Easter is around the corner and at the Florence-based Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli (Piazza San Firenze 5) they are anticipating the celebrations with a special event about "Jesus of Nazareth".
Shot as a miniseries divided in five episodes and premiered between March and April 1977 on the Italian State TV Rai, this British-Italian co-production was a hit in Italy and abroad, thanks to its international cast that included Robert Powell as Jesus, Peter Ustinov as Herod, Ernest Borgnine as The Centurion, Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas and Claudia Cardinale as The Adulteress.
The film followed the New Testament and featured a screenplay by Anthony Burgess, Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Franco Zeffirelli and David Butler. It was a monumental series praised by the critics for its cast, striking locations (it was filmed between Tunisia and Morocco) and attention to details made possible by a professional crew of technicians and artisans who worked behind the scenes.
The event at the Fondazione allows to discover the background research behind the film, from the books Zeffirelli studied to documents, notes, and photographs taken on the set.
The most interesting pieces on display are the illustrations and drawings for the storyboard: the preproduction sketches are incredibly detailed and reveal a great interest not just in the characters but also in the architectures surrounding them.
The sketches for the scenes of the Last Supper or the door of Jerusalem and the Golgotah are indeed examples of archi-sets, film sets in which the architecture of the location assumes the role of co-protagonist.
The even does not include the film costumes by Marcel Escoffier and Enrico Sabbatini, but costume design students and fans visiting the Fondazione will discover in the other rooms of the institution garments and accessories from several movies, operas and theatre performances directed by Zeffirelli.
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