Coming Soon tells us “Gods and Kings” is a “whole new take” on the story of Moses in relation to “The Ten Commandments.”
Gods and Kings covers the life of Moses from birth to death. In between, there is his awakening to the plight of the Hebrew slaves that led Moses’ struggle against the Pharaoh for their freedom out of Egypt; the Ten Plagues; the Burning Bush; the daring escape across the Red Sea; receiving the Ten Commandments, and delivery to Israel. The film is not a remake of the 1956 Cecile B. DeMille-directed The Ten Commandments, which covered similar ground. Gods and Kings is based on the Book of Exodus and other stories from the Old Testament[.]
I’m torn.
After “Munich,” I hate to think what Spielberg would do with this. Do we really want to see moral equivalency in the story of Moses, where his actions to free the Hebrew slaves are somehow blamed for 9/11? After all, if Moses hadn’t freed the Jews there would be no Israel and if there was no Israel there would be no angry Islamic terrorists…
See how that can work?
In all seriousness, DeMille’s “Ten Commandments” still broadcasts on television every year and remains a vivid part of our culture. So where’s the urgency to try again? Also, Spielberg’s last foray into retelling this story through his company Dreamworks with the animated feature “The Prince of Egypt” didn’t fare all that well.
It’s quite easy to look at DeMille’s masterpiece and believe that if you remove some of the melodrama you can do better, but look again. There’s a reason it remains wildly popular. The storytelling is unquestionably brilliant. Over almost four hours, the narrative flows from scene to scene with a genius simplicity that completely sucks you in. That’s a quality almost impossible to reproduce.
Furthermore, who in the world could possibly play Moses? Look around, there are no Charlton Hestons. Even though he was in his early thirties, Heston had all the qualities necessary to create an iconic performance: the voice, the presence, the acting chops to pull off some very difficult dialogue, and The Belief. As a Christian, Heston brought something to the role no non-believer could; a conviction and sincerity.
Then there’s all the CGI. Yuck. Will it be in 3D?
On the other hand, the idea of covering more of the Moses story is a good one and we should probably encourage Hollywood whenever they show any kind of energy towards anything having to do with the Bible. As long as they show respect. Moses having adulterous fantasies we can do without. Which means Spielberg is a better choice than Scorsese.