From as early as I can remember, every spring around Easter, a network TV station would air the sweeping Franco Zeffirelli miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth. I'd been brought up Roman Catholic, and the life of Jesus Christ was a ubiquitous story in the small world of my rural hometown, my school, and family. Released in 1977 (at Easter), I'm convinced the production helped shape my ideas on what life might have been like for those living at the start of the Common Era. We'll get to how innaccuate that likely was in reality a bit later, but suffice it to say, that the series transported me into a world that blended the historical with the supernaturual in a way that to this day seems expertly done. I'll mention that I'm a total heathen now (I don't believe there is a divine being overseeing the universe, much less that it's some dude who lived and was excecuted in modern-day Israel 2000 years ago) and have been for some time. So I have very little trouble delineating the fantasy of the biblical story of Jesus of Nazareth from the way it was so realistically portrayed in Zeffirelli's work.
I'm not going to go into the plot. Even non-believers likely have a general idea that Jesus was born, crucified, buried and allegedly rose on the third day. The story pretty much follows all that from a biblical point of view, with a fair amount of background involving the political and religious conflicts at the time. The whole series is a whopping six hours (about a half hour longer than 2003's Angels in America, for reference). It still sort of boggles me the scope with which this project was undertaken and the high-wattage ensemble cast that Zeffirelli was able to assemble for TV. Anne Bancroft, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Ernest Borgnine, James Earl Jones, Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, Peter Ustinov. Eight eventual Oscar winners in total, among other brilliant actors.
Whom did I have in mind for Meryl in this project then? No other than Mary, the mother of Jesus, of course. Originally portrayed by Brit Olivia Hussey (who had been Zeffirelli's Juliet in 1968's Romeo and Juliet), the actor needed to realistically be able to portray someone from age 17 to 50. Hussey, who would've been 24 at the time of shooting, is just shy of two years younger than Meryl. So if she was able to pull it off, I suspect Meryl would've had little problem with it as well. I actually rewatched the whole series in recent months. And I have to admit, there was a little more to do in the character of Mary than I had remembered. Not unlike themes in Colm Tóibín's novella, The Testament of Mary, we can almost get a sense in some earlier scenes, when an adolescent Jesus reads scripture to rabbis, that there's a hint of uncertainty in Mary's eyes about what her son's "attributes" may mean for him as he ages into adulthood. Starting at 2:46, it's a pretty intense scene for the character.
A very interesting analysis on the whole TV series, Jeff. I remember seeing this broadcast a couple of years after its release, also at Easter. It did feel quite documentary-like, shocking at times in its brutal depictions of Roman rule. It's the perfect alternative to Streep's role in 'Holocaust', you're spot on!
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ReplyDeleteI'll go with the Leslie Browne role in "The Turning Point". I bet Meryl could have mastered dance easily in her 20s. It's also a good role to show off her great looks, if we are taking a completely route to Meryl's stardom.
ReplyDeleteJeff, is this Supporting filmography to go with the reimagined Lead filmography, as in Meryl does two roles per year, or as she solely plays Supporting roles?
Great question, Charlie. I think of this supporting recasting filmography as a sort of side list of films she might have had time or the inclination to squeeze in. Picture her actual filmography or my reimagined filmography or my lead recasting filmography and then having a peppering of these supporting roles throughout. She wouldn't have done them all, but a handful of them here and there depending on the schedule could've been feasible. I think my brain would melt if I tried to coordinate a shooting schedule in my mind for all of these supporting roles to have been practical in the context of my reimagined filmography or lead recasting list (the way I generally tried to do with the lead considerations).
DeleteI hope that makes sense!
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ReplyDeleteSkipping the completely uninformed remarks about the Bible being fiction; it is obvious there are many things you don't know. Like the earliest representations of Jesus - scratched by persecuted Christians meeting in caves about 300 years after his death - portrayed him with red hair. And so did ensuing depictions. Also in dispute is what a Palestinian (i.e.) Jewish man would have looked like around 4 BC. There are plenty of blue-eyed people identifying as Jewish living in that part of the world today. Next, most Americans in 1977, as they are today, are white. Next, most American's perception of Jesus was influenced by Sallman's Head of Christ, not their own imaginations. And, the popular image of Christ has also been formed by the image on the Shroud - which also looks like Powell.
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