17 things we did not know about the movie "Jesus of Nazareth"

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1. The idea to create a television series that would faithfully portray the life of Jesus according to the four Gospels came from Pope Paul VI.

After warmly congratulating the Ukrainian producer Lew Grade for his film "Moses", he encouraged him to try a TV series about the life of Jesus. Grade, as it turned out to be intelligent, commissioned Franco Cefirelli, who was then acclaimed for his excellent Shakespearean film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

2. A devout Catholic, Cefirelli, who knew the Pope personally from the time he was Archbishop of Milan and visited the Lyceum where the director attended, initially rejected the proposal. At Christmas 1973 he decided to say yes to the project in terms.

3. Franco Cefirelli wanted to create a series that would be appreciated even by the atheist community, a lyrical television work that would be universally accepted.

4. Its allies in it are historians and theologians from the Vatican and the College of Rabbis in London. The composition of the plot from the stories of the four gospels in chronological order was entrusted to the English writer and screenwriter Anthony Burgess. An option, if nothing else, unexpected. Burgess is the man who wrote the violent, dystopian and always up-to-date Kurdish Orange.

5. Based more on the Gospel of John, the screenwriter kept as many dialogues as possible as they appear in the first four books of the New Testament with several phrases recited in Aramaic.

6. The choice of the protagonist was important. Although the producers initially wanted to assign the role of Godman to a popular star, with Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino being the dominant names, director and screenwriter felt uncomfortable with the above proposals as both actors did not look like the picture. which had been established in the common mind about Jesus.

7. Robert Powell had already tried out as Judas Iscariot. Urban legend wants Jeffirelli to wonder, "If Judas has such expressive eyes, how should Jesus be?"

8. His choice of protagonist was not bloodless. Religious communities were disturbed as Powell was said to be "an idiot living a sedentary life with his partner." Finally, the protagonist got married shortly before filming began.

9. Jeffirelli was absolutely right. His appearance was reminiscent of the images of Jesus in Catholic and Orthodox churches, and the average spectator could easily identify the character with the performer.

10. One of the most apt tricks Jeffirelli used was to edit the series so that the television Jesus would never open or close his eyes. A trick to bring a mystical, superhuman element to the figure and a choice that justified him as according to TV critics "the viewer gained a penetrating contact with the face of Jesus."

11. “When I was called to play Jesus, I was 31 years old and I confess that until then I had no particular interest in religion and absolutely no opinion of Christ. After 9 months of filming in the majestic landscapes of Morocco and Tunisia, I can say that I truly believe in Jesus. "At the scene of the Crucifixion, I was a little nervous, maybe because of the exhaustion I felt, after the 12-day diet I had imposed on myself before filming," he said in an interview.

At one point, looking in the mirror, I recognized Jesus in my image. It seemed to me that I saw the image that each of us has of Him when we try to imagine Him. The image I have held since I was a child. I really hope in my memorial, that everyone remembers me and calls me 'the man who impersonated Jesus' "he added. His career confirmed him. After the series, Powell never managed to do anything that could surpass that role. Jesus of Nazareth was the role of his life.

12. The cast also had a Greek character. George Vogiatzis was an exceptional in the role of Joseph in a cast full of stars emblematic of the 7th art.

13. The all-star-cast featured big-screen monsters such as James Mason (Joseph of Arimathea), Lawrence Olivier (Nicodemus), Rod Steiger (Pontius Pilate), Anthony Quinn (Caiaphas), Ernest M (Ernest) Ustinov (Herod the Great), Jeffirelli's beloved - and his Juliet in the film adaptation of his Shakespearean drama - Olivia Hassey (as the Virgin Mary), the Oscar winner Anne Bancroft (Maria Magdalene) and Donald (Meldri Plestor) Plummer (Herod Antipas), James Earl Jones (Balthasar) and Claudia Cardinale (Adult).

14. The shooting of the series began in September 1975 and ended in May 1976 and took place in Morocco and Tunisia. The synagogue scenes were filmed on the island of Djerba, while the Jerusalem scenes were filmed in the Moroccan city of Monastiri (the name of the city remains Greek to this day) in Northeastern Tunisia, the country's port, in the Sahel region.

15. After its screening in America, the New York Times wrote a dichotomy while it became a program that nothing could stand against. 46% of TV stations in New York and 53% of TV stations in Los Angeles had surrendered to its power, numbering a total of over 90 million viewers in the United States alone.

16. The production cost of the series was really high. Although it has not been confirmed, Jesus of Nazareth cost about $ 16 million to $ 18 million. To date, it is said to have made a net profit of $ 30 million, an amount that we honestly believe has exceeded that.

17. The series lasts 371 minutes. Although she was nominated in five categories in the British BAFTA, she did not win a single one.

 

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