Lent Reviews Week 5: The Prince of Egypt

  The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 animated musical released by Dream Works studios and directed by Brenda Chapman (Brave), Steve Hickner and Simon Wells. It tells the story of Moses and the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. I won't bother to summarize the plot because everyone knows it and, frankly, I need to work on my summary skills. Suffice to say, it follows the Biblical story fairly closely.

  "He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2: 11-12) And he leaves for fear of pharaoh "When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh". (Exodus 2: 15) Considering that this film was made with children in mind, I can't fault them too much for changing the way the Egyptian dies. I don't really mind the added motive either because the bible doesn't really offer any deep insight in that regard. The film's portrayal of Aaron on the other hand, is somewhat problematic. Moses real brother was his strongest supporter, "The Lord said to Aaron, 'Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.' So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him." (Exodus 4: 27-28) The film portrays Aaron as being doubtful of Moses' mission and reluctant to anger the Egyptians. This was done, I think, to give Miriam a bigger role as she takes Aaron's place as Moses supporter here. Neither of these changes is that significant.

  The biggest deviations are the film's depiction of Moses' murder of an Egyptian which causes him to flee from Egypt and its portrayal of Aaron. The murder is portrayed as a fatal accident that is witnessed by many and Moses leaves, mostly, because of his crisis of conscience concerning the Pharaoh's treatment of his people. In the bible this murder happens in secret

  The two biggest flaws in the film are its rushed pacing and one rather out of place musical number. At 99 minutes the movie feels a bit rushed at times. As a result certain characters, like Aaron and Queen Tuya, are a little underdeveloped. And Moses relationship with his wife Tzipporah is not as well fleshed out as it could be. The musical number I mentioned entitled "Playing with the Big Boys" features the Egyptian high priests singing a song to intimidate Moses with their powers after his staff turns into a snake. Not only is this song much more comedic than the films other songs, it also interrupts the flow of the scene and ultimately feels rather pointless. The swallowing up of the Egyptian snakes by Moses seems to go unnoticed by everyone present and neither Moses nor the priests seem to make any impression on each other. The films other flaws include a few over-the-top comedic moments (including Moses and Rameses racing through Egypt and knocking the nose off a Pyramid) and, as I already mentioned, the films portrayal of Aaron. The films many strengths far outweigh these weaknesses.

  The focus of the story in the film is Moses relationship with his adopted brother Rameses, the future Pharaoh. Watching their initial friendship and then subsequent fall-out and opposition is very tragic and it was a good way for the filmmakers to add more humanity to the story. Moses own journey, from a naive though kindhearted Prince of Egypt to a humble servant of God, is also very well done, and the film adequately conveys both his initial mixed feelings toward his supposed fathers act of infanticide and later his regret concerning his lost relationship with Rameses with is mixed with his new found sense of purpose. Both Kilmer and Fiennes are excellent as the voices of Moses and Rameses (respectfully). The supporting cast also does a fine job. The songs (aside from the aforementioned "Playing with the Big Boys") are all memorable and complement the story well. My personal favorite is probably "The Plagues" which features Moses and Rameses singing back and forth about their feelings toward each other while the nine plagues take place in the background. Visually the film is magnificent. It's filled with sweeping images of the Pyramids and the Egyptian desert and the parting of the Red Sea is probably one of the greatest animated sequences ever. Moses dream, where he sees the murder of the Hebrew Children and his own escape through moving wall paintings, is also spectacular. Really it has to be seen to be believed.

  Overall, The Prince of Egypt is an emotionally resonant and beautifully animated biblical adaption.

Score: 9/10