There is probably no greater literary classic than the Bible, and as such it is an obvious choice for Hollywood. But why then are there so few attempts to bring the stories we grew up on to the Big Screen? A very simple reason. In filming a Bible story, producers tread a very thin line. They know they have to make the story interesting, the graphics new and innovative or the movie will flop. But they cannot tamper too much with the original for fear of upsetting those who hold the story dear to their hearts. Unbelievably, Hollywood has finally managed to tread that thin line in 'The Prince of Egypt'.
At the very beginning of the movie, a beautiful worded statement appears on the screen, and as I cannot possibly say it better, I will reproduce it here. "The motion picture you are about to see is an adaptation of the Exodus story. While artistic and historical license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Moses can be found in the book of Exodus." Now that was just a classy thing to do. Yes, they did tamper with the story ever so slightly, but they never did anything to mess up the main storyline. They took some liberties with the character of Zipporah, Miriam, etc., but they never messed with the core elements of the story. Some of their changes are debatable, but not to the point of destroying the main point of the story. As a strong Christian, even I found nothing whatsoever to complain about in their telling of it.
Technically, the film is a triumph of computerized animation. The chariot race scene is revolutionary in that the "camera" is able to move around within a moving frame. It is one of the many subtle ways that this animated movie hardly seems animated at all. The parting of the Red Sea was enough to take my breath away, and the Plagues of Egypt sequence was also very, very good.
There was obviously a lot of research that went into the making of 'The Prince of Egypt'. Many of the monuments, frescoes, pieces of furniture, statues, etc. are genuine and can be found in the real life Egypt. Somebody did a lot of studying on Hieroglyphics and Egyptian paintings, as several specific scenes in the movie can attest.
I'd also like to say a few things about the meshing of music with the story. In general, when somebody starts to sing a song, the action stops. Not so in 'The Prince of Egypt'. Indeed, almost the opposite usually occurs. Time compresses within the song, with the action happening at almost double the speed of non-song time. For example, one song covers a span of approximately 40 years, from the time Moses first arrives in Midian to his burning bush experience. In this way, the guys at Dreamworks got the nuts and bolts of the story compressed down in order to give themselves more time to develop characters and other things necessary to make a good movie. I was very impressed at the subtlety of this approach. And the songs themselves are very well done. The soundtrack is a great mix of reverence, ethnic flavor and adventure. Various themes associated with certain events and people wind their way through the music in a better-than-Wagnerian fashion. Moses' mother's lullaby is especially poignant - bravo to the composer. It actually made me cry.
The entire movie is a masterpiece. I'm so glad it made money and did so well. I hope that its great success will allow the people at Dreamworks to make another Biblically based movie, hopefully as good as its predecessor. 'The Prince of Egypt' is not only a great story, it has the advantage of being "true". The tone is very religious, while not being preachy. The burning bush scene is absolutely beautiful. Watch the movie just for that, and enjoy the rest of it as well. The Death of the Firstborn is very dramatic, but not creepy like in 'The Ten Commandments'. I was thoroughly impressed. But above all, the story is interesting, fast-paced and engrossing. The characters are real and their problems are very relatable. There are marvelous moments of comedic relief and moments of terrible mental anguish. This is no dry story from some dusty old book. This is a living, breathing, story. 'The Prince of Egypt' has become one of my very favorite movies and one of the few "cartoons" that continues to be frequently reached for.
