The Prince of Egypt
A Dreamworks Pictures Release
USA 1998 Running Time: 97 minutes approx.
Directed by: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Siman Wells
Critique:
Right at the beginning we are reminded: This film modifies the narration of the Bible in some aspects. But the creators put themselves under the task to treat the story carefully and to show respect, not only for this paticular religion, but for any religion. Was "Prince of Egypt" going to be another one of those picuters which use just the elements of the given story that are appropriate for children in order to tell a typical all-age-appeal fairy tale? With a certain shudder I thought back to Disney´s "Pocahontas" which twisted any historical fact to provide an ordinary love story painted in black and white. Fortunately, 'Dreamworks-Animation' taught me better: Their first animated feature presents itself as a mature epic filled with interesting characters and striking images. A new kind of animation movie is born.
The story focuses on the character of Moses, who grows up as the 'Prince of Egypt', though he is actually the son of a hebrew slave. By the time he becomes concious about his true origin and so he decides to leave his supposed family. In the desert he has an encounter with God, who sends him back to egypt as his pawn to free the hebrewn people and with that to face his --still beloved-- brother Ramses. This tale, with which every inhabitant of the western hemisphere should, at least in fragments, be familiar, contains every big emotion --from love to hate-- and many opportunities to present great images, even miracles. This is the stuff for a traditional vintage epic and it is widely used by the Draemworks staff. Rarely one has experienced such an overwhelming flood of breathtaking images in an animated feature. They can be compared in power to epics such as David Lean´s "Lawrence of Arabia" or Cecel B. DeMille´s "The Ten Commandments". Thematically it is very close to the latter. To emulate the style of these named examples and to simultanously distinguish the film from the common animation movies the animators used various techniques which were never used before. Whereas in former times the facial play was limited to the eyes, the eyebrows and the mouth, Dreamworks presents a more detailed body language here. Not only the walk and the posture depend on the mood of the character, the mimic includes also the eyelids, the shaping of the head, and the cheaks. By that they come very close to real actors. Even small nuances and changes in the mood can be transmitted that way. Corresponding to this the characters are also developed more richly. Moses appears as a dialectical figure who is torn between two essentially different worlds. He does NOT enjoy the god-given power. Instead he wishes to escape from his leadership and he wants the changes in his life to be reversed. He is arkin to an acient greek tragic hero who --though he is trying very-- cannot escape his destiny. His brother Ramses is not presented as a common villain. He an ambivalent person whose motivations are perfectly understandable. To him, Moses´ behaviour seems weird. He cannot understand why his brother wants to lead slaves to freedom, since he regards them as property. In his education as an heir, he was prepared to use slaves as an instrument to expand his empire. He was taught that as a king it is his duty to spread his people and to execute his power, no matter how gruesome and cruel he has to proceed. Fear is an intsrument, his father has shown it to him. Still the old Pharao was a kind man. He loved his children and his people. By the time God oppresses Ramses by murdering his son the Pharao´s anger can understood. He projects this act of violence onto his brother Moses and chases him with his army. Revenge and hate emerge from the situation not from an one-dimensional characterization. The most negative influence on the persons has God himself, bad-tempered and in thirst for revenge he shows himself from his brutal side. He goes for the innocent children like the rulers then did it to the hebrews. He even surpasses them in cruelty by destroying the bondage between Moses and Ramses and by terminating more lives than the Pharaos did.
Not only through the characterizations, also through the supporting "cast" and the almost entirely serious mood, the picture creates a grim and rich atmosphere which makes it appear mature throughout. It is highly innovative, especially during the numerous highlights like the Moses´ dream, which transforms the two-dimensional drawings of the ancient egypt into an astonishing, surrealistic and three-dimensional experience. Also the attempt to create a symbiosis through a permanent integration of CGI´s into traditionally generated images has a harmonizing effect as it prevents suddenly necessary CGI´s from being to noticeable. This leads to a visual fluency which is not even interrupted by the final division of the Red Sea.
Unfortunatly this innovation is corrupted by the clumsy attempt to include songs. While the musical prologue seems appropriate, there is a sequence which is obviously borrowed from Disney: Here the priest, who appeared rather serious up to that point, sing that Moses should look at the "professionals" (vocabulary of the german version), after he tried to impress Ramses with a first miracle. Even "Lion King´s" elevator-song "Hakuna Matata" would have been more suitable. This anachronisism nearly destroys the whole atmosphere by attempting to keep the kids as an audience. The other songs, mostly used as time-lapse or to transport the thoughts of the protagonists, fit better, at least they are no distraction. The score by Hans Zimmer, with his choires and his seas of strings, does justice to this sweeping animated epic.
All this leads to a film which easily achieves its very ambitious goals but, in its bold and honourable endevour to be mature, sacrifices most of the audience, which may prefer to be entertained by the classic, vintage Disney tricks. Still I would be glad if I was wrong. Though the head of the Dreamworks Animation Company is a former Disney man, one can by no means compare "Prince of Egypt" with a Disney feature. He chooses a totally different angle by attempting to produce large scale epic, which is animated for variety (and maybe also for budget reasons). In the case of a success this would open the door for new possibilities in the genre of animation movies. All I can do right now is recommend this unique achievement. A fantastic movie, not only among animated ones.
Critique by Knut Brockmann
Translated from german to english by Knut Brockmann, Ralf Behet and Christian Behet
Since we are no native speakers there might be a few expressions in this review which may sound clumsy. We would like to apologize in advance.
E- Mail: Knut.Brockmann@darmstadt.netsurf.de
Die Filmpage des Knut B.: http://surf.to/filmpage/
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