‘Prince of Egypt’: A review By Paula R. Kincaid The Presbyterian Layman Wednesday, November 18, 1998
An epic drama taken from the biblical book of Exodus, the film is the story of Moses and his passage from slave to prince to deliverer. From the prologue of the movie, which refers the viewer to the book of Exodus for the full version of the story, until the last scene, showing Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments, “The Prince of Egypt” is a wonderful movie – visually, musically and in its telling of a well-known Bible story. However, several significant liberties are taken with the biblical account.
For instance, in the movie, Pharaoh Seti’s wife, not his daughter, finds Moses in the basket after his perilous journey down the Nile River. A more noticeable deviation was Aaron’s role. In the movie Aaron was not the mouthpiece of Moses, since Moses was not shown to be “slow of speech” (Ex. 4:10). “Time was a culprit,” said Katzenberg. To stay true to the Bible, it would “virtually take every sequence and double it, because that is what the relationship was between Moses and Aaron.” In addition to time, he said “we needed a person who could be a representative of the doubting, the uncertainty of the slaves. … That was the role we cast Aaron into.” As one who grew up in the church hearing the story of Moses, I noticed the changes, but I found myself noticing details that I had never given much consideration to, but which added touching moments to the movie. The movie added scenes in which the Hebrews showed compassion for the Egyptians, rather than delighting in their defeat. The reason: the Egyptians, too, were God’s children. Instead of rejoicing that Rameses had agreed to let the Hebrews go, Moses cried after he left Rameses standing over the body of his dead son. Again, after the Red Sea flowed back together, killing the Egyptian Army, there is a quiet moment where compassion and sorrow are reflected in the faces of the Hebrews, before they begin to rejoice that they are free.
“It was one of the many things we did creatively,” he said. “We actually felt it was a sentiment that not only would Moses feel, but so would the slaves who had reached the other side of the Red Sea.” Filmmakers said this interpretation of events came from the Passover Haggadah, the prayer book for the Passover Seder, which reminds the Seder celebrant that in God’s will to save His people, there is no joy in the destruction of one’s enemies. Katzenberg’s creativity, however, ought to be compared with Exodus 15:1-21, when the emotions of the Israelites, having narrowly escaped a holocaust, ranged from glee to awe at the righteous power of God. My favorite scene in the movie was the burning bush, where Moses met God. It was beautifully and tastefully done, and showed the wonder and power of God. “There was nothing we spent more time on, talking about, collaborating about and exploring than what happens when a man comes face to face with his God,” said Katzenberg. PG rating The film is rated PG. I agree with the rating and the reason behind it. “It is not a toddler movie,” said Katzenberg. “It [the rating] is not about violence, not about language, not about any of those things that would normally be an issue. It’s just simply about the movie being demanding. Our feeling is that there is nothing in this story that is a problem for a four- or five-year-old other than it’s complicated, and very demanding and it’s intense.” Ted Baehr, head of the Christian Film & Television Commission, a non-profit organization committed to educating the entertainment industry and the public about the media’s impact, and author of The Media-Wise Family (review) writes, “Cast your vote. Despite preferences that favor sex, violence and anti-Christian messages, the producers in Hollywood are ultimately concerned about the bottom line – how much money they can make. If Christians support the good and avoid the immoral, our impact will be quickly felt in Hollywood.” DreamWorks spent a lot of time, effort and money to make a film that tried to stay close to the Bible story. While there are deviations from the book of Exodus, the movie is a ray of hope that positive things can come out of Hollywood. It’s my hope that Christians of all denominations will see it and be prompted to read the original version in the pages of Exodus.
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| The making of 'The Prince of Egypt' | |||||
| The Presbyterian Layman Nov/Dec 1998 | |||||
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