The Miracle Maker (1999 film)
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The Miracle Maker | |
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Welsh | Gwr y Gwyrthiau |
Directed by | director |
Written by | writer |
Based on | BBC Films |
Distributed by | distributor |
Release dates | |
Running time | 90 min |
Countries | United Kingdom Russia United States |
Languages | English Welsh |
The Miracle Maker (Welsh: Gwr y Gwyrthiau)[2] sometimes subtitled The Story of Jesus, is a 1999 Welsh-Russian[3][4] stop motion-animated film directed by Derek Hayes and Stanislav Sokolov of the life of Jesus Christ, voiced by Ralph Fiennes. Hand-drawn animated cartoons are used to distinguish flashbacks, parables, stories, spiritual encounters and visions from the main plot, which is all in stop motion.
A
Plot
90 years into the Roman Occupation of Judea, Jairus of Capernaum, on the advice of his friend Cleopas, brings his sick daughter Tamar to see a doctor in Sepphoris. While the doctor confides to Jairus her condition is incurable, Tamar witnesses a deranged woman, Mary Magdalene, being spared a public humiliation by Jesus, a carpenter building a new synagogue. Jesus leaves Sepphoris and visits his mother, Mary, who recalls his birth, the visit of the Wise Men and his conferring with the elders at the Temple.
Jesus is
The
Tamar's illness worsens and though fearful of angering the priests, Jairus asks Jesus to save her, but she dies before he is able to. Jesus encourages Jairus to remain faithful and raises Tamar, who awakens fully healed. Jesus mourns for John the Baptist after hearing he has been killed by
Arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus turns the tables of the temple traders, validates the payment of taxes to Caesar and predicts his own death, leading Judas to believe him to be a false messiah. Judas resolves to betray him to save himself and the Jewish people and offers to help the temple priests arrest Jesus away from the crowds. Jesus has the Passover meal with his followers, where he tells the disciples they will abandon him, then goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he refuses a final temptation by Satan to escape his fate, praying for God's will to be done. Judas leads the authorities to Jesus, who is arrested while the disciples flee.
Jesus is tried by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, is mocked by Herod and sent to Pilate, who finds no case against Jesus but Ben Azra has crowds call for Jesus's execution and Caiaphas blackmails Pilate into condemning Jesus to death. Jesus is crucified in sight of his followers, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies is torn as he dies, and his body is laid in a tomb. Following the Sabbath, Mary Magdalane returns to the tomb and becomes distraught when she finds it empty, but she is comforted by the seemingly resurrected Jesus. She tells Peter, who also encounters Jesus in the same place, while Cleopas and Jairus say they met Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Jesus appears before the apostles, then gathers all his followers on a mountain, where he tells them to give his teachings to the world and that he will always be with them before disappearing.
Cast
- Ioan Gruffudd (Welsh version), Ralph Fiennes (English version) as Jesus
- Michael Bryant as God, Doctor
- Rebecca Callard as Tamar
- Julie Christie as Rachel
- William Hurt as Jairus
- Daniel Massey as Cleopas
- Richard E. Grant as John the Baptist
- Ian Holm as Pontius Pilate
- Anton Lesser as King Herod
- David Schofield as Caiaphas
- Alfred Molina as Simon the Pharisee
- Bob Peck as Joseph of Arimathea
- William Hootkins as Satan
- Ken Stott as Simon Peter
- Lisa Palfrey (Welsh version), Miranda Richardson (English version) as Mary Magdalene
- David Thewlis as Judas Iscariot
- Emily Mortimer as Mary of Nazareth
- Ewan Stewart as Andrew
- Dougray Scott as John
- James Frain as Thomas
- Robert Duncan as Lazarus
- Julie Higginson as Mary
- Sian Rivers as Martha
- Tim McInnerny as Barabbas
- Antony Sher as Ben Azra
- Lennie James as Tribune Quintilus
Reception
The Miracle Maker received positive critical response,
Steven D. Greydanus of the National Catholic Register praised it, saying "no other Jesus movie I’ve seen is so well-grounded in the historical, cultural, political, religious and even economic realities of Jesus’ day, or in the religious conflict between Jesus and the Jewish authorities. From Jewish-Roman tensions to diverse groups within Judaism — Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots; priests and local religious leaders, working-class Jews, despised tax collectors and other 'sinners,' hated Samaritans, and even more marginal figures like 'Mad Mary' Magdalene — Murray Watts’ astonishingly deft screenplay efficiently sketches the lines between all these groups. And then it demonstrates how easily Jesus crosses those lines, to the discomfort of all around him, his disciples included."[5]
Den of Geek listed it at #1 on a listicle of "25 Best Bible Movies About Jesus Christ to Watch For Easter," Rebecca Clough writing "For a children’s film, there’s an astonishing amount of intelligent insight into characters’ feelings and motivations. It’s also beautifully made, moving, and funny."[6]
See also
- List of animated feature films
- List of stop-motion films
- List of Easter films
References
- ^ a b "Why do Shakespeare at all if you're going to do it like this?". The Independent. April 1, 2000.
- ^ "S4C - Gwr y Gwyrthiau". BBC (in Welsh). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
- ^ "Why do Shakespeare at all if you're going to do it like this?". The Independent. 2000-04-01. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- ^ "Bwletin Awdurdod S4C" (PDF). 2000.
- ^ "A Triduum Ritual: 'The Miracle Maker'". NCR. 31 March 2021.
- ^ Clough, Rebecca (April 20, 2019). "25 Best Bible Movies About Jesus Christ to Watch For Easter". Den of Geek.
External links
- The Miracle Maker at IMDb
- The Miracle Maker at Rotten Tomatoes