Here are a few updates on the upcoming birth-of-Jesus-epic Nativity:Over at Jesus Creed, Scot McKnight reflects on the film and its screenplay, which he says is as “faithful to the Gospels as a movie from Hollywood can be.” Then his ruminations move on to the dramatization of the story:
Dramatizing the Bible inevitably involves interpretation at the hand of the director (Catherine Hardwicke, Thirteen). Most importantly, the producers will have to fill in gaps by guessing – on the basis of hints and evidence from the world of Jesus – what the characters were like. What did Joseph and Mary look like? What kind of clothing did they wear? What kinds of expressions will be seen in their eyes and faces? What kind of emotions will we see? What kind of tone do they bring to their words? Were they afraid? Were they ever-faithful? Did they wonder how God would bring all of this about?Good questions—which we may get answers to sooner than we think as the film has some upcoming screenings prior to its general release in December. Matt at BibleFilms blog focuses on some of the outreach efforts coming along side the film, including two study guides from Pauline Press and an upcoming Nov. 9 National Outreach Convention screening of the film in which screen writer Mike Rich will be “giving insights into the outreach opportunity that the film presents.” For more info on these, see Matt’s blog post. Queen Spoo’s Nativity Movie blog lists out resouces provided by Outreach Inc. (who's sponsoring the convention), from free sermons to banners, bulletin covers and doorhangers to a pastors’ screening of the film yet to be scheduled. Spoo also lets us know the film has an official rating of PG.
Lastly, according to Christian Today: New Line Records and Word Records are releasing The Nativity Story: Sacred Songs, a collection of music inspired by the film.
(Image: NewLine)