The Nativity Story

My wife and I went to see it today, with a couple of friends. We had to go out to Kanata - it was hardly playing anywhere. The film doesn't appear to be doing all that well, which is a surprise to me, given all the Passion hoopla a few years ago. The nativity (Christmas) may be a less important holiday for Christians than Easter, but for me I must confess, a slightly more resonant one. It is easier to share emotionally in this story - not many people have been part of a crucifixion; but there isn't a person alive who hasn't taken part in a birth story of their own.

Knowing the director's reputation, I was surprised by the film, I have to say. Although the narrative centers around Mary, this is really Joseph's story, which is an inspired thing to do since he is the least known of the characters - Joseph always just stands there in a Nativity display - everyone else's representations, three wise men inclusive, have stories to tell about how they got there in their posture.

Hardwicke is a specialist in telling girls' stories, but here she focuses on the emotional journey of Joseph, and it rings true. She authentically captures and amplifies what it is to become a father, through sacred story. Now when I say amplifies, I mean amplifies! Joseph isn't just disconnected from the pregnancy the way we men are - he's been told that Heaven itself is the source of this child. He's not wondering just about how he can be a good father to the child who is coming, but whether he can be a father at all to a child of such stature. And finally, his overcome joy when the baby arrives in a ray of starlight is not just joy at the arrival of his own son, but one who is for "all humankind" as Mary later tells the shepherd.

Still the story was so close to my own fatherhood that I leaked, as my wife put it. A mother's connection begins right away. But during a pregnancy, a father worries, wonders what to do with himself, and tries to be strong when the mother is looking. But when the baby comes, the moment is exactly like it is for Joseph in the film. It is as though the Heavens break open, and the light of God shines down, and joy permeates and infuses all of existence. I am a father! And you are a mother!

I don't think I have ever been more moved during a film... there have been better movies. But few have spoken to me like this.