Greatest Story Ever Told | Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr.

Greatest Story Ever Told | Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr. | THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE

vhs video:

Greatest Story Eve...

	Greatest Story Ever Told Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr. MGM (Video & DVD), 1993 average customer review:based on 93 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

A Very Good Movie!

The Greatest Story Ever Told is one of my favorite movies about Jesus. My favorite movie is Jesus of Nazareth but I like this movie too and I think Max Van Sydow and Charlton Heston were very good as Jesus and John the Baptist and I think the only flaw with this movie is with all of the cameos by popular Hollywood actors, some were good but others were badly miscast but that doesn't distract from what a wonderful movie this is and from the actors who really were right for this movie and gave brilliant performances. I had this movie on tape and I'm wanting to buy it on DVD and I recommend The Greatest Story Ever Told very greatly and I rate this 5 stars just for the excellent acting by Max Van Sydow and Charlton Heston!

for more information click here

THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE

This is the most incredible movie about Jesus Christ. It is the perfect gift for anyone you know and care about. Most of the lines come directly from the Bible.

Wonderful Message; Breathtaking Cinema

This movie is one of the most beautifully filmed and the restoration to its original splendor attests to this. It is faithful to scripture and sets forth the message of Jesus in a classic style.

The film itself is generally well done, although it falls somewhat short in its sanitized depiction of the passion. However, most of the film is absorbing and the numerous "celebrity" cameos no longer (as time goes by) are the distraction they once were. John Wayne's "Truly this man was the Son of God" centurion is an exception. Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas and (surprisingly) Ed Wynnn as the blind man healed by Jesus give powerful performances.

The movie is worthy of anyone's library and is a great companion to The Passion of the Christ.

for more information click here

Max Von Sydow Hits The Mark

The documentary that comes with the 2 disc DVD reminds us that George Stevens had Max Von Sydow in mind for many years, since shortly after finishing up THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. He took in a screening of Ingmar Bergman's JUNGFRUKALLAN (1960) which featured Von Sydow in a sizeable part. This is the same movie which Wes Craven re-made as THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, and Von Sydow played the father of the abused girl who takes a terrible revenge on her rapists. Thus, although Tore (the part essayed by Von Sydow) is a 14th Century Christian, he gets to show off a lot of fearsome acting chops and winds up not entirely sympathetic. And very un-Christlike, so it is funny that Stevens stuck with his casting inspiration through thick, thin, and studio resistance.

For his part, Von Sydow had to interrupt his series of intense collaborations with Bergman to take the time out for the arduous Arizona shoot of GREATEST STORY. Bergman was not pleased with losing his leading man for such a long period. The result was that no Bergman film between WINTER LIGHT (1963) and HOUR OF THE WOLF (1968) employed the services of Von Sydow, who had been slated for a big role in Bergman's THE SILENCE, as well as his flop comedy ALL THESE WOMEN. The SILENCE was largely re-written to increase the size of the women's parts, and it was during +this time that he wrote the all-female PERSONA, the first of Liv Ullmann's nine films with Bergman.

But in return, we received a wonderful gift, Von Sydow's controversial portrait of Jesus in a performance that looks better every year.

for more information click here

The most reverential film telling the story of Jesus

"The Greatest Story Ever Told" is certainly the most reverential treatment of the life of Jesus. The 1965 movie was based on the book by Fulton Oursler, which integrated the four Gospels into a single narrative (To appreciate this task just look at the different versions of what Jesus said on the cross according to each Gospel). Reconciling the various versions is not an easy task and while viewers may question some of the specific choices, the only really significant alteration is the death of Judas by throwing himself into the sacrificial pit of the Great Temple, a symbolism that is unnecessarily heavy handed.

The choice of Max Von Sydow to play Jesus is an interesting selection to say the least. His slight Swedish accent and closely cropped beard are certainly in keeping with the reverential tone of the film, but I can not help wondering if this was something of a reaction to the more populist Jesus portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings." After all, this was 1965 and the Beatles invasion was underway making male hair length a hot issue. This is a Jesus who is too solemn and too sedate for the most part. There is a nice moment where one of the new disciples comments that he likes Jesus' name. The smile and "Thank you" that follow are one of the few glimpses of the charisma of the man from Galilee.

The strength of the film is in the gorgeous cinematography by William C. Mellor (who died on the set of a heart attack) and Loyal Griggs, and scene composition under the direction of George Stevens. The opening narration goes from the opening verses of John shot over ancient Christian murals to a shot of the manager, ending with a shot of the hand of the baby Jesus as the narrator announces in a most simple manner, "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The juxtaposition of images and moments from the live of Jesus is prevalent throughout the film. When Mary and Joseph return from Egypt they travel the road to Nazareth that is lined with the crucified victims of the Roman occupation. The voice of John the Baptist is first heard over a series of aerial shots covering the many miles traveled by all those who came to hear him make straight the way of the Lord.

Stevens shows a deft touch in the large scenes involving crowds. The resurrection of Lazarus is down in a long shot, with the focus more on the faces of those who are witnessing the miracle rather than on the actual emergence from the tomb. To the finale of the Hallelujah Chorus a trio of the faithful ran across the plain to the gates of Jerusalem to spread the good news. There is also a wonderful scene of the confrontation between the Roman soldiers and the crowd that had come to the Temple to hear Jesus preach at night and is reciting Psalm 24 ("Lift up your heads, oh ye gates). The film also contains some nice small touches. When Pilate presents Jesus to the people, the figure of Satan strides through the crowd to utter the first demand for crucifixion. When Mary Magdalene remembers the promise of the resurrection and Thomas proclaims his disbelief, Peter looks up and sees the smiling face of Lazarus. The musical score by Alfred Newman, Hugo Friedhofer and Fred Steiner is wonderfully attuned to what is on the screen.

The main problem is not that there are so many stars in this film--Charlton Heston is an imposing John the Baptist, and Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Sal Mineo as Uriah, and Van Heflin as Bar Amand all perform admirably--but rather the cameo appearances that invariably detract from the moment. It is one thing to recognize David McCallum, Jamie Farr and Russell Johnson in "before they were stars" roles, but it is quite another to suddenly see Sidney Portier help carry the cross or John Wayne silhouetted against the darkening sky as a Roman Centurion. While such cameos may have worked in "The Longest Day" or "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" during the heyday of the fad, they most certainly do not work in this film.

I was surprised to learn this movie was filmed around the Lake Powell region of Arizona, having always assumed it had been filmed in the Holy Land. I would be interested to know which scenes were directed without credit by David Lean (who was finishing up "Doctor Zhivago" at the time) and Jean Negulesco ("Johnny Belinda" and the 1953 "Titanic"). I want to resist the impulse to credit my favorite scenes to Lean rather than Stevens.

The reverential tone of the film ends up hurting the pacing so that it seems overlong at 3 hours and 14 minutes. Ultimately I prefer the vitality of Zefferelli's "Jesus of Nazareth" and the monumental performance of Robert Powell as the quintessential Jesus. But there are several lovely moments in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and I always end up screening one version at Christmas and the other at Easter. The print obviously needs to be RESTORED and the film really should be seen in the widescreen format, although that makes the credits impossible to read.

for more information click here