Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

United Artists
Directed by George Stevens
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Director George Stevens' colossal attempt to present the life story of Jesus almost collapses under its own weight. First, there are too many cameos by famous Hollywood actors. This is an unnecessary distraction, the story should have spoken for itself. Max von Sydow has the thankless role of Jesus, an almost impossible task. He decides to play it somber, probably in reverence to the material, but it makes for a boring and unexciting film. If Jesus is not inspiring in a film about his life, one has to conclude it was a failure. On the other hand, the location shooting, all in the United States but mostly in Utah, is spectacular and stands in nicely for the Holy Land.

No comments:

Post a Comment