Abraham

ABRAHAM, a TV film made in 1993, seeks to condense much of the story of the Book of Genesis, most of it involving the character of Abraham and his efforts to secure passage to the promised land where he will become the founder of a new people.

Unlike many television films, this one has strong production values, not least in the outstanding Moroccan locations (representative of the Middle East). Truly, this is a film in which the landscape is a character in itself, and the sun-scorched locales are really something.

Richard Harris delivers a grand old turn as the put-upon Abraham, tasked with undergoing much hardship and challenge by the Creator. Although the film is episodic in nature, going through much familiar ground (the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the sacrifice of the child, the journey to Egypt) the reason it works so well is because it creates identifiable and realistic characters, not just figures lifted from the page.

Therefore Barbara Hershey's Sarah becomes a petulant and rather selfish character; Maximilian Schell's Pharaoh is a vain and pompous monster; and Carolina Rosi and Gottfried John give the best performances, really stealing their scenes with their emotional turns. Be warned, this is a long - 3 hour - production, and slow-moving in parts, but it does the job well.

This is an engaging movie, however, it is not among the best Biblical adaptations. It does well in holding true to scripture with some'creative license' for areas that are vague.

The film really brings us to a greater place of understanding the reality of what took place back then. As I stated in another review of a Biblical film - One of the mysteries of the Bible is in the manner which people spoke and communicated in various scenarios. Did the person express agitation or anger when he/she said this/that? Or were they always full of patience and grace? Were they serious in appearance, or did they smile often? Each movie and play we view that is an adaptation is a creation of another persons thought of how things were possibly said and done. The creator of this film made most things believable.

I really appreciated how this film made Hagar's story prominent. Rather than thinking of her as merely a disobedient servant, or a jealous, conniving woman, we come to understand the depths of the role and status that she had to endure in this life. Slaves at that time were rarely allowed to marry or have children at all. Their owners were their lives. She got just a taste of what it would be like to have a husband and a family - a life. A film that can bring the life out of an ancient book is worth paying attention to. I would recommend this.

This is the story of the life of Abraham as told in the narrative of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible revolving around the themes of posterity and land. The Old Testament story of Abraham and the trials he endures and his sufferings throughout a long way. He is said to have been called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land of Canaan, which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. This promise is subsequently inherited by Isaac, Abraham's son, by his wife Sarah, while Isaac's half-brother Ishmael is also promised that he will be the founder of a great nation. Abraham purchases a tomb (the Cave of the Patriarchs) at Hebron to be Sarah's grave, thus establishing his right to the land; and, in the second generation, his heir Isaac is married to a woman from his own kin to earn his parents' approval. Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons; but, on his death, when he is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives "all Abraham's goods" while the other sons receive only "gifts". Most scholars view the patriarchal age, along with the Exodus and the period of the biblical judges, as a late literary construct that does not relate to any particular historical era, and after a century of exhaustive archaeological investigation, no evidence has been found for a historical Abraham. It is largely concluded that the Torah, the series of books that includes Genesis, was composed during the early Persian period, c. 500 BC, as a result of tensions between Jewish landowners who had stayed in Judah during the Babylonian captivity and traced their right to the land through their "father Abraham", and the returning exiles who based their counterclaim on Moses and the Exodus tradition of the Israelites. Furthermore , dealing with Sarah (Barbara Hershey), Lot (Andrea Prodan) , Lot's Wife (Ferraro), Terah (Vittorio Gassman) Abraham's father, Eliezer (Gottfried John), Mekhizedek (Paolo Bonacelli), Sodomah and Gomorra destruction , and three such Heavenly Messengers appeared in the course of events along with Abraham, his father Sarah his slave Hagar (Carolina Rosi) and sons Isaac and Ismael. There was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households traveled to Egypt. On the way Abraham told Sarai to say that she was his sister, so that the Egyptians would not kill him. When they entered Egypt, the Pharaoh's officials praised Sarai's beauty to Pharaoh (Maximilian Schell), and they took her into the palace and gave Abram goods in exchange. God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with plagues, which led Pharaoh to try to find out what was wrong. Upon discovering that Sarai was a married woman, Pharaoh demanded that Abram and Sarai leave Egypt. And including the episode of the three such Heavenly Messengers who appeared in the course of events which befell Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham's epic life through many trials and tribulations he strengthens his faith. It covers various Biblical episodes about Abraham's life, at beginning he's a tribal leader who denies all the local deities and finds the true God. Well played by Richard Harris as the mystic who spoke personally with God, a leader of men, a builder of nations, a pioneer and a warrior and Sarah adequately performed by Barbara Hershey. At the time she conceived her first child, the event being forecast by an Angel of the Lord. This enjoyable Biblical treatment contains emotion , religious feeling , human touch and grandeur events. Moderately attractive but ponderous , to say at least , and overlong, though really instructive.

It contains an evocative and sensitive soundtrack y Marco Frisina, being coordinator and consultant musical the great Ennio Morricone. As well as colorful and brilliante cinematography by Raffaele de Mertes. This is Italian-made, lavishly produced by the RAI, Quinta Communications, Lux Vide and an American company. This luxuriously mounted production was well directed by Joseph Sargent. Craftsman Sargent directed as TV as cinema films with enjoyable results. Joseph made all kinds of genres , such as Comedy : ¨Coast to coast¨, ¨Tribes¨; Court-room drama : ¨Never forget¨ ; Sports : ¨Golden girl¨ ; Sci-Fi: ¨Colossus the forbidden Project¨ ; Biography : ¨MacArthur¨ , ¨Abraham¨, ¨Manions of America¨, ¨Mandela and Klerk¨ , ¨Arturo Sandoval story¨ , ¨WWII when lions roared¨; Terror : ¨Nightmares¨, ¨Jaws, the revenge¨ ; Drama : ¨The incident¨, ¨A lesson before dying¨ , ¨Passion Flower¨ ; Novels adaptation : ¨Dostoevsky's Crime and punishment¨ ; Western : ¨Streets of Laredo¨ , and action ¨while lightning¨. Äbraham¨ Rating : 7/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile watching.

Back in the 1990s, TNT did a series of adaptations of Old Testament stories. This was the first one, and despite some slight flaws, it was a decent start.

Abraham adapts the Genesis story of an elderly man who is promised at the age of 75 that he will one day have a son. We further see the faithfulness that he endures for over 25 years, in which he waits for that child, even though he also gains a child from one of his servants.

Abraham is played by Richard Harris, who was Dumbledore in the first Harry Potter movie. He displays great talent as the Father of Many Nations. (This isn't his first Genesis film either, he played Cain in The Bible: In The Beginning- one of my Top 10 favorite Biblical movies.)

His co-star, Barbara Hershey, does a great job as Sarah- 5 years after playing Mary Magdelene in the controversial Scorsese movie, The Last Temptation of Christ.

The other actors aren't as famous as them, but did fine in their roles too. The cinematography is also well done for a TV movie.

My biggest concern with Biblical films is if they are accurate to the story. With the exception of Last Temptation, I don't really care for Biblical films that change the story- as it is a sin to add or take away from the text. (Deuteronomy 4:2.)

Abraham takes many events from Genesis and follows them well, and many scenes were done accurately- such as the near sacrifice of Issac and Abraham pleading to spare Sodom and Gommarah should any righteous people be in the cities.

This applies to most of the movie. However, some scenes were added and expanded on for context and runtime. Some of it made sense- in one scene, Abraham fears that a king will kill him to take Sarah as his own wife, so he lies and says that she is his sister.

The movie expands on Sarah living in the king's palace for a while, and I understand that for a movie, but it went on a little longer than it really needed to.

The movie also opens with some hardship that Abraham went through with a ruler, and that's not very Biblical, or at least not enough to spend 10 or so minutes on.

These additions are also a little annoying because the movie goes on for a few minutes past 3 hours, and without them the movie could have been closer to 2 hours. Still, for what is accurate, it's worth sitting through to get to the actual Scriptural parts.

If you enjoy Biblical movies like I do, I would suggest seeing this one. Its screenplay is not perfect, but it has enough accuracy for me to recommend it. On the whole, Abraham is a faithful adaptation of a man who was faithful to God.

This little TV movie was a masterpiece. It's one of Richard Harris' most brilliant roles as he seems to become Abraham. The movie takes us on a journey from Abraham's initial trek to an unknown land, to the birth of Ishmael and Isaac. Barbara Hershey couldn't have been better as Sarah. The portrayal of the Egyptian pharaoh, the voice of God that speaks to Abraham -- all the way to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra and the close call with Isaac -- all were done with taste and sensitivity. As some have pointed out, the special effects often looked like overlays, but it didn't adversely affect the power of the film.

The movie covers a lot of ground and while it is long the time goes by quickly because the acting was so beautifully realized. Harris' portrayal of Abraham truly is emotional and realistic. The cast and crew handled the topic with sensitivity and like so many other religious films, this one stays focused on the story and shuns proselytizing, goopy music or silly dialog. This film does not suffer from any of those common problems. I'd highly recommend this film. Well worth the experience.