Product Description

JEREMIAH - BIBLE SERIES (DVD MOVIE)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23020 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2000-09-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
The overwhelming conclusion of this 94-minute movie is that being a prophet is tough. Jeremiah (Patrick Dempsey) is repeatedly imprisoned and beaten, dropped into a muddy well face first, and forced to witness the stabbing death of his fiancée. And all for repeating messages from God, most of them urging the Judeans to submit to Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar (Klaus Maria Brandauer). Dempsey gives an earnest performance, ably assisted by a strong supporting cast. Writer-director Harry Winer spends the first part of the film on Jeremiah's formative years of visions, moving on to his contentious relationship with King Zedekiah, who ultimately--and tragically--listened to his general (Oliver Reed) rather than the prophet. This bleak film ends with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians and Jeremiah's self-comforting thought that the city will rise again. Parents should be aware of some disturbing violence: in addition to Jeremiah's fiancée's murder, Zedekiah sees his sons fatally stabbed before he is killed. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Customer Reviews

"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth"
This film is an excellent telling of Jeremiah's life, and although time has been compressed, and some fictitious characters added to fill out the scenario, the heart of this part of biblical history is intact, and follows the accounts given in The Book of Jeremiah, II Kings 23-25, and II Chronicles 34-36.
Some of the additions: The lovely "Judith" (Lenor Varela) as an early love interest, and "General Safan", played by that lionesque man, Oliver Reed, as one of Jeremiah's adversaries, and someone who consistently gives bad advice to the king.
Among the omissions: Jeremiah's good years, when he was a friend and confidant to the devout King Josiah, which ended in 609 B.C. with the Josiah's death.
Jeremiah was older when most of the events that take place in this film occur, and had been ministering since 627 B.C.

The film starts with the finding the scriptures, which King Josiah reads to the people, and a young Jeremiah, "I cannot speak, for I am only a youth" (Jer. 1:6).
Sixteen years elapse, and in some of the following scenes, Jehoiakim (Josiah's son) is king, and the constant and brutal persecution of Jeremiah begins.
Patrick Dempsey is wonderful as Jeremiah, and also Stuart Bunce as his faithful scribe Baruch (it is Baruch who in all probability recorded The Book of Jeremiah).
Enter Nebuchadnezzar, played with gusto by Klaus Maria Brandauer. This is one nasty guy, but he is the instrument to complete Jeremiah's prophesies, with his armies sacking and burning the temple (in 586 B.C.) and the ensuing famine in the land. Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiakim's son and succesor Jehoiachin captive, and and places his uncle Zedekiah (formerly known as Mattaniah) as king.

The final 10 minutes of this film are riveting, with King Zedekiah's fate brilliantly depicted (literaly taken from II Kings 25:7), and Jeremiah's story, though a sad one, is one of faith and perseverance, and well worth watching.
Most of the films in this series are terrific, and have beautiful cinematography by Raffaele Mertes; they are set in Quarzazate, Morocco, with its rugged landscape and ancient structures. A good score by Bruce Broughton adds to the atmosphere, and it's well directed and written (with a fair portion taken from the scriptures) by Harry Winer.

Biblical, Creative, Inspiring
This film demonstrates the tremendous power movies have to inspire and instruct. The production team of Jeremiah did an excellent job of taking a 52 chapter book of the Bible and condensing it accurately to film. The dialogue is Scriptural, creative, and inspiring. The acting is superb. The sets, costumes, and effects are all realistic. But what sets this film apart from other Biblical stories on film is that while some liberties were taken with characters and dialogue, they were both believable and in-line with Scripture. One example ? The character of "Judith". Basically, this young woman is the wife-to-be of Jeremiah. They have a tender relationship, share some adventures together, but never marry. Why ? In the book of Jeremiah, God tells him that he will never marry because of the terrible wrath and destruction the Babylonian armies will bring upon Israel. In creating this character, the writers make the audience feel the pain and devastation such an unction from God would bring--far more than if he had no romantic ties whatsoever. But Judith represents even more. In creating this character, the writers brought to life a living metaphor for all good and lovely things God wanted to give His people to enjoy in their lives--had they been faithful to His commandments. Without this faithfulness to God, He could not bless them with all the good things He loves to bring upon His people. This is just one example of a 'liberty' the writers took that, contrary to most uses of this, greatly enhanced the characters and enriched the story. A definite "must see", for both Jew and Gentile.

The character with creative license
I was not aware that Bible stories were being revisited by movie studios anymore. From the previews of this video, I see that Trimark has made movies of Genesis, Esther, Solomon, Jeremiah, and Jesus. These are all part of a series.

If the other films are like this one, there is a bit of creative license. The book in the Bible deals more with the prophecies from God that Jeremiah told the people of Israel. We get very little about the man. In the movie, however, the writers have given him more of a background. They also provide him with a love interest, and we also see some of his childhood. He also has a couple of helpers including a scribe and a eunuch.

Although I would rather they keep to the Bible, I don't think this background hurts the film. Not every statement from the book of Jeremiah is listed in the movie, but this movie is enjoyable without taking away from the prophet. I would simply remind myself that not all of this is found in the Bible.

I would recommend this movie.