Juan Pablo Di Pace portrays Jesus in the 12-week miniseries “A.D.: The Bible Continues,” premiering on NBC Easter Sunday, April 5, 9-10 p.m. EDT. (CNS photo/courtesy Arenas Group)
NEW YORK (CNS) — The opportunity to watch a biblical interpretation on the big or small screen can be a mixed blessing.
It’s certainly something of a novelty, given the current television culture, to see the story of Jesus’ earthly life — or its aftermath — unfold in a mass-media format. Yet audiences are at the mercy of the directors’ vision of the New Testament — and of its leading personalities.
Franco Zeffirelli’s sweeping 1977 miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth” artfully told the story of the Savior’s birth, ministry, death and resurrection. But some critics at the time bemoaned its mostly lily-white roster of stars.