Moses the Lawgiver

This was evidently made to go more into details about the Moses case than was possible in "The Ten Commandments" of 1956, which remains the best Moses film. For this version Anthony Burgess among other writers were consulted to make deeper research into the problems, which results in a much more interesting and controversial picture of Moses with his more debatable sides and complexities such as his cruelty and intolerance. We did not see much of Aaron in "The Ten Commandments" while he is here lifted forth to great advantage, convincingly played by Anthony Quayle, showing both his merits and weaknesses. After all, Burt Lancaster gives a sympathetic interpretation of Moses, which completes the efforts of Charlton Heston, who was only convincing and interesting as the prince and fugitive from Egypt. Best, however, is Laurent Terzieff as Pharaoh Mernephta, who is presented as a very conciliatory and human ruler placed in a very delicate and tough spot, - although he is historically entirely wrong. Mernephtah succeeded Ramses II at 66 years of age and did not rule very long, while he is here presented as a very delicate young man. It is more probable that Ramses was the pharaoh who had to deal with Moses, but that's the only flaw of the film, to which Ennio Morricone had great pains in making suitable music. The Red Sea sequence is as always the highlight of the drama, no film can fail in making that a great spectacle, and here is even included Miriam's celebrations afterward, which adds to the films many deserts.

This earthy and realistic film is an excellent piece of Biblical History. It is true to the story in the Bible and is very engaging. Anyone that loves the Bible or just a historical piece will appreciate the effort that went into this. Burt Lancaster's son Bill plays the young Moses and does a brilliant job! Burt, of course, picks up where his son leaves off and gives a great performance. When you watch the actors in the scenes of the desert you can feel the heat and sweat. The earthy tones in the film give it a distinct character. The narrator does an excellent job while not interfering with the story itself. The lavish scenery gives the viewer a feast to behold.

Conceived as mini-series this overlong picture has a valuable attributes, it was rather accurate according the old testament and was shot on location, however when I saw lavish The Ten Commandments of 1955 then there isn't any kind of collating such large gap of strength, thus unbeatable, whatever was the aspect, it's in another pattern.

Moses is plain and cheap as is easily be seen naturally along the picture, gross sets, poorest garments, scarce props, also the special effects done by the master Mario Bava is amiss, due the low budge and so on, in other hand a great foreigner supporting casting, Burt Lancaster portrays a great Moses, in historical background is untouchable and this way we shall be evaluate the movie itself and behold in this point of view.

Measure the great efforts to shot on location on a dry land with inappropriate sternly weather conditions at desert, sands, winds, in this specific point the assignment was fully accomplished, as a few numbers of votes this one is still unknown for the majority of IMDB's users, I saw it for the first time in early 1992 and now on DVD without any restoration, maybe never will be, sadly!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1992 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6.5.

To be fair to this biopic of the man who led the Jews from Pharaonic rule in Egypt to the land of Milk and Honey, there has been some serious effort put into the writing. It is less archaic than much of the original biblical text, but it does still manage to convey something of the gravitas of that tome - especially when delivered by Burt Lancaster in the title role. Now true, at times he does over-egg it on the earnestness front, especially towards the end, but for the most part he holds this together remarkably well. He is helped along by the equally rousing oratory of Sir Anthony Quayle who takes on the role of high priest Aaron and by a solid effort from Ingrid Thulin as Miriam. Sadly, though, these three cannot really compensate for the sluggish pace of the whole thing, nor the really pretty lacklustre supporting cast. That's probably best exemplified by Laurent Terzieff's weak performance as the Pharoah, but Mariangela Melato doesn't fare so very much better as Moses's adopted mother Bithia. It doesn't compare at all well with DeMille's "Ten Commandments" (1956) on the lavishness front, but I think it might outdo it on the authenticity front when they travel through the desert eking out an existence from the scraps they can find amongst the brush. It also goes some way to illustrating that all was not always sweetness and light amongst the tribes; that temptation was never far from many a mind and that, as many people may have found from reading the book of Exodus, their lord God wasn't always the easiest deity to keep sweet! This simply hadn't the budget nor Gianfranco De Bosio the imagination or vision to create something compelling to watch. It does have it's moments - thought the parting of the Red Sea maybe isn't one of them - but it needed a more robust and characterful cast to support the leads and much more succinct and focussed direction.

I saw only the original broadcast mini-series and I was very moved and impressed. Burt Lancaster's portrayal of Moses is very natural, very human unlike the wooden Hollywood versions and I specifically recall Charlton Heston's acting as if he were on-stage in The Ten Commandments. Not Heston'fault though but Cecil B. De Mille's because practically all of the actors and even the extras in that movie acted that way. In some scenes they looked as if they were posing for Rembrandt's Night Watch painting.

Not in this Lancaster version though which portrays Moses with all his faults - his short temper and even disobedience to God. But in one scene where the people of the Exodus were celebrating their deliverance and Aaron worried that they were about to fall into orgiastic idolatry again, Moses showed practical wisdom and said: "Not this time" and allowed the festivities to go on. This TV movie mini-series is really more of a religious and philosophical education rather than mere entertainment.