The Nativity Story

The Nativity Story is a 2006 American biblical drama film based on the nativity of Jesus and directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The film stars Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub, Alexander Siddig, Ciarán Hinds, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. The Nativity Story premiered in Vatican City on November 26, 2006, making it the first film to hold a world premiere in the city, and was released in the United States on December 1, 2006, by New Line Cinema. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $46 million worldwide. Plot The story begins in the Roman province of Judea with the portrayal of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Nativity. The remainder of the film portrays the Annunciation and birth of Jesus Christ to explain why King Herod the Great (Ciarán Hinds) ordered the murder. One year before the massacre, Zechariah (Stanley Townsend), a rabbi in Jerusalem, is making an offering, when he is told in a vision by the Archangel Gabriel (Alexander Siddig) that his wife, Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), will bear a son. Zechariah does not believe him, stating that he is too old, and Gabriel tells him that he will be unable to speak until the boy is born. In Nazareth, 14-year-old Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) lives a peaceful life with her family, only for that to be ruined as soldiers constantly come to collect taxes; one man, unable to pay, has a third of his land seized and his daughter pressed into debt slavery. Mary, betrothed to 32-year-old Joseph of Judaea (Oscar Isaac), is soon visited by Archangel Gabriel and told that she will become pregnant with God's son, whom she will name "Jesus". He tells her that God has blessed her cousin Elizabeth with a child despite her old age. Mary visits her before the harvest, where she witnesses the birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who regains his speech. Mary returns from the visit pregnant, to the shock of Joseph and her parents, who fear that Joseph will accuse her of adultery, a sin punishable by death through stoning according to the Torah. Joseph does not believe Mary's religious explanation but decides not to accuse her. Still shocked and angry, he is later visited in a dream by the Archangel Gabriel, who tells him of God's plan for Mary's son and to take Mary as his wife.