María from Netflix: Her successes and mistakes

FILM REVIEW: The new film portrays the Virgin Mary with reverence, but takes troubling liberties with Catholic doctrine.

The story of Mary and Christmas is as old as faith and as fresh as the future. What could be (or should be) more welcome at Christmas time than a film about Mary and the birth of Jesus? On December 6, a film titled María.

Directed by the Catholic DJ Carusoand with the intention of making a reverent film, María It does not skimp on drama centered on the Mother of Christ. For authenticity, Caruso cast Israeli actress Noa Cohen and actor Ido Tako to play Mary and Joseph. The most recognizable name in the cast is Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays Herod. The casting of little-known actors becomes a point in this film’s favor.

María It’s the kind of movie you hardly see. I wish there was more on this topic. But for Catholic viewers, there are several important reservations to keep in mind.

The script went through many rewrites, with consultation from Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, and takes creative license with dialogue, scenes and historical and theological realities. Even so, it is far from the real story.

As this film focuses on Mary’s early life, the events begin with Anna and Joachim asking the Lord for a child, followed by Mary’s birth and a brief look at her childhood until she is taken to the Temple. There, María is received by Ana, who would later be Ana herself in the Presentation. It’s all very atmospheric. An Israeli actor and actress play Joaquín and Ana in a sympathetic and sympathetic way.

As Mary, Cohen is innocent, modest and, at 22, believable as a young woman who will receive the divine message from the archangel Saint Gabriel. We see the innocence and virtue of Mary, her charity and her care for the poor and beggars, bringing food from the table of the Temple girls. She is attacked spiritually and physically as Lucifer tries to tempt her in the Temple, but Gabriel comes to her aid.

Obviously, these are fictional “what ifs,” like the film’s depiction of Joseph’s encounter with Mary, when he forages for food and sees her across the river washing clothes, wanting to help her retrieve a veil. This hinted at 20th-century “congenial encounter” seems designed to connect with younger audiences. Since Joseph was guided to that meeting by a strange figure cloaked in a blue robe—the angel Gabriel—he simply knocks on Mary’s parents’ door and claims her as his wife. This is highly unlikely, given the Jewish courtship norms of the time.

Then, some of the most beautiful scenes and words in the Bible, as written by Luke, are strangely absent. When Gabriel comes to bring the best possible message to Mary, he is a shadowy and terrifying figure in the same robe, his face mostly covered, not like a magnificent archangel. Why the darkness? No ray of sunshine, a perfect symbol for such a joyful announcement?

Gabriel tells him that his Son will reign over the house of David. But his eloquent explanation of how that Son “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father is omitted; He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end… He will be called the Son of God” (Lucas 1,32-35).

Mary responds “Let it be done to me.” However, Luke writes that Mary responded to Gabriel, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; May it be done to me according to your word.”

Without giving away too many plot details, Mary is waiting while at the Temple, tells Anna about the baby, and a curious girl rats out the Temple priestess, who then embarrasses Mary (again, an event invented for dramatic effect ).

The same goes for Mary’s exceptional visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Here, it is very brief, depicted in a dark, cave-like space, illuminated only by a small kitchen flame. Elizabeth is happy, but does not convey Luke’s description of an Elizabeth “filled with the Holy Spirit and (who) exclaimed with a loud voice, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’” All of Mary’s beautiful words in the Magnificat, which have resonated for 2,000 years, are absent, omitting Mary’s essential prayer as she shows her obedience to God’s will and her understanding of how these events will resonate throughout the centuries.

Herod’s role

Naturally, this goodness is met with opposition. The film doesn’t skimp on Herod, who claims to be the only king of the Jews. He appears in a much larger role than in similar films. Its many scenes alternate with scenes of Mary, Joseph, their family and the Messiah. The result: The contrast between good and evil stands out unmistakably.

Hopkins is the quintessential Herod, capturing all the cunning, brutality, and absolute evil that drives the tyrant. Little by little, he also enters into paranoia. Hopkins is the king of all actors who have played Herod. None have shown that real malice with this degree of intensity. Naturally, violence in various forms underscores Herod’s brutality.

Typical in biblical and historical films, dramatic license is taken here to imagine events and sometimes pair them with basic realities and not always in chronological order. For example, when Jesus is born, a talkative shepherd tells Herod about the news.

Joseph’s place

Saint Joseph rescues Mary more than once, such as from what appears to be certain death by stoning instigated by you-know-who. Tako is the right age to play Joseph, but he doesn’t project the maturity that Maria’s husband surely had. Because Joseph was strong but quiet, his dialogue is necessarily a dramatic invention. (“I have never experienced anything like this in my entire life,” he tells Maria. “Something changed in me when I saw your daughter, a beautiful, soft creature dancing in the wind. And I knew that she is my wife. It would never have happened if this strange man in a blue robe would not have led me to her.

At the same time, José shows determination, defending and protecting María, even fighting for her honor and, in an action worthy of a movie, facing alone a crowd of villagers when they want to stone her. He saves her, saying, “I don’t care about this. But what I do know is that I am going to love this child the best I can. … I will love you the best I can.”

Upon arriving in Bethlehem, Mary is suffering. In a strange twist, the devil appears to tell him that he will ease his pain. She faints. He takes her. It is necessary for Saint Joseph to rescue her. Does anyone really think that God would allow the devil to do that to his chosen Mary?

Mary’s birth

Mary is then shown suffering intensely during childbirth, while two midwives assist. This is not in accordance with Catholic teaching. From the beginning, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, including Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas, have taught that Mary would be the only one exempt from such pains as a sign of her unique holiness. She alone had no original sin.

Saint Irenaeus, in the second century, referred to the prophecy of Isaiah: “Before she had labor pains, she gave birth; Before the pain came, she gave birth to a son. Who has heard of something similar? “Who has seen anything like that?” (Isaiah 66:7). St. Gregory of Nyssa, around 380, explained that “there were no labor pains…his birth occurred only without labor pains,” also referring to Isaiah. And Saint Augustine taught: “At the moment of conception, you were completely pure; When you gave birth, you were without pain.” Saint Thomas Aquinas explains further.

The scene becomes reverent as visitors arrive at Jesus’ birthplace and the Three Kings present their gifts.

Return to Jerusalem for the Presentation

Simeon is beautifully portrayed as the humble and reverent people that they are. Ana is waiting for María in a touching moment. However, there is a rather strange chronological reversal. This return to Jerusalem for the Presentation occurs after Herod’s soldiers are massacring the infants, as the story turns into an “action” movie with a chase of the Holy Family.

The good thing? Kids will find this movie more welcoming than the 2018 version of The star of Bethlehem.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in National Catholic Register.