The Prince of Egypt
The film Prince of Egypt did a wonderful job at filling in the detailsof Moses' life. While many scenes were added to the biblical narrative,the film's poetic license needed to create some of the interaction betweenJoseph and his older brother Ramses in order for the characters to findflesh and blood on the silver screen. Even in animated form, theadditional scenes helped the viewer understand that these characters werenot just flannel graph images which played out a predetermined and stoic One of these scenes depicts Joseph and Ramses racing through the citystreets on their chariots. The competition between the older and youngerbrothers gave character depth and dimension to the film. Ramses, as theoldest, would have been more ridged, focused on pleasing his father andultimately replacing pharaoh with all the force and responsibility that histask would require of him. Joseph, on the other hand, could afford toplay, and prod his older brother into crossing the lines of "appropriatebehavior" for a future pharaoh. The dynamics of their relationship helpedform the power of the conflict when Moses returned to lead his people out How would have Moses felt, facing
One aspect that is indirectlyomitted is the length of time Moses stayed under Jethro's care in thewilderness. However, because of his faith in the power of the Eternal God, not becauseof his faith in himself, he was able to return to Pharaoh's house, and leadGod's people to freedom. Also added into the film was the chance meeting between Moses and hisbrother Aaron and sister Miriam. Just as the Cecil B D'Millefilm "The Ten Commandments" added the love rivalry between Moses and Ramsesfor Nefretieri, Prince of Egypt added the comradery between Moses andRamses in order to create for the reader a deeper understanding of theconflict, and emotional aspects of the tasks which each of them faced. This song has been conceived inthe music studios of Hollywood, and paint a picture which is much moreaccurately the American dream of success and prosperity for those who workhard and believe in themselves than the message of the Prince of Egypt, andthe original story of Moses. Moses followed God's direction to return toEgypt in spite of the reality that he did not believe that he would haveany impact on the destiny of his people. Moses argued with God at theburning bush because he did not believe he could make any difference. From the lack of discernable agingwithin Moses' life, the presentation is that this process may have onlybeen a 4-5 years. Overall, the Prince of Egypt is true to the content of Moses' story,and of the Exodus. Moses an Ramsestalk about their adolescent pranks against the temple priests, and how theyloved to, as most adolescent men, play pranks, goad each other intostepping over the lines, and then how they supported the other whencircumstances did not fall in their favor. The climatic theme song "If you believe" is anAmericanized version of the bible's lesson. The bible says that Moses was in the desert for 40 years, andfrom the movie, it seem that a few years have passes, long enough for himto take a wife and have a young child. his brother whom he had not seen in40 years.
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