This film addresses the childhood of Jesus Christ and is based on a novel by Anne Rice, an author who has been an atheist for years, and this book will have been written shortly after her conversion to the Christian faith. Jesus is the most striking historical and religious figure in all of human history and it means so much to so many people that it is necessary to treat him with care when making a film. Making this film was a bold and courageous step, but also dangerous, as we know almost nothing about Jesus' life during his childhood and youth.
The film, as I said, is largely based on an Anne Rice novel, and it is most likely that the author has gone to seek most of her information about Jesus' youth from the Gnostic texts and the apocryphal gospels. There are immense ideas that the film conveys, moreover, they are totally at odds with the Catholic Church, which states that Jesus would not have worked miracles in his youth and had a normal childhood, except for the famous episode where, at the age of twelve, he disappears on his parents' side and is found debating with the doctors and wise men of the Jerusalem Temple. However, here we can see Jesus performing several miracles without knowing who he really is and why he is doing it. Blasphemy ... for those who believe what is in the Bible, of course.
When I saw the film, I felt that he tried to avoid being too preachy. However, the film is so lukewarm and makes such a mess with Jesus' youth that it is difficult to swallow. The cast's bland performance doesn't help. Adam Greaves-Neal is quite weak and warm for the character, he lacks charisma. Furthermore, he, Sara Lazzaro and Vincent Walsh seem too Western to represent Jews from the Middle East. In fact, this applies to virtually the entire cast. Rory Keenan has very strange hair and is bored in his role as Satan. Christian McKay was OK, but it sucks to see how an uncle of Jesus seems to know more about Jesus' future role than Jesus himself. Jonathan Bailey is weird and only exists in the film to bring a classic and manic villain to life.
Technically, we have everything we could hope for, without major surprises. A regular and nothing special photograph, sets and costumes that try to recreate the time but seem to have been made with material and props from the "Passion of the Christ", "Gladiator" (those Roman military uniforms) or from the "Rome" series. The soundtrack is as bland, dispassionate and warm as the film itself.
The film, as I said, is largely based on an Anne Rice novel, and it is most likely that the author has gone to seek most of her information about Jesus' youth from the Gnostic texts and the apocryphal gospels. There are immense ideas that the film conveys, moreover, they are totally at odds with the Catholic Church, which states that Jesus would not have worked miracles in his youth and had a normal childhood, except for the famous episode where, at the age of twelve, he disappears on his parents' side and is found debating with the doctors and wise men of the Jerusalem Temple. However, here we can see Jesus performing several miracles without knowing who he really is and why he is doing it. Blasphemy ... for those who believe what is in the Bible, of course.
When I saw the film, I felt that he tried to avoid being too preachy. However, the film is so lukewarm and makes such a mess with Jesus' youth that it is difficult to swallow. The cast's bland performance doesn't help. Adam Greaves-Neal is quite weak and warm for the character, he lacks charisma. Furthermore, he, Sara Lazzaro and Vincent Walsh seem too Western to represent Jews from the Middle East. In fact, this applies to virtually the entire cast. Rory Keenan has very strange hair and is bored in his role as Satan. Christian McKay was OK, but it sucks to see how an uncle of Jesus seems to know more about Jesus' future role than Jesus himself. Jonathan Bailey is weird and only exists in the film to bring a classic and manic villain to life.
Technically, we have everything we could hope for, without major surprises. A regular and nothing special photograph, sets and costumes that try to recreate the time but seem to have been made with material and props from the "Passion of the Christ", "Gladiator" (those Roman military uniforms) or from the "Rome" series. The soundtrack is as bland, dispassionate and warm as the film itself.