Cinema
The Ten Commandments
Cecil B. DeMille · 1956
Synopsis
A pharaoh orders the death of the Hebrew newborns. Yochabel entrusts her son to the Nile in a basket; Bithiah, the king's daughter, takes him in, names him Moses and raises him as a prince. Having become a general and builder, rival of his adoptive brother Ramses for the throne and for Nefretiri, Moses discovers his Hebrew origin, kills the master builder Baka to save Joshua and, denounced, is banished to the desert. In Midian, he marries Sephora; on Sinai, a burning bush commands him to return to Egypt to free his people.
Context
Its author had made a film of the same title in 1923, in which the biblical story served as a prologue to a contemporary tale; he returned to the subject thirty-three years later, and it was his last film. Filming took place partly in Egypt and in the Sinai in 1954; DeMille had a heart attack there after climbing to the top of a set about thirty metres high, and quickly went back to work despite being prescribed rest. The parting of the waters was achieved by running footage of water released from huge tanks in reverse.
Who it is for
A film of three hours forty minutes, in Technicolor and VistaVision, originally screened with an intermission.
Prizes and reception
Its director's greatest success, it won the Oscar for special effects out of seven nominations, and was added to the National Film Registry in 1999.
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