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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Joe Gutfeld on April 13, 2014, 06:44:31 PM

Title: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: Joe Gutfeld on April 13, 2014, 06:44:31 PM
Since Passover starts tomorrow and ABC is showing The Ten Commendments this coming Saturday night, what are your views on the movie?  How accurate is it to what really happened in realation to Moses.  The problem with the movie is that none of us can dispute what really happened then.
Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: Tag-MehirTzedek on April 13, 2014, 08:37:28 PM
Good MOVIE. Not accurate in many places. No worries, just learn what happened from the sources and not from movies.
Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: muman613 on April 13, 2014, 10:38:22 PM
Since Passover starts tomorrow and ABC is showing The Ten Commendments this coming Saturday night, what are your views on the movie?  How accurate is it to what really happened in realation to Moses.  The problem with the movie is that none of us can dispute what really happened then.

It is not true.... The movie presents just one outlook on the story. Never believe what you are seeing is what actually happened. The director has a particular narrative to express, but the Torah has many interpretations, and many understandings. Thus there is no way that the entire story can be conveyed with a movie. I only will watch the movie is it is mostly sticking to the Torah narrative, with a little understanding of dramatic license which the director can have.

As Tag said, it is best to pick up the original text and read it. It is even available online with great translation from Chabad's website. There is even Rashi (the commentator's notes on the text) online...

I watch the movies to get in the mood of the Holiday... I do not seek the 'real story' from them.

PS: I assume they are showing it this coming Saturday only because Easter is that week.

Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: muman613 on April 13, 2014, 10:40:46 PM
The 1956 'original' version is the best, with Charleton Heston as Moshe Rebbeinu..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahkwQhQZWG8&list=PLDAF3D3C423008654
Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: muman613 on April 13, 2014, 10:44:12 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUm6rC0o7Po
Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: muman613 on April 13, 2014, 10:52:35 PM
Ok, here is a full length 'Ten Commandments' movie made for TV back in the 2000's... I used to have it on DVD but lost it somehow (I think I lent it to someone who did not return it)...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443412/
Quote
When an oracle prophesizes that a child will become Prince of Egypt, a time of danger approaches the kingdom. The Egyptian Pharaoh orders the massacre of all newborn males. But one child, Moses-the son of a Hebrew slave-escapes certain death when he is set adrift on the Nile. As years pass, he is raised in a royal Egyptian household and, with no memory of his family, rises to the stature of prince. Upon discovery of his true heritage, and inspired by a fiery message from God, Moses embarks upon a noble and desperate fight to reclaim his destiny as the leader and liberator of the Hebrew people. Written by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

The movie is two 1hr 30 minutes parts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIQ2VBtocAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNexzAuk6cI

I find many errors in the story here and attribute it to Christian interpretation and dramatic license taken by the director... The entire part where Moses regrets the destruction of the Egyptians has no scriptural basis from a Jewish perspective. I also do not know if Moses had an Egyptian 'half-brother' as this movie suggests.

This movie does make use of modern Computer Graphics for the Splitting of the Sea scene and it lends a bit of awe to the event. That and the fact that the movie stresses that the Sea spit the Egyptians dead bodies on the seashore along with their gold-laden chariots is a detail which is missing in the original 1956 movie.
Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: muman613 on April 13, 2014, 11:30:56 PM
I just remembered that in that Ten Commandments I didn't agree with the portrayal of Aaron... Aaron was Happy to see Moses when he returned, and in this movie he was quite upset...
Title: Re: Ten Commendments movie
Post by: muman613 on April 14, 2014, 12:26:27 AM
Just noticed another rather glaring error in how Moses acted after the Egyptians were drowned in the sea.

We recite the 'Song of the Sea' in our prayers, and it is clear that Moses led the men in the singing, and Miriam and the women played drums and danced.