Franco Zeffirelli
Gesù di Nazareth

"Lean out, lean out and give us one of your speeches
On universal peace
Lean out, lean out, come on don't get tired

Lean out, lean out with your wide gestures
And with your white clothes"

(Edoardo Bennato, "Lean Out, Lean Out" 1975)

In fact, on April 3, 1977, Paul VI really leaned out and during the Angelus recommended to the faithful the viewing of the television script (as they were called at the time) "Jesus of Nazareth" by Zeffirelli, for which the Pope, uniquely in history, had acted as a consultant during filming. Now, the Rai of those years was a Rai that we wish we had today, and it could also afford to call a renowned director (not much loved by me, but his version of "Romeo and Juliet," 1968, was remarkable), put together a cast that even today intimidates when you read it (in order: Anne Bancroft; Michael York; Peter Ustinov; Claudia Cardinale; Valentina Cortese; Christopher Plummer; Laurence Olivier; James Mason; Renato Rascel; Rod Steiger; Anthony Quinn; Ernest Borgnine; Donald Pleasance; Fernando Rey) and to sell a product, however one might think of it, mammoth worldwide (in Italy, the 6 episodes in which the script was articulated were watched by an average of 28 million viewers per evening; in England there were 21 million viewers, while in the US 90 million viewers were counted, with a 53% share; in Germany it was a cult object and grossed, overall, $30,000,000). We were in 1977, fighting with the Red Brigades and terrorism.

The idea of the commodification of religion did not even interest Zeffirelli (he was accused of the same, alleged, nonsense Cecil B. De Mille was in 1956 with that masterpiece that was "The Ten Commandments") and certainly, as a believer, he found it exceptional to be able to represent the life of Jesus, not deviating much from the Scriptures. It must be said that the air of mysticism involved the entire crew, for this purpose a curious episode bordering on the absurd. For the main role Zeffirelli chose the semi-unknown Robert Powell (initially the role was to be given to Al Pacino) for the color of his very blue eyes (eyes that our guy hardly blinks during the film to make, at Zeffirelli's wish, the character more mystical). Powell impressed the crew so much that during a costume break, the seamstress seeing him dressed like Jesus himself mistook him for the real Jesus and knelt at the actor's feet shouting: "Lord!".

Even with some changes from the Bible and, especially, the Gospels, Zeffirelli tells the story of Jesus as we all know it, but not being De André, not having his intellectual depth, he does not reinterpret the life of Jesus in his own way as the Genoese singer-songwriter did in "La buona novella" (1970), who demythologized the saint Jesus making him a Man among Men, and he does not even possess the practicing atheism of Pasolini who humanized the figure in "The Gospel According to Matthew" (1964). Fortunately, neither the frenzied fury that would later strike Mel Gibson in "The Passion of the Christ" (2004), nor, alas, the mystic doubts of Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988). However, he courageously refers to some apocryphal Gospels, and for being a product of the very democratic and very Christian Rai of 1977, that's no small feat. Even narrative gimmicks are used that have their roots in some extra-biblical legends (who ever said the Magi were really 3? The Bible makes no mention of it). The figure of Judas, who in the Gospel is described as a man tormented by the pain of having betrayed his mentor, Zeffirelli describes as a man incapable, even at death's door, even of repenting. An interesting reinterpretation, perhaps in light of a desire not to give humanity to one who, for 30 pieces of silver, betrayed not a Man (because for Zeffirelli Jesus has nothing, or very little, of human, but all or almost all of transcendental) but a Saint.

The actors are all exceptional, including Powell (who ate only cheese for 12 days to appear as "emaciated" as possible in the scenes of the Cross and subsequent Crucifixion), to whom Zeffirelli entrusted the role of a lifetime, perhaps one he would never again dissociate from. The cast, as mentioned, sumptuous, was attracted to the project mainly thanks to the presence of Laurence Olivier, a Catholic of the old school, but above all one of the most acclaimed actors of all time. In the role of Nicodemus, he gives it his best, and he gushed in praises that to Zeffirelli, perhaps, will not have seemed true. See to believe, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BRZXNMpBbyE. Besides the skill of Olivia Hussey in the role of Mary, after being Juliet in the aforementioned film by the Florentine director.

Sure, then not everything works. As always with Zeffirelli. Nothing to object to in the direction of actors, but the surrounding costumes and sets are overly excessive, really too abundant, as well as occasionally annoying oleography. The poetry in many cases is more convoluted than intended, and Zeffirelli's idea of Faith is blindly reverent and dogmatic. One of the screenwriters, Anthony Burgess (who wrote "A Clockwork Orange," who co-signed Zeffirelli's film with Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Masolino D'Amico, and David Butler) repudiated his own work and wrote a novel in which he told his own truth, "The Man of Nazareth" (The Man, indeed, it's easy to understand the contrast of views with the director). The flaws are present, but I believe there are more virtues in an immensely grand film (in length, over 4 hours, in the basic concept of the project, in the number of actors involved, extras, screenwriters, consultants, costume designers, set designers, and so on) that it is very difficult to properly frame.

The protests were not lacking once the film was finished and presented to the public. The saintliness desired by Zeffirelli (who said he wanted to tell of a "gentle, fragile, simple" Jesus) to some seemed too humanized (incredible), and some American fundamentalists, led by a certain Bob Jones III of the Bob Jones University of South Carolina, decided to denounce the film as they viewed it, in their way, blasphemous. Frankly, it is difficult to uphold such nonsense, had they seen Pasolini's Jesus what would they have said, but, evidently, they missed it. Not to mention some protest letters that reached General Motors from 18,000 folks threatening the car manufacturer to withdraw the funding they had intended to give the film (rumored to be $3,000,000). Little stories of human misery, but they well represent what could be stirred up by a cinematic or, as in this case, television work in those years.

The press in Italy went heavy on it. From the pages of Repubblica, a newly launched newspaper, it was said that the film did too much propaganda for Catholics (to the great chagrin of socialists); Il Giorno, a Milanese newspaper, stated that "this Christ sipping a drink with friends then rising to proclaim the Word is implausible". The criticism from the foreign press was milder, but perhaps more interesting were some of Zeffirelli's own statements:

"Sacred texts are messages of life, everything we need to live is found in the Gospel, thus it is only our laziness that prevents us from being richer and happier. Today a lot of time is wasted reading nonsense, all kinds of magazines, instead of dedicating a little time to reading the Gospels. But even when one does, there is a risk of considering them sublime abstractions"

And on the choice of Powell, eyes wide open:"

"If choosing Mary was distressing, choosing Jesus was terrible. I was so worried that in the contract with the producers, I had inserted a clause that would exempt me if I did not find the right actor. First of all, he couldn't be unknown because I had decided to narrate, and therefore he had to be someone capable of embodying the protagonist of the story. Then he had to be English, because the program was initially being filmed in English, and dubbing was not an option. Moreover, he had to be a qualified actor because he had to deliver the most beautiful words ever conceived. In conclusion, he had to be an English actor of a certain maturity but with an age specific to between thirty and thirty-five years. Therefore, he can't just be any person. Because a talented young actor might still be unknown... But if one reaches thirty-three and still hasn't made himself known, it means he's worth nothing. I had thought of Dustin Hoffman. Certainly, it would have broken every mold, but it would have been too dangerous for a program aimed at 700 million people... and two thousand years of iconography are not easily discounted. And then, everyone has their own Jesus in their head, almost always derived from that iconography. Robert Powell, I found by sifting through English theater, from which I have always drawn all my actors. I had chosen him for the part of Judas, but his eyes dismayed me, troubled me. I had him do a screen test for Jesus, even though everyone began to suspect that I didn't have clear ideas. But how could one use the same actor for two such opposing characters... but I had him prepare the classical Nazarene look, and during the audition, the character exploded: control, a wonderful voice, an ability to concentrate... During production, he did things that cannot be asked of an actor, ever. He overcame all challenges with incredible courage and stoicism. But the fact is that something was happening inside him. On certain occasions, it’s not enough to be good... a light, an inspiration exploded within him leaving us all astounded".

Time has given this work luster, which, for those like me who are 40 years old, was a mandatory stop during middle or high school, not out of my own will. Let’s say it holds the record as the most projected film in Italian schools. And someone might object, but isn't the Italian school supposed to be secular? And here I stop.