Jesus of Nazareth: Part Two

Director Franco Zeffirelli speaking about his contribution to 'Jesus of Nazareth' What I really tried to achieve was an almost documentary "accuracy" he contends. I travellled all through North Africa and Palestine to find a village which would would resemble Nazareth as it must of been in the time of 'Jesus'. I was looking for a small pastoral community that would also have the grace to provide a suitable setting for the words of the scriptures, strangely enough, I found the ideal town in a Moslem country. The Gospels were the main source of inspiration in this undertaking. To have done otherwise would o been an act of pure folly. From a purely dramatic point of view the material that can be drawn from the Gospels is unsurpassable. However, we were obliged to dig around for further historical information about the period because the Gospels do not have an descriptive" setting". They were not attempting to write an historical novel, after-all. For 'JESUS OF NAZARETH' we were intrested in painting a gigantic fresco where we wanted to show not only the immediate story of Jesus the man, but also the place and times in which he lived. © ITC