The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Director: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells Cast: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin, Helen Mirren, Michelle Pfeiffer, Martin Short, Patrick Stewart Screenplay: Producers: Penney Finkelman Cox, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Sandra Rabins Runtime: 99 min. US Distribution: DreamWorks Rated PG: intense depiction of thematic elements
Copyright 1998 Nathaniel R. Atcheson
At the beginning of The Prince of Egypt, I was glad to see a few words regarding the origin of the story of Moses. First, it explains that the source text of the film is the book of Exodus; it then makes the point that this is the story behind the religion in which "millions of people believe." I like this statement because it doesn't explicitly say that the book of Exodus is factual, or that Christians are the only ones who are right. It's just too bad that the film itself does.
The Prince of Egypt is an energetic, visually masterful animated film of questionable morality. It depicts the doings of Moses -- his attempts to free his fellow Hebrews, who have been enslaved by the Egyptians. The story is a familiar one: as an infant, Moses (voiced by Val Kilmer) is sent down river by his slave mother, only to be rescued and raised by the Pharaoh (Patrick Stewart) and his wife (Helen Mirren). Moses grows up with his brother Ramses (Ralph Fiennes); but, as a young man, he learns of his true heredity. So, Moses heads off into the desert, rejecting his Princehood and vowing to free his people. When his father dies, and Ramses becomes the Pharaoh, Moses is forced to wage war on Ramses and the Egyptian people. Along the way, he talks to the burning bush, parts the Red Sea, and massacres thousands of people for the good of his own.
I realize that The Prince of Egypt has been adapted from another text, and that criticizing the material means that, transitively, I'm attacking the Bible. The difference between the book of Exodus and this particular film is that the source text is not so biased -- it shows both sides of Moses' doings; it explains the horrors of the plague that destroys the Egyptian people. The Prince of Egypt, however, is more interested in setting up a good guy-bad guy scenario, so that the Pharaoh is simply evil, and Moses is simply good. But never was I given a reason to think that Moses was any less sinister than Ramses.
I can't deny that the film is extremely powerful in its visual presentation. The animation, particularly in the scene in which Moses parts the Red Sea, is spectacular. (I might even go so far as to use the "jaw-dropping" cliche, because my jaw certainly did drop.) The film is lively and entertaining, and paced very well, and features a lot of talented actors: Kilmer does a good job sounding important, while Fiennes does an equally good job sounding sinister. The supporting cast is colored in familiar voices, with notable roles by Jeff Goldblum (present mostly for comic relief), Patrick Stewart, and Danny Glover (as Jethro). But I have a major problem with the way Moses and his actions are depicted. I know this isn't the first time this story has been done (anyone ever seen The Ten Commandments?), but this is the first time it's been geared towards kids. Are kids just supposed to overlook the scene in which the metaphorical hand of God comes down and slaughters children in their beds? Oh sure, the Egyptians are "bad," right? Yeah, they're just as "bad" as Southern slaveholders in the 19th century. I'll agree that slavery is "bad," but it's not a straightforward issue.
I'm not attacking religion or Christianity, nor do I think Moses was a bad guy. What I'm saying is that The Prince of Egypt is a powerful movie that would have been much more powerful if it had shown Moses in a questionable light. He killed a lot of people, and he did it in the name of God. If Moses had lived today, he would have been labeled a religious fanatic just before being sent to prison. There are good lessons to be learned in the Bible, but I think we could have overlooked the one that tells us that death in the name of God is beautiful.
Psychosis Rating: 6/10
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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