Easter Recommendation: ‘The Miracle Maker’ (1999)

Easter is here and I thought I’d be positive for a change and share with you all a film that has been a staple of the holiday in my family for more than twenty years. Whatever your religious preferences, or if you’re fan of unique animation, or if like me you believe kids deserve better than crappy animation, and sappy storytelling, there is something for you here in this unsung milestone of stop-motion animation that was almost completely overlooked and was never to be duplicated. 

Released in 1999, The Miracle Maker was directed by Stanislav Sokolov and made by a team of Welsh and Russian animators at Sianel 4 Cymru, a Welsh television studio that had already produced The Animated Shakespeare and Testament: The Bible in Animation (which also has the distinction of being one of the few Bible stories show that brings a fresh perspective to the ancient tales).

Their first feature film here tells the story of Jesus through several perspectives, but mainly from the view of Jairus’ daughter (here named Tamar), and of Jesus himself. 

Unlike most stop-motion films, The Miracle Maker boasts strikingly realistic figures and surprisingly fluid motions. Backgrounds are rich in detail and color: Water ripples, cloth billows in the breeze, and the sun shines on stone houses. 

Traditional hand-drawn animation is also used to illustrate the parables of Jesus, for flashbacks, or to show events that would have been too difficult to portray in stop-motion (such as the exorcism of Mary Magdalene). 

Like every other person on the planet, I hear the term “faith-based film” and I run in the opposite direction. This is not a “faith-based” film, it is not selling anything, it does not treat Jesus as a commodity that must be sold, it simply, and powerfully, tells an ancient story as a story, and it weaves the different elements of different gospels together quite seamlessly, which is no small feat.  It takes its subject seriously, and Anne Dudley’s haunting score gives the whole thing an epic sweep. (Anne Dudley is also severely underrated; Be sure to let the credits play for her Pie Jesu, it is a 

thing of beauty). The voice acting is also excellent, featuring a bevy of English staples, including Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, and others. William Hurt plays the voice of Jairus. I’m pretty sure Peter didn’t have a Cockney accent, but whatever. Never took me out of the story.

Animation has always been the best medium for Biblical stories and indeed all mythic and legendary tales. It allows the film to fully embrace the grand scale of the supernatural elements of the story without having to ground them in a “realistic” or historical setting, which tends to diminish the full scale of the thing. In that sense, The Miracle Maker is right up there with The Prince of Egypt as one of the best “Bible” movies of all time and one of the most unique and beautiful animated film, and I think it’s about time it got the recognition it deserved.

The cast includes Ralph Fiennes (Jesus), Julie Christie (Rachel), William Hurt (Jairus), Michael Bryant (God/The Doctor), Rebecca Callard (Tamar), Richard E. Grant (John the Baptist), Ian Holm (Pontius Pilate), Miranda Richardson (Mary Magdalene). Watch the film on Prime Video in on Youtube its entirety here:

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