Director D.J. Caruso Hopes to Honor Mary in New Netflix Movie Release
Through the years, many movies and television programs have been made that feature the Nativity story. And in most cases, the story focuses on the birth of Jesus in the unlikeliest of circumstances. In this case, in a stable’s manger because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn.
However, very few films have honed in on Mary and Joseph beyond the fact that Jesus was immaculately conceived in a teenager’s womb.
In Mary, releasing on Netflix this weekend, director D.J. Caruso explores Mary’s timeless coming of age story, one where she is rejected following this otherworldly conception and must flee due to King Herod’s maniacal thirst for power and his desire to rid the world of the newly born messiah.
Starring Noa Cohen (Mary), Ido Tako (Joseph) and Oscar award winning Anthony Hopkins (King Herod), Mary portrays the mother of Christ with reverence but has come under fire due to adding storylines and theatrical touches not rooted in Scripture.
I recently sat down with Caruso, a devout Catholic, to discuss why he chose to take on this subject after 30 years of making thrillers and action movies, what he learned about the greatest story ever told while filming, and how he hopes to reach a younger audience with his retelling of the most important birth in human history.
By my count, you have now directed more than 30 films, TV shows, or shorts. You've directed films such as Eagle Eye, Disturbia, and Two For the Money. This movie is not like those action type movies. Why the change of pace with Mary?
As a filmmaker, you're always looking for a challenge. And you're always looking to find a character that can speak to you or someone. You are looking for some reason to make the movie. So for me, I don't want to say I've genre jumped, but I've gone from thrillers to dramas to coming of age stories to big action movies. So, I've kind of genre jumped my whole career because it's really just trying to find a character. And I wanted to shine a light on Mary because I'd been looking for a while and read a couple screenplays over the years that weren't quite what I was looking for. But I really wanted to tell a story from her point of view, like centering the movie on her and seeing what it would be like to be a young woman, to have to go through this extraordinary experience, and what it would take.
I read the script and I was just really compelled by what I could have done with this. And so, I talked to the writer and kind of worked on certain things and aspects to bring my faith and certain aspects to it. Then we worked together and crafted a script. I thought, wow, I can really go make this movie and shine a light on this remarkable young woman. I thought, wouldn't it be great if a younger generation could have a deeper appreciation for a myriad experience if they watched this movie?
This is one of those stories where you “have to get right” or subject yourself to a wealth of negative feedback. What types of things did you do as a director to ensure that you presented the story in such a way that people would be satisfied and pleased?
I think the main thing to do in order to get it right would be to make a movie that celebrates the grace, love, sacrifice, and the divinity of who Mary is. So that’s first and foremost, to honor that and really kind of base it on the Scriptures that we all know and have come accustomed to and its different interpretations. But to anchor it in that, and then to sort of go and branch off and say, how do we fill in these gaps and still keep the reverence of this story? For me, it was really important to do this. I consulted with a good friend of mine, Bishop David O'Connell in Los Angeles, about what I could do and which directions we could go and still honor this. Also, how to give Joseph a voice when he doesn't have a voice in the Gospels. How do you create something that would honor that?
And so, you have to use your interpretation, but I think the answer to your question, in order to please everybody, you have to come from a place of honesty where you're celebrating grace and love, and the life of Mary. That would be kind of the unifying factor. I'm sure I was always aware that there was going to be nitpicking about this and that. But at the end of the day, it's really about the honor we pay to her. And that was important.
Over the years, there have been many movies and television shows about Mary and the birth of Jesus Christ, some good and others, well, not so favorable. From your perspective, what sets Mary apart?
What sets us apart from the others is that my objective was to immerse you in Mary's story. I think you're right. One, the movies that work well when you kind of go back and experience them are the ones that sort of put you into the situation where you can really be in there with her and understand the decisions she makes. When she's looking left, you're looking left and feeling it. And so that was really what I wanted to do. We've never really fully seen a movie that centers on just Mary, and then experiences the world around her. She's been part of great stories, great movies, and all these aspects of things. But it's never really been from her perspective and her point of view where she's going to take us into this world and we experience it with her when she's scared, or she’s hiding from Roman soldiers. We're with her when she's seeing Joseph for the first time, and then their engagement.
As we were discussing earlier, the Nativity Story is one that most people have heard about or at least have some basic bit of knowledge about it. As you were making this movie, what was something that you learned about Mary and the Nativity Story that you never realized before?
When I was making this film I often asked myself, why am I doing this? Lord, please tell me why I'm doing this? And I'll never forget, we were shooting the annunciation and Gabriel had come to see Mary. He sees her, and we did this beautiful thing. It was probably three or four in the morning and it had been raining but it stopped. I like to operate the camera as well, and I was operating the camera. And our DP (director of photography) was on the other camera. And it all kind of settles down. The wind and the rain kind of comes back when Gabriel disappears. And, Noa playing Mary says, “Let it be done to me. Let it be me.” And a tear just came rolling down my cheek. It just came out. I just realized how she made this choice. Obviously she was chosen, but she made this choice so instantaneously by saying, “I'll take this Lord, let it be me.” And that was the discovery for me as a filmmaker. That's the thing I learned. And then it made me think, this is where the youth are in our world right now. They have to understand that if they can turn it over to the Lord and let Him in with all this noise, all this other stuff, you're going to fight it. You're going to have to fight it. You're going to have to be courageous. But we need to do what Mary did, which is first accepting that, accepting with her heart.
After audiences have had a chance to see Mary, as a director, what would you like to see people take away from that experience? What is your greatest hope for the film?
My greatest hope is that people will feel closer to Mary. That they just feel closer to her and they feel like they have a relationship that's even more cemented and close, and respect what she went through. I would love for younger audiences to see Mary as a contemporary along with Joseph, where the decisions that they had to make are just as complex or more so than the ones that our youth have today. You have to make certain decisions. I hope viewers will feel closer to her (Mary) and have a reverence for her because you are experiencing her as a human. You understand what her human plight was. I think that is really important. My 17-year-old daughter said this after she saw the movie. She said, “I didn't know Mary was so cool.” That to me is a victory. That's worth everything right there.
'Mary' is now available for streaming on Netflix.
WATCH A TRAILER FOR MARY:
