The Dovekeepers (2015)

I saw the movie then read the book. Not the same. In the movie Shirah lives she is still pregnant when found by Roman soldiers. In the book she gives birth to her daughter and gives the baby to Yael. Her lover and father of her baby slits her throat and then kills him self. Yael in the book says at the end when found by Roman soldiers says she is Shirah. Was disappointed that more of the history that is told in the book wasn't mentioned in the movie. There is a lot of history here. A lot of terrible things happened to the Jewish people. I went to Isreal in 2007 and went up to Masada and visited Herod's fortress. Knowing something about the history helped in understanding the story. The book was a little confusing at times, but it was more interesting because of the history mentioned.

It was definitely not an action show ,but a drama, with much narration. Hard to follow at points and slow in others. I am glad I did not pay to see this at the movies , even Sam Neill was dry. Roma Downey & Mark Burnet take yet another step further away from presenting a good Christian story,( i.e. their Bible and A.D. stories toning down the divinity of Jesus and leaving out Satan claiming to such things because they wanted it family friendly, but this movie is not) full of fornication. I lost track of all the adultery ,out of wedlock sex and children born out of wedlock. Like a day time soap. Shame...but it is obvious they have plenty of "water" around...

This is an exceptional piece of work actually. Its structure will undoubtedly not be received well by many as it is quite a daring "avant guard" method against the usual prime TV drama format. The filmmakers managed to tell a story through an interview, making the story easier to analyze and probably more cost efficiently had it been a full dramatic narrative which I am guessing would have been too cost prohibitive, relegating this story to just a book. There is lots in the book that is not in the series, but I don't expect the series to replace the book. The series manages to bring out the humane story of these women as they struggled to survive and as they showed their love in an era of horrible prosecution by Romans who were only hungry for power and ego. These are people who only wanted to live in peace but were disallowed to have a normal life. I love the fact that the filmmakers didn't overdo the violence and action and focused more on the characters, and well yes on the love-making scenes.

I have suffered through about 15 minutes of this show. It is so wrong on so many levels. Red heads in the Middle East 2000 years ago? Ninja rebels? Looks like it was filmed in Southern California with folks off the street.It is a cleanly swept Jerusalem that looks more like Disney's idea of the Holy Land. The dialog is stiff and forced. Some of the scenes sound more like therapy sessions that plot instruments.Yes, I know. It's a fictionalized version of Masada. But it is so fictionalized as to be silly and boring at the same time. But it is so pretty. Lots of lovely colors particularly in the freshly scrubbed laundry worn by the oppressed peoples.Just a couple of nights ago we had to endure Killing Jesus, probably the lamest retelling of the Gospel ever. This is not as bad simply because it couldn't be. But for anyone with even half a brain who knows anything about that historical period, the people of the times, and the story of the Jewish Rebellion, this is as close to reality as Friends is to Schindler's List.