Journey to Bethlehem is a modern retelling of the nativity of Christ, using the modern idiom of a musical song-and-dance movie, but with a realistic setting and costumes in first-century Judaea. It is an interesting blend of classic Bible story similar to the Disney Nativity of some years back, but also is somewhat reminiscent of Mamma Mia, West Side Story, and La La Land.
The movie is mostly faithful to the Gospel story, but there are a number of serious errors of presentation. The very first five minutes were quite disappointing, in that Mary and Joseph are portrayed as meeting in a scene like something out of Aladdin, complete with teenage romantic singing about unknown love. Pretty soon we were treated to a scene (like Mamma Mia) where Mary insistes that marriage and family is not for her: she wants to be a teacher (Surprise!) Having got through this scene, the movie did improve somewhat. King Herod is played by Antonio Banderas, who acts like a pantomime villain, oozing with self-regard and malevolence. His son, Herod Antipas (here called Antipater) looks like he has just done come off the set of Captain America or Thor. There are some quite impressive military dances by Herod's bodyguard detail.
The Three Magi are very much the comic relief of the movie, every one of their scenes is played for maximum laughs. Not so much Three Wise Men as Three Stooges.
Having said that, when the story gets back to the Annunciation, things do improve. The Angel Gabriel is a little unsteady at first, but soon gets into his stride. The interaction between Gabriel and Mary is quite memorable and faithful to the Gospel story. Pretty soon there is tension between Joseph and Mary and their respective families. I cannot help thinking that the dramatic tension is underplayed in this sequence. Joseph's dream portrays the sense of dilemma by showing him in two minds wrestling with himself: a truly well-done scene.
Mary and Joseph resolve their family problems by heading away to stay with Elizabeth and Zechariah, dodging soldiers on the way. I confess that I found Elizabeth far too static and expressionless. When Elizabeth and Mary first meet, there is no hint of the joy or excitement that we would expect in this scene. Zechariah on the other hand, although he has been made mute because of his unbelief, more than makes up for it in his facial expressions: he is wonderful.
The Nativity itself is wonderful: Gabriel finds a group of shepherds and summons them to the cave, and a heavenly host appears in a scene that reminds me so much of The Veil Removed. It was worth coming to the cinema for this scene alone.
The final denouement is rather disappointing: Herod Antipater appears with a troop of soldiers with orders to kill all the babies, but ends up enabling their escape under his protection.
In summary then, this is definitely a happy feelgood song-and-dance pop movie of the Nativity story, but misses out on so many opportunities to bring out the drama, tension, fear and joy in the story in favour of shoving in another pop song. It is very good in parts, but too many scenes were a disappointment. I cannot help feeling that if the producer had shifted the story completely to a modern setting and costumes it might have worked better.
The movie is mostly faithful to the Gospel story, but there are a number of serious errors of presentation. The very first five minutes were quite disappointing, in that Mary and Joseph are portrayed as meeting in a scene like something out of Aladdin, complete with teenage romantic singing about unknown love. Pretty soon we were treated to a scene (like Mamma Mia) where Mary insistes that marriage and family is not for her: she wants to be a teacher (Surprise!) Having got through this scene, the movie did improve somewhat. King Herod is played by Antonio Banderas, who acts like a pantomime villain, oozing with self-regard and malevolence. His son, Herod Antipas (here called Antipater) looks like he has just done come off the set of Captain America or Thor. There are some quite impressive military dances by Herod's bodyguard detail.
The Three Magi are very much the comic relief of the movie, every one of their scenes is played for maximum laughs. Not so much Three Wise Men as Three Stooges.
Having said that, when the story gets back to the Annunciation, things do improve. The Angel Gabriel is a little unsteady at first, but soon gets into his stride. The interaction between Gabriel and Mary is quite memorable and faithful to the Gospel story. Pretty soon there is tension between Joseph and Mary and their respective families. I cannot help thinking that the dramatic tension is underplayed in this sequence. Joseph's dream portrays the sense of dilemma by showing him in two minds wrestling with himself: a truly well-done scene.
Mary and Joseph resolve their family problems by heading away to stay with Elizabeth and Zechariah, dodging soldiers on the way. I confess that I found Elizabeth far too static and expressionless. When Elizabeth and Mary first meet, there is no hint of the joy or excitement that we would expect in this scene. Zechariah on the other hand, although he has been made mute because of his unbelief, more than makes up for it in his facial expressions: he is wonderful.
The Nativity itself is wonderful: Gabriel finds a group of shepherds and summons them to the cave, and a heavenly host appears in a scene that reminds me so much of The Veil Removed. It was worth coming to the cinema for this scene alone.
The final denouement is rather disappointing: Herod Antipater appears with a troop of soldiers with orders to kill all the babies, but ends up enabling their escape under his protection.
In summary then, this is definitely a happy feelgood song-and-dance pop movie of the Nativity story, but misses out on so many opportunities to bring out the drama, tension, fear and joy in the story in favour of shoving in another pop song. It is very good in parts, but too many scenes were a disappointment. I cannot help feeling that if the producer had shifted the story completely to a modern setting and costumes it might have worked better.