A Terra Prometida - A Verdadeira História de Moisés

not very large, not clear, almost a drawing. but impressive. I do not know if it is a great film. part of end of a period when Ben Hur spirit was master of Hollywood, it is difficult to define it more than part of a chain. but Burt Lancaster does an impeccable role. and for me, this film, like others, was a lesson of religion. under Communism regime, in Romania of 1984, when the churches are victims of strange architectural plans, when the faith was a form of resistance against the regime, Moses, this Moses, maybe fake, maybe theatrical, was a window. and , after years, not the film is important but crumbs of its memories. a great actor creates an unique character. and this character is perfect revolutionary. fragile, weak, strong, powerful, old and solitary. a master and a victim. the nuances of this base of the religions of Word are the gift of Lancaster. and his work is admirable.

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.

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.

The main thing that I liked about Moses The Lawgiver was that it dealt with a lot of what Cecil B. DeMille in his twice told tale failed to cover. A lot of things happened to the Israelites before they're allowed to cross the Jordan into Canaan. DeMille skipped over that whole part of the story. Of course it doesn't have the splashy spectacle that so typifies DeMille, but there's a lot to be said for this made for TV mini-series.

Burt Lancaster as Moses is not the commanding presence nor does he speak in arcane dialog as Charlton Heston did. He leads by persuasion and example and he has more than one reason to think those Hebrews are a 'stiff necked people'. The character of Aaron given short shrift by DeMille is more fully developed and played here by Anthony Quayle.

It was certainly a 20 year trial for Moses leading this bunch. These people did see this man come through for them many times in a crisis and still they carp and complain. Lancaster becomes irritable in a way Heston didn't and wouldn't. It's a more human Moses.

Bible scholars will praise this interpretation of the story, but the masses will still love their DeMille.

I had high hopes when I bought this. Who knows, Burt Lancaster is not just any actor. But oh, was I wrong. Even though you have to consider the time (1974) when there were no blue screen and visual effects departments like in these days, the editor did a bad job. Beside that there more flaws. Simple things like 2 different baby's Moses... and the biggest question: where did the director get the story from? You don't have to believe in the Bible to watch this movie, but even then, the whole movie is based on things that are pure imagination of the director but have nothing to do with any of the biblical stories, or even Jewish tradition. It was a huge disappointment, and I advise everyone if they want to see a good movie, and closer to reality, to watch the movie classic the Ten Commandments.