Musings!

Joseph (Bekim Fehmiu), Mary (Maria del Carmen San Martin) and a young Jesus (Matteo Bellina) in the middle of the desert in A CHILD CALLED JESUS (1990)

It's that time of the year when it becomes awkward for the PEPLUM genre. Christmas is basically the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Oddly enough, there aren't that many movies about that period. Yes, there are some movies like BEN-HUR (1959) which shows Joesph and the virgin Mary in the manger with baby Jesus but the story instantly fast forwards to when Jesus is an adult. Since there are so few movies about the birth of Jesus, it's always difficult for me to post about it during this festive time. Well, there's this Italian mini-series directed by Franco Rossi, who also directed the more famous THE ODYSSEY (1968) which also starred Bekim Fehmiu. The original Italian mini-series had 4 episodes but there's an English version which was abbreviated down to a 3 hour movie...I think. Anyway, the mini-series shows scenes of a young Jesus with scenes of a 30+ year old Jesus. It goes back and forth like this throughout the series. Even though it was made in 1990, the mini-series looks like THE ODYSSEY, made 22 years before that.