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I will be with you until the end of time Zefferelli's film, "Jesus of Nazareth" was originally a 6 hour TV miniseries in 1977. When the director announced the film would depict Jesus as human instead of as a religious icon there was massive protest and pullers of advertising, the controversy having the effect of making this one of the most watched TV shows in history. Packed full of some of the world's great actors such as: Robert Powell as Jesus Christ, Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene, Ernest Borgnine as The Centurion, Claudia Cardinale as The Adulteress, James Earl Jones as Balthazar, Stacy Keach as Barabbas, James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea, Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus, Donald Pleasence as Melchior, Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas, Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas, 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 Virgin Mary it's hard to go wrong. Robert Powell makes a great believable Christ, and of course Zefferelli's extravagance pervades the whole film. Hussey and York, who appear in his excellent version of "Romeo and Juliet" grace this one as well, though Powell, the son, looks much older than Hussey, the mother (Bancroft should have been the older Mary). The film's style and substance is both emotion and thought provoking, a synthesis of humanism and spirituality. The story of mythic proportion unfolds from birth to death in a way that lets non-Christians as well as Christians understand and appreciate the historical impact and spiritual importance of the legend. For what matters in the end isn't the historical correctness of the mythology, but how it can be used as metaphor for spiritual enlightenment, as the myths of other religions can. Joseph Campbell sums this perspective up well. In the third millenium, it's extremely important to realize the legitimacy of science in understanding the "how" as much as religion and philosophy in at least beginning to contemplate the "why". I also recommend one of Zefferelli's other great films based on another great legend, "Romeo and Juliet" (1968). And for the philosophy behind the mythology of Christianity and other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, I recommend both Joseph Campbell's and Alan Watt's books, audio, and video lectures. Speaking as someone who leans toward Eastern Philosophy and Western science this film has the potential to spark an interest in Western religion. And the legitimate aspects of all are reconcilable. For as humans we are born explorers, whether of inner or outer space, whether of immediate meanings or Ultimate meaning.