Jesus of Nazareth () is a 1977 epic television drama serial directed by Franco Zeffirelli and co-written by Anthony Burgess and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, which dramatizes the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It stars Robert Powell as Jesus, and features an all-star ensemble cast of renowned actors, including seven who had won or would go on to win Academy Awards: Anne Bancroft, Ernest Borgnine, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, Peter Ustinov; and James Earl Jones who received an Academy Honorary Award. Additionally, the ensemble cast also featured Academy Award nominees James Mason, Ian Holm, Ian Bannen and Valentina Cortese.

Some scenes were added during the writing process, with some characters (such as Zerah) added for brevity or dramatic effect. Jesus of Nazareth depicts Judas Iscariot as initially well-intentioned, but later as a selfish dupe of Zerah's who betrays Jesus largely as a result of Zerah's false platitudes and pretexts. However, in accordance with the Gospels, the film depicts Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as sympathetic members of the Sanhedrin. Many of the miracles of Jesus, such as the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the transfiguration, and the calming of the storm, are not shown, although Jesus's healing of Jairus's daughter, healing the centurion's servant, the blind man and the crippled woman on the Sabbath, the feeding of the multitude, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead are presented.

Jesus of Nazareth premiered on 27 March 1977, on the Italian channel Rai 1, and was first aired in the United Kingdom, on 3 April 1977, on the ITV Network. It was a huge ratings success and received acclaim, with particular praise for Powell's portrayal of Jesus.

Plot summary The narrative of Jesus of Nazareth is a kind of cinematic Diatessaron, or Gospel harmony, blending all four New Testament accounts. It presents Jesus as both God and man. During the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, John speaks God's words "this is my beloved son." The familiar Christian episodes are presented chronologically: the betrothal, and later marriage, of Mary and Joseph; the Annunciation; the Visitation; the circumcision of John the Baptist; the Nativity of Jesus; the visit of the Magi; the circumcision of Jesus; the Census of Quirinius; the flight into Egypt and Massacre of the Innocents; the Finding in the Temple; the Baptism of Jesus.

Gospel accounts depicted also include the woman caught in adultery; the healing of Jairus' daughter; Jesus helping Peter catch the fish; the Parable of the Prodigal Son; a dialogue between Jesus and Barabbas (non-Biblical); Matthew's dinner party; the Sermon on the Mount; debating with Joseph of Arimathea; the curing of the blind man at the pool; the Raising of Lazarus (John 11:43); the Feeding of the Five Thousand; the entry into Jerusalem; Jesus and the money changers; the Parable of the Two Sons; healing the centurion's servant; dialogue with Nicodemus; the Last Supper; the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.

At the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus, Jesus is accused of blasphemy for calling himself the son of the God of Israel. Caiaphas announces "the LORD our God, the LORD is one", denying the God of Israel has a son. Ensuing scenes include Peter's denial of Christ and subsequent repenting; the judgment of Jesus by Pilate ("Ecce Homo"); the Johannine Passion Narrative (John 18–19; including the Agony in the Garden); the Carrying of the Cross; the Crucifixion of Christ (Sir Laurence Olivier's Nicodemus recites the "Suffering Servant" passage (Isaiah 53:3-5) as he looks helplessly on the crucified Messiah); the discovery of the empty tomb; and an appearance of the Risen Christ to his Disciples. The storyline concludes with the non-Biblical character Zerah and his colleagues gazing despairingly into the empty tomb. Zerah laments, "Now it begins. It all begins".

Cast Starring Robert Powell as Jesus Guest stars

Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene Ernest Borgnine as the Roman Centurion Claudia Cardinale as the Adulteress Valentina Cortese as Herodias James Farentino as Peter James Earl Jones as Balthazar Stacy Keach as Barabbas Tony Lo Bianco as Quintillius James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea Ian McShane as Judas Iscariot Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus Donald Pleasence as Melchior Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas Fernando Rey as Gaspar Ralph Richardson as Simeon Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate Peter Ustinov as Herod the Great Michael York as John the Baptist

And Olivia Hussey as Mary Also starring Cyril Cusack as Yehuda Ian Holm as Zerah Yorgo Voyagis as Joseph With Ian Bannen as Amos Marina Berti as Elizabeth Regina Bianchi as Anne Maria Carta as Martha Lee Montague as Habakkuk Renato Rascel as The Blind Man Oliver Tobias as Joel Co-starring

Norman Bowler as Saturninus Robert Beatty as Proculus John Phillips as Naso Ken Jones as Jotham Nancy Nevinson as Abigail Renato Terra as Abel Roy Holder as Enoch Jonathan Adams as Adam Lorenzo Monet as Jesus aged 12 years Robert Davey as Daniel Oliver Smith as Saul George Camiller as Hosias Murray Salem as Simon the Zealot Tony Vogel as Andrew Michael Cronin as Eliphaz Steve Gardner as Philip Derek Godfrey as Elihu Renato Montalbano as Jairus John Duttine as John Michael Haughey as Nahum Keith Skinner as Possessed Boy Cyril Shaps as Possessed Boy's Father Jonathan Muller as James, son of Zebedee John Tordoff as Malachi Isabel Mestres as Salome Bruce Lidington as Thomas Keith Washington as Matthew Mimmo Crao as Jude Thaddeus John Eastham as Bartholomew Sergio Nicolai as James, son of Alphaeus Francis de Wolff as Simon the Pharisee Antonello Campodifiori as Ircanus Paul Curran as Samuel Tim Pearce as Rufus Mark Eden as Quartus Bruno Barnabe as Ezra Simon MacCorkindale as Lucius Forbes Collins as Jonas Lionel Guyett as Haggai Soni Razdan as Lily Martin Benson as Pharisee Peter Harlowe as Valerius Carl Forgione as Plotinus Donald Sumpter as Aram Pino Colizzi as Jobab Robert Brown as Pharisee Harold Bennett as Elder Robert Mallard as Quazra Abdelmajid Lakhal as the Farisaeum Christopher Reich as Circumcision Priest and as Metellus

Previous collaborations with Zeffirelli Several cast members had already featured in previous Zeffirelli productions. British actors Hussey, York, Holder, Lovell and Skinner had featured in Romeo and Juliet as Juliet, Tybalt, Peter, Sampson and Balthasar respectively. Additionally, Olivier did uncredited work as the narrator and dubbing voice of Lord Montague. Colizzi, who appeared as Jobab, had previously dubbed York's Tybalt in the Italian version of Romeo and Juliet. Colizzi also dubbed Robert Powell in the Italian version of this miniseries, and in order to avoid having two characters with the same voice, another actor (Cesare Barbetti) dubbed Colizzi's lines. Claudia Cardinale, Valentina Cortese, Regina Bianchi, Maria Carta and Renato Rascel dubbed themselves in the Italian dub.

Production Development The drama was conceived when Lew Grade was received by Pope Paul VI, who congratulated him on the making of Moses the Lawgiver, a 1974 television film starring Burt Lancaster and produced by Grade's ITC Entertainment and the Italian television network RAI. At the end of the interview, the Pope told him he hoped his next project would be about the life of Jesus. Two weeks later, while dining with an RAI executive, Grade told him he intended their companies to prepare such a film. Directing duties were offered to Franco Zeffirelli – a religious Roman Catholic who knew the Pontiff from his days as the Archbishop of Milan, when he often visited Zeffirelli's school – on the Pope's initiative, who insisted that either he would make Jesus of Nazareth or no one else. The director rejected the proposal at first, but Grade finally convinced him to agree; he accepted the job shortly before Christmas 1973.

Screenwriter Anthony Burgess later recounted the launching of the project in an essay entitled "Telejesus (or Mediachrist)":The notion of making a six-hour television film on the life of Jesus Christ was proposed by an ennobled British Jew, with the golden blessing of an American automobile corporation. The project struck some as blasphemous, others as ecumenical. Lord Grade, then Sir Lew Grade, presided over a massive press conference in the Holy City, (Rome), and said all that was available to be said—namely, that there would be this film, that Zeffirelli would direct it, and that Burgess would write it. Fired by this announcement, the Romans laid on a great, as it were, First Supper, which the Chief Rabbi of Rome attended, as well as various cricket-playing British ecclesiastics. Sir Lew Grade was made a Cavaliere of the Republic. The Pope was noticeably absent.

Both Grade and Zeffirelli insisted their adaptation of Jesus's life should be "ecumenical", coherent, even to non-believers, and "acceptable to all denominations". To ensure the film's accuracy, the producers consulted experts from the Vatican, the Leo Baeck Rabbinical College of London, and the Koranic School at Meknes, Morocco. However, when Zeffirelli asked Rabbi Albert Friedlander to help him create Jesus's Bar Mitzvah scene, the latter replied that such ceremonies were practised only from the 15th century. The director, however, insisted on including it, and Friedlander tried to teach child actor Lorenzo Monet to read a short portion of the Pentateuch in Hebrew. Monet, however, mumbled it and the director was not satisfied (in the film, boy Jesus reads mostly in English).

Casting Jesus The producers at first considered choosing a well-known star, who would draw a large audience, for the role of Christ. The first actor thought of was Dustin Hoffman, and Al Pacino was also a candidate. Zeffirelli decided to look for an actor whom the audience would immediately identify as Jesus. For example, Hoffman and Pacino both stand at just 5'6", and neither man's face bears a resemblance to Jesus as depicted in art, which has been based for many centuries on the image found on The Shroud of Turin. The image on the shroud is that of a man who is 6'. Eventually, the character's likeness was influenced by Warner Sallman's portrait painting Head of Christ: Paul Harvey and Edward J. Blum wrote the show "put Sallman's imagination in motion". The Virgin Mary was depicted by Olivia Hussey.

The idea to cast Robert Powell originated with Grade's wife, Kathie Moody, who told her husband the actor had "wonderful blue eyes" after watching his performance in a BBC television adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. Powell came under criticism from religious groups for "living in sin" with his companion, dancer Barbara Lord of Pan's People, while intending to portray Jesus. The couple married shortly before production began. As of 2025, Powell and Lord have been married for 50 years.

Powell rarely blinks throughout the entire film, mimicking, in this respect, H. B. Warner in 1927's The King of Kings and Max von Sydow in 1965's The Greatest Story Ever Told. This effect was a deliberate decision by Zeffirelli. James Houlden commented that the result was "a penetrating, unrelenting eye contact with Jesus's." A dark blue eyeliner was applied on set to accentuate Powell's blue eyes. Powell's portrayal has since become an often-used image in popular devotional art, and "defined the visual image of Christ in the minds of the audience... Perhaps more than any other Jesus film."

For the crucifixion scene, Powell starved himself on a diet of only cheese for twelve days prior to shooting "in order to look worn".

Filming