Miracle Maker

Starring: Michael Bryant, Ralph Fiennes Director: Derek W Hayes, Stanislav Sokolov Original UK Premiere: 2000 Dvd Release: 30th October, 2000 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Animated, PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: English

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This animated feature-length life of Jesus boasts a stellar pedigree. Originally a BBC Wales production, it showcases the voices of some of Britains finest actors in any medium: Ralph Fiennes as a brooding & humble Jesus, Miranda Richardson as Mary Magdalene, Richard E. Grant as John the Baptist & David Thewlis as Judas. The lovely, flute-heavy score is by Oscar-winner Anne Dudley . And clearly a lot of expense has gone into the Claymation-like animation. But while its hard to find fault with the rendering of this familiar story, it is respectful & definitely done, you might say, by the Book, it would have been nice if there had been a tad more joy, if it walked a bit lighter in its sandals. As it is, all the characters seem consistently subdued, whether they are expressing angst, rage, terror or bliss, none of which is helped by the figures blank-eyed stares . Still, the weight of having such formidable actors play these familiar roles lends the production a certain credibility, & parents looking for good religious videos that wont insult their kids intelligence will be thrilled.

Michael Bryant was a British actor, who produced many highly-acclaimed performances on stage & television. Bryant made his film debut in 1955. His greatest moment on screen was his leading role as Mathieu in BBC2 s 1970 adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre s Roads to Freedom trilogy & his cameo role in the BBC drama series, Colditz, is still widely remembered. Although he continued to appear in films & television & in several Shakespearean productions, he never became a household name. In 1980, he won the London Drama Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor & his other theatrical performances were equally well thought of. Bryant won Laurence Olivier Awards in 1988 & 1990 & was nominated twice more.

Editors Choice: Miracle Maker, The Stone Tape, View DVDology

Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes is a British actor. Born in Suffolk, he is the older brother of actor Joseph Fiennes. Having trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988. He is the only actor ever to have won a Tony Award for playing Hamlet on Broadway. In 2001 Fiennes received the William Shakespeare Award from the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington. Fiennes film debut was in 1992, when he played Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights opposite Juliette Binoche. But it was in the following year that he became known internationally, portraying Amon Goeth, the amoral Nazi concentration camp commander in Schindlers List, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1994 he portrayed New England aristocrat Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show & in 1996 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The English Patient. Fiennes career has gone from horror to animated Biblical epic to campy nostalgia to romantic comedy. He married actress Alex Kingston in 1993, but they divorced in 1997. Posters Of Ralph Fiennes

Editors Choice: Constant Gardener, The Constant Gardener, Wallace And Gromit, Maid In Manhattan, Spider, The English Patient, Red Dragon, Miracle Maker, View DVDology

Stanislav Sokolov, born May 18th, 1947, is a Russian stop-motion animation director. He graduated from VGIK in 1971 & has since then worked with Studios Soyuzmultfilm, DEFA, Christmasfilms & S4C. He was awarded a number of prizes for his films, most notably an Emmy in 1992 for his contribution to The Animated Shakespeare series. Sokolov is teaching at VGIK, where he is Professor for Animation & Computer Graphics. «The Guess» «About Ruff Ruffovich» «Der Soldat und der Garten» «The Homeless Hobgoblings» «The Fish Carriage» «Black & White Cinema» «Falling Shadow» «The Great Underground Ball» «And whats under the mask?» «The Tempest » «The Winters Tale » «The Miracle Maker» «Alfatitah » «Our Father » «Shma Israel » «Hoffmaniada» The Russian Animation Databases entry on Stanislav Sokolov The New York Times entry on the Miracle Maker IMDBs entry on The Tempest

Editors Choice: Miracle Maker, View DVDology

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