The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
Country: US
Technical: Technicolor/Ultra Panavision 70 225m
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Max Von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, Jose Ferrer, Donald Pleasence, Charlton Heston, Telly Savalas
Synopsis:
The life of Christ writ large, except for the titles.
Review:
There is much to occupy the eye here, and Von Sydow's performance is a moving one, but the cumulative portentous pacing has invited parody. The cinematography is truly remarkable, some of the finest 70mm work ever done; scarcely a set-up does not leap off the screen with all the evocative power of an old master. The problem for some is perhaps the endless succession of tableaux: no one moves quickly through this, least of all the camera, as if aware of the momentousness of the events they are bearing witness to. It is also a surprisingly quiet film for an Epic production, with even Newman's reverential, and gradually endearing, score rarely raising its voice. All the stuff about stars cast in walk-on parts seems overstated now: in fact most of the cast is decidedly second rank except for Heston and one or two others who are perhaps less familiar. Only Poitier and Wayne remain as undoubted mistakes, especially since the latter is unrecognisable in long shot and his line can barely be heard above the cataclysmic storm raging overhead. All in all this is a supreme achievement of film-making, albeit compromised at the editing stage, but vindicated in its choice of American locations for Palestine.
Country: US
Technical: Technicolor/Ultra Panavision 70 225m
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Max Von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, Jose Ferrer, Donald Pleasence, Charlton Heston, Telly Savalas
Synopsis:
The life of Christ writ large, except for the titles.
Review:
There is much to occupy the eye here, and Von Sydow's performance is a moving one, but the cumulative portentous pacing has invited parody. The cinematography is truly remarkable, some of the finest 70mm work ever done; scarcely a set-up does not leap off the screen with all the evocative power of an old master. The problem for some is perhaps the endless succession of tableaux: no one moves quickly through this, least of all the camera, as if aware of the momentousness of the events they are bearing witness to. It is also a surprisingly quiet film for an Epic production, with even Newman's reverential, and gradually endearing, score rarely raising its voice. All the stuff about stars cast in walk-on parts seems overstated now: in fact most of the cast is decidedly second rank except for Heston and one or two others who are perhaps less familiar. Only Poitier and Wayne remain as undoubted mistakes, especially since the latter is unrecognisable in long shot and his line can barely be heard above the cataclysmic storm raging overhead. All in all this is a supreme achievement of film-making, albeit compromised at the editing stage, but vindicated in its choice of American locations for Palestine.
Country: US
Technical: Technicolor/Ultra Panavision 70 225m
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Max Von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, Jose Ferrer, Donald Pleasence, Charlton Heston, Telly Savalas
Synopsis:
The life of Christ writ large, except for the titles.
Review:
There is much to occupy the eye here, and Von Sydow's performance is a moving one, but the cumulative portentous pacing has invited parody. The cinematography is truly remarkable, some of the finest 70mm work ever done; scarcely a set-up does not leap off the screen with all the evocative power of an old master. The problem for some is perhaps the endless succession of tableaux: no one moves quickly through this, least of all the camera, as if aware of the momentousness of the events they are bearing witness to. It is also a surprisingly quiet film for an Epic production, with even Newman's reverential, and gradually endearing, score rarely raising its voice. All the stuff about stars cast in walk-on parts seems overstated now: in fact most of the cast is decidedly second rank except for Heston and one or two others who are perhaps less familiar. Only Poitier and Wayne remain as undoubted mistakes, especially since the latter is unrecognisable in long shot and his line can barely be heard above the cataclysmic storm raging overhead. All in all this is a supreme achievement of film-making, albeit compromised at the editing stage, but vindicated in its choice of American locations for Palestine.