going for an authentic look.

the nativity story

I watched a short trailer clip which did not really give much information. The background music suggests a sentimentalised version of the story, but you’d have to watch the film to tell. I do not think there was background music at the actual nativity apart from possibly that provided by angels etc.

There is also a Nativity resources website with art and clips and things you can use at your church or school. I would encourage everyone to go and read through the preprepared sermons. You can be sure that your minister / vicar will use one of them for a Christmas sermon, so if you look at the sermons you will be able to give them a knowing wink as you shake their hand on the way out.

Special message for ministers / vicars: Why not use one of the preprepared sermons for a Christmas sermon? It is very unlikely that anyone will find you out and give you a knowing wink as they shake your hand on the way out.

10 Comments »



This is a single Cartoon Blog entry, posted by Dave on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 at 4:14 pm.

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10 Responses to “The Nativity Story”


  1. Tiffer says:

    I’m pretty sure there was an organ in the stable at least.

    November 21st, 2006 at 6:10 pm
  2. Mary says:

    Cheers Dave. I’m giving my SECOND sermon on Christmas Eve. I’ll check out that website…

    (hmmm, just a thought, not only do I have to worry about whether any of the congregation have seen it, as a trainee LLM, I also have to hand in my sermons for marking… maybe not such a good idea after all! ;) )

    November 21st, 2006 at 7:13 pm
  3. joe says:

    That looks to be the lass from the very good film ‘whalerider’.

    November 21st, 2006 at 8:10 pm
  4. Coops says:

    I wonder: is there a way it can cause controversy like The Passion?

    November 21st, 2006 at 9:07 pm
  5. Sally says:

    I think Joe’s right. She was good at riding a bike in that great film, so riding a donkey this time round should go well.

    November 21st, 2006 at 9:45 pm
  6. Chris Clark says:

    I trust that it is keeping strictly to the biblical text, no donkey, no cattle no stable.. Shepherds yes and two years later an indeterminate number of wise men….when I come to think of it that doesn’t scan in the carol!

    November 22nd, 2006 at 10:12 am
  7. Jaded for Jesus says:

    Agree that it looks a bit cheesy initially. I’ve just boned up on this for the parish magazine, so forgive me for being a complete Nativity bore now. Yep, Mary’s played by Keisha Castle-Hughes who was in ‘Whalerider’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith’. The director, Catherine Hardwicke (pictured on the right) has made a lot of youth market films, including ‘Thirteen’, about female adolescence (don’t go there)and something completely beyond my frame of reference called ‘Tank Girl’. Hardwicke’s mission seems to have been to really get inside the heads of Mary and Joseph and achieve what she calls an ‘epic intimacy’. I suspect that most of us on this blog are too old to readily get back into a teenager’s head and so are not really target market. Anyway, our youth leader’s planning to take a bunch of teenagers along. It’s PG, by the way.

    November 22nd, 2006 at 10:54 am
  8. alice says:

    the controversy is not in the film but in the teenage actress’s off screen life – she’s 16, not married, pregnant and not attending the premiere at the Vatican (the latter two may or may not be coincidental) (times, 24 nov)

    November 25th, 2006 at 12:34 am
  9. Karin says:

    Being unmarried and pregnant could be thought fitting considering the role she plays. The money she gets from the film should make unmarried motherhood a bit easier for her than for some. Hopefully she has the support of a loving family, and even better of a caring partner, which are what is most important.

    November 27th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
  10. D says:

    I went to see this last night, opening night. As a recently baptized Christian, I will tell you that this was a most welcomed, meaningful and revolutionary movie for me. It centers around the mother of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

    A superbly crafted and thoughtfully directed movie, it deserves a high rating. It is an unprecedented tribute to a woman who has been relegated to backdrop scenes. Finally, Mary gets to have a movie about her spiritual journey. In my own life, Mary was in the far distant background, giving her fleeting thought if I came across a Nativity scene at Christmas or if I heard the Beatles song, “Let It Be”:

    “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.”

    It was made for a certain niche — the ~200 million or so Americans who consider themselves Christians. Two years ago, I was not in this niche, being “spiritual, but not religious.” Long story, short, it was Mary who pointed me to her Son, lead me on my own spiritual journey and caused a revolution in my heart, mind and soul.

    Those who take the time to learn about her and her role do not, as I was mislead to believe, worship her. They simply respect and venerate her. Leading folks to her Son, as I learned, is her job. In this movie, her character is doing exactly that again for me and viewers who are called to see it.

    Ever since she lead me home, Christmas has taken on such meaning as I never imagined. This year, I’ve started the season — called the Advent season — with a faith-based movie that allowed me to slide right into it in a beautiful, gentle and do I dare say, beatific way.

    This movie experience is an exquisite gift for the heart and soul. Moreover, it is a feast for the eyes. I went past the inanimate objects of Nativity displays to a visually rich and “fleshed” out Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, shepherds, Magi and stable animals. The director of the movie, Catherine Hardwick, referred to a line in the script: “…the greatest of kings born in the most humble of places.”

    “Power,” she says, “is not a physical power. It’s not riches, it’s not money, it’s not control of governments and nations. It’s a deeper power, spirituality.”

    At the end of the movie, the audience burst out in spontaneous applause. For each of us, Christmas is not at all about holiday parties, frenzied shopping and the trappings and physical accouterments. Now, THAT’S revolutionary.

    When this comes out in DVD, it will be a part of our yearly Christmas tradition, reminding us what it is all about.

    “Merry Christ-mas!” I hope you will make it meaningfully merrier by giving yourself this movie experience of the life of Mary.

    December 3rd, 2006 at 1:32 am