The Miracle Maker

The Miracle Maker is an animated retelling of the life of Jesus, centred on a sick young girl named Tamar and her parents, who bring her to the town of Sepphoris in Galilee in search of a cure. There the family encounters Jesus, a carpenter who has given up his trade to travel as a preacher and healer, gathering followers who each understand him differently. Tamar's contact with him becomes the turning point of the story, which follows his ministry, teaching and miracles through to his death and resurrection. Written by Murray Watts, the screenplay draws on the Gospel of Luke and tells much of the story from the girl's perspective.

The film was directed by Stanislav Sokolov and Derek W. Hayes, and produced through a collaboration between British, Russian and American companies, including the BBC and Icon Productions. It uses stop-motion puppet animation, with some sequences animated in other techniques. Ralph Fiennes voices Jesus, with Julie Christie as Rachel, Rebecca Callard as Tamar, Richard E. Grant as John the Baptist, James Frain as Thomas and Michael Bryant as God and the Doctor. The credited cast runs to 43 names.

Released in March 2000 and running 87 minutes, the film is rated 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb from around 2,000 votes and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller sample of 52. The difference in vote counts suggests a modest but engaged audience on IMDb, while the TMDB figure rests on too few responses to carry the same weight.