The Ten Commandments (1956)

The paradox of The Ten Commandments is that it is one of the easiest films to mock and parody, and yet it's magnificence is such that whenever discussion arises about the biblical epic, and indeed biblical films in general, it's name is never far away.

The films more risible moments begin from the very start as, rather than adopting a more conventional opening, director Cecil B. DeMille steps out from behind the curtain and delivers an almost ten minute lecture arguing for his film's historical credibility. There follows around ninety minutes of fictional hokum as DeMille invents a backstory, a cadre of friends and potential foes, and strings them together with such unintentionally hilarious lines like "Oh, Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!".

And yet, at the same time these scenes also provide some of the film's most stunning moments. Take for example the scene where Moses erects an obelisk as his "brother" Ramsees stands limply by (the phallic symbolism is comically transparent). Yet, despite the fact that Moses completion of the task is never in doubt, DeMille manages to make dramatic and indeed spectacular footage from what is essentially, a construction scene. Thousands toil away in the immense heat of the desert, orchestrated  by one man's extraordinary vision, expertise and dedication to create an extraordinary masterwork - a description that suits both what we see on screen and what is going on behind the scenes.

Such parallels between DeMille's story of Moses and the modern day abound, not least because DeMille is determined to convert the story of the Exodus into a Cold War parable. DeMille's lecture at the start of the film concludes that "The theme of this picture is whether men are to be ruled by God’s law, or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like... Ramsees" even adding "This same battle continues throughout the world today." The film carries this through in almost every respect from the casting of Russian-born Yul Brynner as Ramsees, through to the all American Heston striking a statue of liberty pose in the film's closing shot.

The film also goes out of it's way to elaborate on the parallels between Moses and Jesus, themselves the results of the Gospel writers' attempts to cast Jesus as a new Moses. As my friend Peter Chattaway observed, almost 20 years ago now, "Pharaoh orders the death of all newborn boys in Goshen, not because he is afraid of population growth, but because a star has prophesied the birth of a deliverer in their ranks". Moses' mother uses the words of the Magnificat when she finally meets her adult son. Joshua calls him "the chosen one". Others talk of how they dared not “touch the hem of his garment”. Moses himself explains his encounter with God at the burning bush in phrases that sound like the Gospel of John, "the Word was God", "his light is in every man" and so on. By reversing what Matthew and the other Gospel writers are trying to do DeMille effectively casts Moses in his own shadow.

The groundwork DeMille puts in during that opening ninety minutes pays off. The burning bush scene may not have aged well, but the scenes where Moses commands his former rival Ramsees to let his people go are as taut as Bryner's shendyt. Ramsees is still trying to win an old argument, but Moses moved on long ago. All the while the spurned Nefertiri is trying to keep the whole thing spinning in an attempt to hurt the man who spurned her and the one who didn't.

When the script finally starts to cover the actual biblical story, the spectacle becomes no less impressive. The eeriness with which the Angel of Death's green mist creeps through the Egyptian streets is a fitting climax to the nine plagues which have gone before. The scene of the Israelites leaving Egypt - a scene which actually delivers on the oft used strap-line "a cast of thousands" - deftly manages to combine the sheer scale of the event with the the individual and personal. An elderly man's dying wish here, and young girl and her dolly there, DeMille manages to take these small moments and make us imagine the impact of that multiplied ten thousand times.

Then, of course, there is the parting of the Red Sea. Film scholars still debate whether or not this version of the tale outdid his earlier silent version from 1923. Either way, both are hugely impressive even in the face of the tidal wave of CGI that dominates special effects today. The two scenes have had such a cultural impact that many today are shocked to discover the Bible actually describes a far more gradual process of the waters parting. So much for the film's repeated line "So let it be written. So let it be done".

And then, finally we get the obligatory orgy and the arrival of the titular commandments. Given his history DeMille was unlikely to pass up the chance to show scantily clad bodies writhing before the golden bull, but it's actually the sparks flying through the air to engrave the Commandments on the rock face which stick in the memory. As with the crossing of the Red Sea, the scene itself bears little resemblance to the corresponding passage from Exodus, where Moses is at the foot of the mountain with the people by his side, but such is the impact of this film that it's rare to find someone who thinks of either scene like the book.

The costumes are, of course, fantastic and the immense sets are first class. Heston, Brynner and John Derek's muscles gleam. Anne Baxter purrs, Vincent Price camps it up and Cedric Hardwicke gets to drily deliver wry witticisms. Even Edward G. Robinson, who fell foul of Joseph McCarthy, gets to join in scowlingly dismissing Heston's bright-eyed pronouncements. Meanwhile Elmer Bernstein - a relative unknown at the time - underpins the story with his classical score. Amazingly whilst the film lasts for 220 minutes, it never feels like that long, no doubt explaining why despite the $13 million it cost to make, it made almost ten times that at the box office and no doubt made it's budget many times over in reruns, home video sales and regular broadcasts at Christmas and Easter.

But perhaps the most significant thing about The Ten Commandments is how it has become the definitive film for so many different categories. Despite decades of westerns and parlour comedies, it's this film that comes to mind when people today think of Cecil B. DeMille. Regardless of Ben-Hur's eleven Oscars, it's The Ten Commandments that is seen as the quintessential Charlton Heston performance. And, of course, it stands as the definitive example of the biblical epic. Few films indeed can claim to be so typical of, and central to, their genre as this. Double Indemnity for film noir. Star Wars, perhaps, for science fiction. Like them it deserves to be put on a pedestal and celebrated, even if we recognise that part of the reason it is so monumental is because time has moved on and we are unlikely to see anything quite like it ever again.

============
Chattaway, Peter (1999) "Lights, Camera, Plagues!: Moses in the Movies" in Bible Review 15:1, February.

Heston, DeMille and The Greatest Show on Earth

Four years before The Ten Commandments Charlton Heston and Cecil B. DeMille teamed up for a different kind of big film The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). It was the only best picture Oscar of DeMille's career and such a huge hit that without it Ten Commandments might never have been made.

At the time, Heston was a relative unknown, who managed to get the part after DeMille saw him on the lot at the studio. But Heston holds the film together, despite his inexperience. There's much here that echoes his portrayal as Moses. in the first part of The Ten Commandments Moses is shown to be an expert master builder marshalling an army of people to pull off an incredible feat of erecting Egypt's ancient buildings and there's much of that here too. Such is the size of the circus here that its often been show that it's the circus that us the real star if the show.

Then there's Brad/Moses' drive, focussed on the end goal and not easily swayed from his vision of the right outcome by personal sacrifices of those close to him. Several time in The Greatest Show on Earth the comment is made that he instead of blood he has sawdust in his veins,and a similar trait appears after Moses' encounter with the burning bush, where he's so focussed on freeing the Israelites that he leaves his wife behind and pains Ramsees whom he clearly cares for a great deal.

There's also the love triangle in both films Heston is loved by two women, seems largely detached from deep feeling for either of them, but ultimately leaves one of them disappointed (although they both marry someone else). I can't quite put my finger on the exact similarity between Gloria Grahame and Anne Baxter, aside from them being stars of key films noir, but there's a certain girl-next door approachability about them both even though one is a Princess and the other rides elephants.

For DeMille's part there's no 10 minute prologue in The Greatest Show on Earth as there is in The Ten Commandments, but DeMille does do the voice overs, moving the story at several key points and revelling in the kind of pomposity that so defines his films in general.

The performances are pretty good, though Jimmy Stewart steals the show in a role that ultimately makes me wondered if it influenced the performance of another Moses actor, Burt Lancaster, 37 years later in Field of Dreams. Also, as influence on later films goes I cant help wondering if one of the more memorable lines from Donnie Darko owes a debt to one exchange featuring Stewart.

But it is the circus tricks that really sets this apart from its contemporaries, particularly as these days films want to be able to say "no animals were harmed in the making of this film". Circuses have a reputation for animal cruelty - though it's possible that many are cruelty free - but it has to be conceded that many of the scenes of animals doing things were hugely impressive and, for anyone born after 1952, this is as guilt-free a way of seeing such spectacular achievements as I can think of.

So if you've not seen it, I would recommend it. It's not a Bible film as such but informs The Ten Commandments a little and it showcases DeMille and Heston at the top of their games.

Books by Film Designers

I've had a query from a reader and as my own answer is a little long, but also not entirely adequate I thought I'd post it here in case anyone has anything to add, or in case it was of interest to other people.

Matt, I know that many of the better films through the years have hired great designers who did their research and created outstanding and accurate fashions, props and sets for their films. What I need are photos that will provide me with some details. It’s my hope you may have the names of some books from both American and foreign publishers. An added hope is maybe some of the designers actually wrote some of these books. Thanks.

My immediate thought was of Henry S. Noerdlinger's book "Moses and Egypt" (pictured above) which describes itself as "The Documentation to the Motion Picture The Ten Commandments". It was published in 1956 by University of Southern California Press as an accompaniment to Cecil B. DeMille's second pass at The Ten Commandments. Noerdlinger was the official researcher for the film and goes to great depth in his research although sadly DeMille then left most of it out in the final work.

Whilst I'm sure there are other such books from the period, I personally don't know them. I have various books released as movie tie ins from Bible films, but most of these are more glossy books of publicity stills rather than works related to the design. It's certainly possible that some of these are still around, but I suspect it's something that wasn't popular at the time.

The other book in the above photo is more in line with what is desired, and it, too, is from a Moses film, 1998's The Prince of Egypt. It styles itself as a "Movie Scrapbook" and the front cover explains that it is "An in-depth look behind the scenes". Inside it takes various looks behind the scenes, including one called "Creating the Design". From memory similar books have been released for other more recent Bible films, though if they have I don't think I have any.

Actually though these things are far more likely to pop up as extra features on the DVD/Blu-ray discs. Special editions of most of the major Bible films have been made, and are often full of this sort of information - The Passion of the Christ for example is packed with this extra features of this sort, as also is The Miracle Maker. These obviously aren't quite still photos but if someone is just trying to get a general impression then film is as good as a book, and still pictures can be achieved from screen grabs on your PC/laptop. If you don't have any software that does this, then I'd recommend VLC which is open source (and therefore free), widely used, and well thought of.

If anyone has anything to add, please do chip in in the comments below. I know I've been a bit slow recently in moderating comments, but I'll keep a special watch out over the next few weeks.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Ten Commandments

I saw the new Chronicles of Narnia film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, yesterday and my review went up at rejesus this afternoon. I'm always limited to around 500 words which means that I often don't get to make all the points I'd like to in these reviews.

One such point regards the green mist that kidnaps slaves from the Lone Islands never to be seen again. Now this mist isn't itself found in the novel - the book is rather episodic and so would lend itself much more readily to a TV series. It actually seems to be drawn from two elements of the next book - "The Silver Chair". Here the main plot is that Caspian's son has been kidnapped, and later on it emerges he is kept sedated / enchanted by a witch using green mist.

What struck me in watching this device in play was the similarity of the effect with Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film The Ten Commandments. There a similar looking mist crawls along the ground, only rather than an undisputed force for evil, it's intended to represent God's Angel of Death, only rather than entrapping slaves as it does in Dawn Treader, it is liberating them. The parallel highlights the troubling nature of the text and, as a result on this occasion, DeMille's adaptation.

I don't have much to add to what I said in my review about the link between Aslan and Jesus. The Jesus/Aslan of this film at least is much more the divine figure / Great Lion of faith than the Aslan of history. That's fine, although it doesn't interest me quite so much. The film loses some of the point of the book which is very much about a voyage of faith anyway, although I was pleased to see that the line about Aslan being known by another name in our world remained intact.

There's one final thing to say about this film. After watching it I watched the review of it on Film 2010 starring Claudia Winkleman. She ended with the astonishing statement "We should also warn people... there’s a lot of religious symbolism...". I'm pretty miffed about this in honesty. I get that it's probably a "joke", and I worry that by objecting to it I might end up sounding like Lord Carey, but for goodness sake.

Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode gave her a bit of stick about this today, mainly along the lines of it being such an obvious statement that a CS Lewis film would contain religious symbolism.

For me though, it was the implication that religion is such a bad thing that people need to be warned off it which left a rather unpleasant taste in the mouth. People are of course entitled to their views (however snarkily phrased) but this programme isn't about discussing religion per se, nor is it about Winkleman's personal opinions.

To be fair she may have been intending to criticise the film for it's heavy handed handling of the religious themes and the lack of subtlety it displays in this regard. I do agree actually agree with this, sort of, although this trait is more down to the book than the film. But if this was her intention then it was expressed most clumsily, which does rather reinforce the low opinion I formed of the show's new approach during the first programme in the series.

Danny Miller on Bible Films

I've not got much time today but for a while I've been meaning to link to three of Danny Miller's articles on Bible films, one on King of Kings (1961), The Ten Commandments (1956) and a general article on Jesus films. Miller is apparently Jewish, and his write-ups have a nice humorous edge.

Paul Flesher on Jesus Christ, Superstar and Ten Commandments

Having enjoyed Paul Flesher and Robert Torry's "Film and Religion: An Introduction" it's been a shame that they have used their blog so sparingly. Indeed Flesher's two recent posts, on Jesus Christ, Superstar and The Ten Commandments (1956), are the first entries for 2009.

Unfortunately, I've not got time to go into the details (it's just turned midnight as I write), but to summarise, his piece on The Ten Commandments compares it to the work of Melito of Sardis, whilst his post on Jesus Christ, Superstar looks at the love triangle at the core of the film. It's interesting stuff so here's hoping these posts mark the start of more frequent blog posts from Paul Flesher.

Elizabeth Fletcher's Top Bible Films

I've just come across a top ten list of Bible films by someone called Elizabeth Fletcher whose Top Ten Bible site lists top tens of everything from bad women to young people. Curious Fletcher only lists 9 films, but they are all fairly good choices. with a nice mix of Jesus films (Gospel According to St. Matthew, Greatest Story Ever Told, Passion of the Christ, Jesus of Montreal), Hebrew Bible films (The Bible, The Ten Commandments) and Jesus Cameo films (The Robe, Ben Hur, Life of Brian).

I've not had a chance to read the text yet (I'll save that for later), but there are some good images, some of which are publicity shots that I've not seen before. There are also some images from the colourised version of Pasolini's Gospel According to St. Matthew) which only serves to confirm my misgivings about that particular project. I can't help but look at them though, not least perhaps because of their oddness.

If anyone's interested, you can view my own top ten list of Jesus films.

The Guardian's "Reel History"

Ever watched an historical epic, and came away wondering how historically accurate it was? If so, and you secretly worry that scurrying away to check it out on Wikipedia may be equally as futile, then you should probably try out Alex von Tunzelmann's "Reel History" column in The Guardian.

Tunzelmann biog describes her as "a historian and writer", name checks her first book ("Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire") and reveals that "she lives in London". Her Reel History articles have been coming out every Thursday since July last year, and are as entertaining as they are informative. Her drawing and quartering of Braveheart is a great example.

So far only two Bible films have been covered: Life of Brian (my posts on this film) and DeMille's The Ten Commandments (likewise). Hopefully, though, there will be plenty more to follow.

Giving of the Ten Commandments

My church is looking at the Ten Commandments at the moment, so I got asked to dig out some clips of Moses receiving the commandments. I looked at the following five which are probably the best crafted of those available:

The Ten Commandments (1923)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Moses the Lawgiver (1975)
Moses (1996)
Ten Commmandments (2006)

As well as being the best clips they are probably the most widely known. The other popular Moses film that is not on the list is obviously The Prince of Egypt, but this only really shows a brief shot of Moses holding the commandments right before the credits roll. Likewise there is no equivalent scene in 1974's Moses und Aron For the record I could also have included clips from the following:

Green Pastures (1936)
The Living Bible - Moses, Leader of God's People (1958)
Greatest Heroes of the Bible - The Ten Commandments (1979)
History of the World Part 1 (1981)
The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2006)
Ten Commandments (2007)

...not to mention a whole host of cartoons.

Anyway, for anyone interested in repeating the exercise elsewhere, here are the start and end places/times of the clips I used - the clip length, and the version that I used. In most cases these are region 2, but I imagine the difference will be very slight, particularly as the DVD releases for the first two are identical regardless of the regional code. Links are to previous posts on each film. I've also added the leading actor's name and a few comments.
The Ten Commandments (1923)
Ten Commandments (1956) 50th Anniversary Collection – region 2
Disc 3 - Chapter 6; 35:05 – 42:48 [7:43 minutes]
Moses played by Theodore Roberts
This is the oldest of those available, and, for those unused to silent films, the style takes a bit of getting used to. Note the age of Moses here, and also that DeMille's citations are from Exodus 31 and 32 rather than the first account of the giving of the commandments in Exodus 19 and 20.

The Ten Commandments (1956)
Ten Commandments (1956) 50th Anniversary Collection – region 2
Disc 2 – Chapter 15; 73:12 – 78:45 [4:30 minutes]
Moses played by Charlton Heston
This is, obviously the most famous version, but it's utterly reliant on DeMille's earlier version. The streak of fire writing the commandments is fresh, but otherwise it's just a remake. Note how in both examples Moses receives the commandments at the top of the mountain, and whilst commandments 1 and 2 are being broken (not that the people would have known given this film's chronology!)

Moses the Lawgiver (1975)
Network/Granada Ventures – Region 2
Disc 2 – Chapter 3; 10:48 – 15:00 [4:12 minutes]
Moses played by Burt Lancaster
This is perhaps the most controversial version of these events, but it's relatively accurate to the accounts in Exodus. The clip ends with Moses on his way up the mountain with the tablets already under his arm, with the people having already agreed. An earlier scene shows Moses hearing God's call (in Lancaster's own voice) from the top of the mountain, but it's entirely ambiguous as to whether these commandments are from God or from Moses. It's also good how they are given more as prose than as "commandments".

Ten Commmandments (2006)
Disc 2 – Chapter 7; 68:10 – 72:04 [3:52 minutes]
Moses played by Dougray Scott
This is the most recent of the five, and it's main concern seems to be showing off it's technology. There's a heavy dependence on DeMille too - the idea of Moses going up the mountain to get the tablets, and of them being literally written by God (although not literally the "finger of God" as the text states), not to mention the desire to make this a showy scene.

Moses (1996)
Time Life Box Set – region 2
Part 2; 29:30 – 36:20 [6:50 minutes]
Moses played by Sir Ben Kingsley
This is perhaps my favourite of these five clips, largely because I had to see it to make me realise how the story actually appears in Exodus. It's sticks very closely to the text (Exodus 19:10-20:21), but given how stagey other version have been, this is a good thing, which is also why I recommend showing it last. I also like the idea of the commandments being something that welled up from the people as they encountered God, and the idea of the people corporately being the mouthpiece of God.

Jonathan Rosenbaum on The Ten Commandments (1956)

I'm still catching up on stories from before my son Digory was born, 10 days ago now. A day or two before Peter Chattaway had linked to a review of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956) by Jonathan Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum originally wrote it for the Chicago Reader during its 1990 re-issue he's re-posted it on his blog under the title "The Power of Belief". He makes a number of interesting points (as well as publishing some nice publicity shots), in particular how the film's emphasis is not on its flashy special effects but on the genuineness of DeMille's message.

Got a Spare $60,000?

Over a thousand pieces of Charlton Heston's movie memorabilia will be auctioned off later in the summer according to The Washington Post (amongst others). Highlights include the green kaftan that Ben-Hur wears at the crucifixion and his costume from The Ten Commandments (1956). But the most impressive item is surely a set of the commandments themselves which are expected to raise $60,000. The auction is due to take place on the 31st July and the 1st August. If only my second child wasn't due to be born the same day...

(Hat tip to Peter Chattaway).

Charlton Heston (1923-2008)

I was sorry to hear of the death of the great Charlton Heston on Saturday. I can still remember, as a boy, rushing back home from playing football in the park in order to watch The Ten Commandments on TV one New Year's Day. As an actor he was champion of the historical epic in general and the Bible Film in particular. People often discuss whose face they picture when they think of Jesus, but when it comes to Moses there's no question: it's Heston.

It was undoubtedly DeMille who made Heston a star, giving him his big break in The Greatest Show on Earth and making him a household name with The Ten Commandments. Today Heston's performance seems a little dated in places, but overall it's still as monumental as it was 50 years ago. As with the film in general, it always seems to play better than I remember it.

Three years later Heston won an Oscar for his role in another Bible Film, of sorts, Ben Hur pictured in this blog's header image). The film won a record number of Oscars, but it was Heston's performance, along with the chariot race scene that really captured the attention. Heston's portrayal captured the inner battle between Ben Hur's heroism and his bitterness.Then in 1965 he turned in a brief role in The Greatest Story Ever Told. The standard complaint about this film was its parade of A-list stars making cameos, not least John Wayne's climatic moment as a centurion. In fairness Heston's performance was no better. It was the only feature film to star both actors.

Heston made numerous other historical films, El Cid, Big Country, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and The Three Musketeers to name just a few. He often joked that his face belonged to another century, but in reality it was as much his charisma and nobility. Michel Mourlet first noted his "eagle's profile" with his "imperious arch of eyebrows", and in that way he embodied America¹.

He had plenty of choice roles in the modern era as well. In 1958 he was cast as a Mexican detective in A Touch of Evil and he became one of the few actors to get to choose their director. Chuck chose well, and Orson Welles got to make what is perhaps his second greatest film.

In later life he also ended up fronting a series of documentaries - "Charlton Heston Presents - The Bible" and voicing an animated version of Ben Hur, as well as turning in a handful of smaller roles. Reading stories and obituaries from various news outlets reminded me of one that I had temporarily forgotten - his hilarious cameo in Wayne's World 2.Predictably there are also mentions of his work as head of the NRA. Whilst I disagree with his politics I'm deeply saddened by the vitriol of some of the comments on the BBC website. They seem to forget / are unaware that not only do the majority of Americans favour the right to own a gun, but they also live in a household that actually does.

For Heston, however, this was simply part of his life long fight for civil rights as embodied in his presence at civil rights protests in the early sixties. It's rare for someone cross party agendas in such an extreme way. Rarer still for it to be done in a way that seems to exhibit such logic. As I said disagree, but, it has to be said most respectfully.

It was Heston's role with the NRA that gained him his last memorable screen role - as the bad guy in Bowling for Coumbine (2002). Director Michael Moore put in a lot of hours in the editing room, and Heston came out of it looking pretty bad. Shortly afterwards, however, he announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer's and his apparent discombobulation during Moore's interview suddenly made sense.Following his announcement he retired from public life and it seemed increasingly likely that the next news story about him would be the announcement of his death that came yesterday. Even before he reached 84 he had boasted that he had lived enough for two lives, and one wouldn't be surprised if his arrival at the pearly gates leads one or two of the inmates to exclaim "it's Moses!"

=======

There are a few other pieces on Heston at the BBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph and The Independent.

1 - Michel Mourlet, "In Defence of Violence" in "Stardom: Industry of Desire" Gledhill (ed). (1991)

DeMille's Collaborations Redux

I've mentioned the great Cecil B. DeMille in two posts recently, and I've done a bit of searching on them so I thought I'd refer back.

The first was regarding Michael Curtiz. Peter Chattaway noted some similarities between Curtiz's Noah's Ark (1928) and DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923). When I was preparing to write my review of Noah's Ark I came across some more information which suggested that the influence could have worked in both directions.

Yesterday I was flicking through the the substantial liner notes for the Criterion Collection's release of DeMille's 1927 The King of Kings when I noticed some information regarding Noah's Ark. It seems DeMille was due to work on a similar project about Noah in 1926 called The Deluge, but the plug was pulled when DeMille got wind of Curtiz's project. This shows the two were at least partially aware of each other's work, and that execs then preferred to stop making a film if it was too similar to another (rather than go head to head as often happens today).

Interestingly neither DeMille's autobiography, nor Charles Higham's biography mention Curtiz at all (at least, not in their indicies).

Which leads me nicely onto the second post about DeMille to which I want to return. Last week I commented on a piece in the The Villages Daily Sun newspaper which claimed that DeMille made films with Edgar J. Banks (dubbed the original Indiana Jones). As with Curtiz there's no mention of Banks in the autobiography and Higham's book.

I also (finally!) got hold of Henry S. Noerdlinger's book "Moses and Egypt: The Documentation to the Motion Picture the Ten Commandments" about the 1956 DeMille film. Again, despite the depth of information produced in this book, there's no mention of Banks. Admittedly, DeMille's later version of this film was not released until 10 years after Bank's death, but if DeMille and Banks really were working on films together it's strange that nothing Banks achieved merited a mention in Noerdlinger's book.

That's not, at all, to say the story is a hoax, simply that if it is true it was one very well kept secret.

I'll end on a trivia piece. DeMille made bible films with Banks, who was the inspiration for the Indiana Jones films made by Steven Spielberg, who also directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which included a clip from the 1956 Ten Commandments - a bible film directed by DeMille. I hope those people who love making these kind of links appreciate that one. I wonder if DeMille ever pondered making a film about Banks?

The Church Times - Fifty Top Religious Films

Leading Anglican weekly newspaper The Church Times has published its Fifty Top Religious Films. It's been put together by a panel of four: Nev Pierce, editor of Total Film; documentary filmmaker Shan Stephens, Gareth Higgins, author of one of the most enjoyable books on faith and film "How the Movies Helped Save My Soul"; and James Abbott, who is the jurist at a number of international film festivals.

It's a really good list, with much in common with the Arts and Faith Top 100. As always there are a few surprises including the omission of Dreyer's Ordet and anything by Kieslowski's or Ozu, but it's great to see a list that is prepared to cover the full history and geography of cinema rather than limit itself to Hollywood films from the last 30 years. That said I'm really pleased to see Field of Dreams come in at number 23. That film has never made it onto the Arts and Faith list, despite (or perhaps because of) my lobbying on its behalf. What is also surprising is the inclusion of a number of church made films such as The Prodigal (1983).

As with any good list, there are also a couple of films I'd not really been aware of previously. John Huston's Wise Blood and Nicholas Hytner's The Crucible are both new to me, and there are a number of others which I'm adding to my "to see" list such as Priest, A Man for All Seasons and a number of others. By my reckoning I've seen 36 of these 50 fifty, so still some way to go!

As expected, there are a number of Bible Films on the list:

2. The Gospel According to St Matthew
4. The Last Temptation of Christ
9. The Passion of the Christ
15. Jesus of Montreal
27. The Greatest Story Ever Told
28. The Prince of Egypt
33. The Ten Commandments
34. Jesus Christ, Superstar
40. King of Kings
43. Samson and Delilah

I suppose Ben Hur and The Robe could also be included on the above list. Two I wouldn't have expected to make an appearance are The Prince of Egypt and King of Kings. The former doesn't really offer a great deal in my opinion, and if it was included to give the list a child friendly appeal then I think The Miracle Maker would have been a better option. In contrast, as much as I personally have a soft spot for King of Kings, I don't agree with the article's comment that it "has become perhaps the most acclaimed movie about Christ".

All in all though, I can highly recommended this particular list, and it's nicely laid out in the PDF version of the file. Worth printing out for future reference at any rate. (Thanks to Gareth Higgins for posting this at his blog).

Book Review: Religion and Film: An Introduction - Melanie J. Wright

Having previously written "Moses in America" and "Understanding Judaism", Melanie J. Wright has broadened the scope of her work with her latest book "Religion and Film: An Introduction". So far this century there has been an explosion in the number of books written in the area of faith and the cinema this century, and Wright introduces her subject with a critique of the available literature to date. She highlights four significant weaknesses. The first is that much work in this area has been far too apologetic. All too often, faith and film books open by attempting to justify their existence within either serious academia or the Christian publishing industry.

Secondly, much analysis is overly dependent on narrative, and contains little discussion about the visual aspects of the films being considered. "Could it be that – despite the growing bibliography and plethora of courses - film is not really being studied at all?"¹

In addition to these criticisms, Wright also notes that analysis has been too unfocussed. The choice of films examined by these books has tended to be driven by what appeals to the author, rather than a consensus about which films are particularly significant.

Finally, this has been exaggerated by a failure to take into consideration a film's reception, by both critics and audiences.

In answer to these four weaknesses Wright proposes taking a cultural studies approach. This enables greater dialogue between the various specialist disciplines as well as a broader context from which to draw. Noting that writers should not "seek to do everything in an account of a film",² she reveals that the rest of the book will discuss the films it explores in four areas: "narrative; style; cultural and religious context; and reception".³

The rest of the book deals with 6 films that are specifically about religion (as opposed to alluding to faith or religion in passing or in some symbolic way). Devoting a chapter to each, then, Wright tackles La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (Christianity), The Ten Commandments (Judaism and Christianity), The Wicker Man (Paganism), My Son the Fanatic (Islam), Keeping the Faith (Christianity and Judaism), and Lagaan (Hinduism).

In addition to covering a number of major religions, the films selected also enable Wright to expand on particular aspects of the four areas listed above. For example, the chapter on The Wicker Man (1973) is particularly concerned with the way in which the film's reception shaped the film itself. Initially unpopular it was heavily cut, but gaining cult status has allowed fuller versions to be released on DVD.

Likewise, Wright's chapter on The Ten Commandments (1956) is especially concerned with genre. It is this chapter that is of most relevance to this site, and Wright's previous work on this film has been influential in this regard. Here she tackles autership, the inability of an auteur to control a film's reception, the influence and changing nature of trailers, the Christianisation of this originally Jewish story, the way in which the Cold War influences the film, as well as comparing it to The Prince of Egypt.

On top of this, the author also comments on the condescending manner that many film critics take to such "spectacle" films. This idea is expanded in chapter VII (Keeping the Faith) which looks at the way popular films are often ignored by film commentators simply because of their popularity. From a cultural studies point of view this is a mistake.

In a slightly different vein, chapter VIII (Lagaan) discusses the Hindu concept of darsan - "experiencing the presence of the divine through the act of seeing a god or saint".⁴ This offers a very different religious perspective to much western analysis where artists such as Dreyer and Schrader consider transcendence to be related to austerity.

Wright closes with a brief consideration of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. By outlining the combination of factors which led to its financial success as well as "the importance of the [audience's] gaze"⁵, Wright arrives at a significant conclusion to one of the book's frequent questions: "what constitutes a 'religious film'?"⁶ Citing the "many religious adherents (who) have known all along... that 'religion' is not a 'thing' but a mode of being",⁷ Wright redefines 'religious film' as a process of exchange between images / sound and viewer activity/perception. Hence, she argues, film is not only something that can describe religion, or that can act as a vehicle for religious experience, but it is something that can be "religion itself".⁸

The emphases on viewer activity and the idea that film can be religion itself are most welcome. Whilst this thesis is, of itself, interesting, it also evokes the T.S. Eliot quote "The end of our exploring will be to arrive at where we started, and to know the place for the first time". One suspects many faith and film commentators have known this deep down but have been unable to articulate it. Thankfully Melanie Wright has done so.

Notes 1 - p.22 2 – p.30 3 – p.29 4 – p.151

5 – p.169 6 – p.170 7 – p.172 8 – p.172

Kingsley, Slater, Molina and Gould to Voice Animated Version of The Ten Commandments (2007)

My review of this film is now up, or you can read all my posts on this film.

What is it with the Ten Commandments at the moment? Last year saw Dougray Scott and Paul Rhys star in the new TV mini-series The Ten Commandments (2006). Then later in the year, a DVD was released of The Ten Commandments: The Musical featuring Val Kilmer reprising the role of Moses. Now this year we have The Margate Exodus lined up for a summer release, Dekalog spoof The Ten due in August and now another version of the Ten Commandments looks set to hit cinemas later in the year.

The imaginatively titled The Ten Commandments is an animated feature directed by Bill Boyce and John Stronach and produced by Promenade Pictures. Promenade's official website is still under construction, but there is a profile of the company here. It seems the names behind the company are former Paramount President Frank Yalbans and Cindy Bond who is producing this particular film.

The Ten Commandments will be the first of six bible themed CGI films known collectively as Epic Stories of the Bible. Curiously, the next entry will go back to the story of Noah with The Great Flood.

The film has certainly collected some acting talent to provide the voices. According to the IMDb, Ben Kingsley, who played the lead role in 1996's Moses, will narrate, handing on the part of Moses to Christian Slater. Alfred Molina will play the part of Ramsees, and Elliot Gould will provide the voice of God.

New Zealand Global Talent Community Kea have covered this story mainly looking at the success of of the animators for this project Huhu Studios. According to them at least, this film is based on DeMille's 1956 epic of the same title. Edit: Director Bill Boyce comments below that this film will not in fact be based on DeMille's film hoping instead to "portray a humble, human Moses".

I'll post more on this as it becomes available.

Spoof Feature Film of The Ten Commandments in the works

UPDATES here

This is probably old news by now, but Jeffrey Overstreet blogged about a forthcoming parody of The Ten Commandments, to be called The Ten. The original story came from Variety. You have to subscribe to get the full story, but the interesting part is quoted below:

City Lights Pictures and MEGA Films have teamed to finance and produce "The Ten," a comedy spoofing the Ten Commandments, to be directed by David Wain ("Wet Hot America Summer").

Pic, written by Wain and Ken Marino, will star Paul Rudd, Amanda Peet, Jessica Alba, Ken Marino, Justin Theroux and Adam Brody.

Jonathan Stern will produce with Morris Levy for MEGA along with Marino, Rudd and Wain. City Lights CEO Danny Fisher and Michael Almog will exec produce, Michael Califra will co-exec produce and Marcus Lansdell will associate produce.

Filming will begin in July, primarily in New York

I know very little about most of the film's actors. Amanda Peet was chilling in her small role in Changing Lanes, Alba did what she had to do, I guess, in Sin City (my review). I probably know the most about Paul Rudd, who is best known to me as Mike in "Friends", but was recently very funny opposite Will Ferrell in Anchorman. The fact that his name comes first suggests that he will take the Moses part, which can only be a good thing as far as this film goes.

That said, I'm not optimistic that this will be a good film. In fact, I suspect that there will be fewer laughs in the entire thing than there was in 2 minutes of the spoof trailer Ten Things I Hate About Commandments. Furthermore, there has already been a spoof Moses film - shameless Life of Brian~ cash in Wholly Moses (1980). Even Dudley Moore and Richard Pryor's immense comic talents couldn't save that from being an unmitigated disaster.

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

A friend sent me a link to this - 10 Things I Hate About Commandments - which really has me chuckling. I do wonder who the people are who are one day watching The Ten Commandments (1956) and part way through say "you know, we could cut about twenty, five second segments out of this film and string them together into a spoof High School Drama". And then are bothered to do it! Anyway I'm glad they did, even though I fear for their sanity...

Exodus Decoded

I've only just become aware of this documentary which apparently was aired on The Discovery Channel on Easter day (16th April 2006). It was produced and directed by Simcha Jacobovici, perhaps best known for his documentary James the Brother of Jesus from 2002. The biggest name associated with the project, however, was James Cameron (Titanic) who narrated.

Anyone familiar with the James documentary probably won't find it too difficult to contain there anticipation over this one. The James Ossuary later turned out to be a forgery. Whilst the theories that Exodus Decoded explores have not been forged the film's publicity goes a little too far when it suggests that it "solves the mystery of the events of the Biblical Exodus for the first time ever". Scientific theories about the cause of the Exodus have been around for so long that even Cecil B. DeMille tries to discredit them in The Ten Commandments (1956) by putting them on the lips of the soon-to-be-proved-wrong, arch-sceptic, Ramsees. Those are different theories from the ones explored by Exodus Decoded, which links the events of the Exodus to the mega-eruption of the Santorini volcano in Greece c.1600 BCE.

Nevertheless they are hardly original to this documentary. The BBC documentary Moses explored similar territory in 2002. It tried to explain all the phenomenon related to the Exodus on the basis of the Santorini, including the parting of the Red Sea which happened well after the plagues. Chronologically this wouldn't work as the Red Sea parting was said to be as an almost instantaneous and direct result of the explosion, whereas the plagues would have resulted from the delayed side effects og such a blast. It's unclear from the official website whether Exodus Decoded will go to that extreme. There's a useful summary at Wikipedia which suggests it doesn't go as far as Moses, and considers a wider range of evidence. My other criticism of that Programme was that it also only interpreted the text along traditional lines. Many would consider that as the text actually only talks about Yam Suph - the sea of reeds - that some of this conjecturing is looking for answers to questions that have been proved irrelevant.

Anyway, much of this post has been conjecture only. It's not a considered opinion based on an actual viewing of the film. Hopefully I'll see it soon and be able to give a more informed view.

More info on the new Ten Commandments TV Film

Peter T Chattaway has posted the full text of his interview with Katherine Orrison, the abridged version of which I commented on last week.

In this extended version, she mentions that ABC are running a new version of the Ten Commandments this April. There is some information up on the ABC website now. There is also an official website

There are a few points I'd like to make, based on the photos.

Firstly, this film, which has been billed as the most realistic, clearly seems to have in mind a far smaller exodus than those of DeMille. I think many scholars would agree that the numbers of Israelites stated in the bible are somehow symbolic and therefore larger than was actually the case. (See right)

Secondly, It's unclear which episode is being depicted in that photo. It may be some sort of pre/post Red Sea shot. On the other hand the three figures standing on a hill whilst Moses raises his arms, are reminiscent of the battle with the Amalekites in Exodus 17. Given that there is also at least one picture from a battle this would seem to be the case. Of all the various Moses films, only De Bosio's Moses (1975) shows this episode.

That said, it is somewhat remarkable that there are no pictures of the Red Sea (although it is on the poster mentioned in the story section), so perhaps this film is going to portray the Hebrews having a more active role in gaining their freedom. That said the picture of the parting of the sea in the poster looks like it is straight out of DeMille, which rather dashes my hopes that this film might show us a "Reed Sea" as we find in scripture.

Thirdly, there is a shot of the water turning into blood (below, right), which evokes an earlier Moses film, although I can't remember which, off the top of my head. The exodus picture in front of the city is also very reminiscent of both of DeMille's Ten Commandments films, although the numbers here, again, are much smaller than DeMille's.

There's not much shown of Omar Sharif, who is playing Jethro, despite the fact that his name has been the big draw used in the publicity. There is also one shot of the Ark of the Covenant, so that combined with the possibility of episodes from Exodus 17 mentioned above suggests that this film will go far further into the life of Moses than most, which usually draw to a halt once the Ten Commandments have been given.

There is a fair bit of blurb about the film on both sites. From the photos and reading between the lines a little, it seems that this film will bring a stronger emphasis on the role of Zipporah, who seems to disappear out of Moses life after she saves him with an improvised circumcision in Exodus 4. It is not until Exodus 18, that Jethro re-unites them. Even so, she is never mentioned again (by name at least).

It also appears that this will be yet another film which shows Moses not discover his true identity until adulthood. Whilst this is certainly viable, it would be nice to see another film where Moses grows up aware of his identity.

One subplot which sounds very interesting is Moses relationship, not with Ramsees himself but with, Menerith, his step brother and one of Ramsees's officials. Hopefully this means that Moses will be shown as more insignificant in the royal courts than is usually the case.

Overall then, there is much to look forward to. Whilst some episodes look to be telling the story in a very similar fashion to DeMille's two films of the same name, it is also clear that much of the story will be told in a different way.

The Ten Commandments airs on Monday April 10th (Part 1) and Tuesday, April 11th (Part 2) at 9/8c