A nice visualization of the journey to Bethlehem. They did an excellent job with the character of Joseph. Unfortunately, it was not the case regarding the portrayal of Mary.
Their attempt to capture her humility came off as self abasement and disdain. There was almost no transcendent joy in her character which is is probably because they overlook the chronology of the Luke's Gospel account in which Mary visits Elizabeth and exclaims:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
Why would they put most lengthly dialog of Mary in Scripture at the end of the movie? Almost as an after thought rather than a tone which could have set the rest of the movie. It seemed the writer and director did not know what make of Mary, which resulted in the film being "okay" rather than fantastic.
Their attempt to capture her humility came off as self abasement and disdain. There was almost no transcendent joy in her character which is is probably because they overlook the chronology of the Luke's Gospel account in which Mary visits Elizabeth and exclaims:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
Why would they put most lengthly dialog of Mary in Scripture at the end of the movie? Almost as an after thought rather than a tone which could have set the rest of the movie. It seemed the writer and director did not know what make of Mary, which resulted in the film being "okay" rather than fantastic.