Apr. 22, 2002 - 11:45 pm

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The Ten Commandments (1956)

well it's time for Cecil B. DeMille's colossus. 1956 Best Picture nominee. possibly the greatest film of all time? i give it a 5/10. wow this was too long. 220 minutes. this film is even longer that Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954)...and not even that good. it drags more, if that's believable.

the cinematography in this film is horribly uninteresting. yet again, an Oscar nomination. i have no explanations. i felt like i was watching a stage play. almost the entire film is in simple long shots. little camera movement, EVER. i think i saw a few medium close-ups, but there were probably less than 10 in the whole 220 minutes. talk about standing back from the action.

as far as the portrayal of the story of the Exodus, i think it's not very wisely done. it plays out more like a christian's wish to poke fun at Egypt's failure to rule the Hebrews. it also ends up taking quite a few well chosen moments to laugh at the stupidity of the Egyptian religious mythology. it's a little too harsh i think, and sort of juvenile. the film also ends up bringing in too many side stories that aren't that interesting, like that of Joshua, Lilia, and Dathan. oh and the direction of the actors was not superb either. all of these things combined with the epic nature of the film made it seem quite pretentious. 5/10 means that i didn't like the film, but i didn't dislike it too intensely.

actually, i would say that for a much more faithful portrayal of the Exodus story (as it is written), take a look at Dreamworks' production of The Prince of Egypt (1998). that may sound stupid, but i think if you compare the films critically you'll agree. The Ten Commandments is just not as great as it's been hyped up to be. movie epics are not always worthy of greatness.