Brothers,
Just before the opening credits of the feature animation film, The Prince of Egypt, we are given a disclaimer which says something to the effect of: While the biblical story of the Exodus has been modified for dramatic purposes, the integrity of the original story remains the same. In other words, the film maintains most, if not all, of the religious truths and themes that were originally communicated to us in the written account.
In light of what we've read from the Exodus accounts and seen from the film, I'd like you to do the following:
- Explain any major differences or similarities you noticed between the film and the written account. What effect did they have on your perception of the story? Did they enhance your perception of the story? Did they create suspense? Did the film help you understand the story better? Or did it confuse you more? Explain.
- Pick and describe three major themes (deeper meanings) presented in the film and explain, in detail, HOW they are portrayed. Do they have any relevance to your own life?
In peace,
BRobPeachFSC
8 comments:
A major difference between the movie and the Bible is that in the Bible Moses has a speech problem but in the movie he does not. In the Bible Aaron has to speak for Moses in order for the people to understand.
To me, the story is easier to understand without Moses having a speech problem.
This difference did enhance my view on this story but i don't think it added any suspense.
The film helped me understand the story by giving me a better mental picture.
Three major themes are (1)escape, (2)brotherly love, and (3)family tension.
Escape is when the slaves were lead by moses away from Egypt. This is shown as Moses walking out of Egypt followed by all his people.
Brotherly love is between Moses and Rameses. This love is shown by Rameses greeting Moses with excitement.
Family tension is between Moses, Rameses, and Pharao. The tension between Moses and Pharao is caused by Moses discovering the death of the first born sons. The tension between Moses and Rameses is caused by Moses wanting to free the slaves of Egypt. These tensions are shown as arguments
In the film I felt that the interpretation of the real biblical story was pretty strong and portrayed the theme quite well. Some differences that i picked up on in the movie was the fact that Ramses was never the name of the pharoah in the bible. The pillar of flame blocking the egyptians from the Red Sea was just a cloud in the bible. There is also a sort of brotherhood and mutual suffering on both sides between moses and ramses. There were also songs used to entice and excite the viewer I think that these details help to enhance the plotline and give it extra suspense and meaning. This film helped me to perceive the way living under those circumstances could have been like. As you can not see pictures in the bible I thought this movie was a great resource.
I found that some of the themes in this stroy proved to challenge Moses on his way to freeing the slaves, one primarily being captivity and suffering. But to counter that another theme suggests hope when everyhting seems futile. The courage to stand up to your own brother and inflicting plagues upon what was once your home must have been great in Moses. We could all learn a lesson from the themes portrayed through Moses in this movie. He led with good values and just actions he even grieves over the loss of his brother's firstborn child. Many current leaders could learn even the gift of compassion from Moses.
I think that the stroy had to been changed to add more drama to the movie, but most of the facts stayed the same. One key difference was the relationship between Moses and Ramses, which wasn't discussed too much in the Bible, but developed the movie a lot. Also, Moses performed some wild deeds that were embellished a bit (but not too much), such as the giant pillar of fire that halted the Egyptians. I liked the movie better because there was more action, and the events flowed together more smoothly. However, I did like how each of the different plagues was described in great detail in the Biblical account.
Some themes I encountered were 1. Freedom, 2. Revenge, and 3. Courage. 1.) Freedom- Moses led the slaves into the promised land of Israel, and got them away from their life of torture and anguish into a life of happiness and liberty. 2.) Revenge- Ramses wanted revenge on Moses for trying to free the slaves by giving them extra work and not letting them go free. He also chased them down after his initial promise, out of pure anger and spite. 3.) Courage- Despite all odds, Moses follows his heart and leaves his comfortable life as Egyptian Prince to lead the slaves into a better life than they have. All of these themes contribute to the overall message of God's covenant and love for us, that transcends generations and stays with us today.
The story was changed so the people could understand it better because most of the viewers were children and they really understand metaphors. But most of movie is information from the bible. Besides the relationship between Ramises and Moses we don't know about that from the bible. I think the story was easy to understand. But I didn't know the plagues happened at once but how would anyone know.
There are many themes in this movie like Courage, faith, and tension. First, Moses had to stand up to Ramises to let his people go but it was like standing up against the entire kingdom of Egypt. Second, He had faith that God will help him and lead his people to the promise land. Third, tension between Moses and Ramises. Moses was standing up to him which made Ramises the slaves do double work. Which lead his whole army dieing.
I found (3) three major differences between the bible and the movie:
(1) The (10)ten Plauges in the movie all happened at once (One after another. However, in the bible the (10) ten Plauges happened over a longer period of time.
(2)In the movie Ramese and Moses had a close brotherly relationship and in the bible they did not have a close relationship.
(3) In the movie Moses could speak very well and in the bible it tells that Moses had a speeech problem that required his brother Aaron to speak for him.
I understood the movie and it gave me a realistic point of view how things were during Moses time period.Reading the bible I did not get as much of a realistic point of view as the movie gave me.
The (3) three major themes are:
(1) Escape when he pleaded with Ramses to let his people go after all the (10) ten plauges was over, which he did. I see that Ramses was powerless to God. Today we see people die to natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, we as people are powerless to God's will.
(2) When the waters separated it showed the absolute power that God has over mankind. In disasters God can be merciful and save the lives on many. It is the wise that realizes that only by the grace of God they are saved.
(3) When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments; that told his people to be better people and serve God. These ten commandments serve today as a true testiment to all mankind. If we follow the ten commandments we will live a much better life one with less struggles.
A difference between the movie and the Bible is Aaron has to speak for Moses for the people to understand. Also the hail plauge was fire in the movie not hail.
The difference between the two sory of enhanced my veiw on the story but it didn't add any suspence for me.
The film helped me understand the story better because it gave me a picture so I could visualize it as it went along.
Three themes are 1.escape, 2.courage, and 3.brotherly relationship.
Escape is the slaves being helped out of Egypt by Moses. Which brings me to my second theme courage. It took Moses courage to stand up to his brother Ramses and tell him to "let his prople go" and actually leading them out. My third is the brotherlly love Moses shared with his brother Ramses but in the Bible they do not share that relationship.
A major difference is the story of Moses and Ramses. In the bible, it mentions nothing about Moses growing up with a brother. This element is added to the movie for dramatic purposes. It is more suspenseful because Moses and Ramses used to be good friends, but in the end they become bitter enemies. Another difference is that Aaron has an extremely small role in the movie, while is role in the bible is much larger. In the bible, Moses has a speech impediment, so God has Aaron speak to the pharaoh for Moses. I think Aaron’s role was left out because the audience of the movie is primarily children, and it may have been too complex for young kids. It also may have been left out for time purposes. A smaller difference between the two accounts was that a cloud and “the angel of God” protected the Israelites from the Egyptians, not a cyclone of fire. Again the fire made the movie more suspenseful than a cloud creating darkness.
Three themes found in the movie are faith, courage, and brotherhood. In the movie, Moses and the Hebrews showed great faith in God through harsh slavery and oppression. They trusted that God would lead them to the Promised Land, and they were rewarded through their escape from slavery. Moses displayed great courage by standing up to Ramses when he could have easily given up and returned to his luxurious life of royalty. Also, brotherhood was a major theme in the movie. I think the tension between Ramses and Moses was added to the movie not only for dramatic purposes, but it related to the audience as well. I think that all young children can relate to have a huge argument or conflict with a sibling. Faith relates to today’s world the same way it did in the movie. No matter how hard or hopeless your situation seems, you will prevail if you put faith in God. In today’s world, many people lack the courage to be themselves and to stand up for what is right.
One of the major differences in the movie and the bible is that in the bible moses has a speech problem and in the movie the doesn't.I think the movie is easier to understand then the bible because it is easier for me to listen and understand than reading and understanding.This difference did enhance my view of the story but did not add any suspense.The movie gave me a better understanding of the story because it is easier for me to understand movies than books.
Three major themes are 1.family tension 2.freedom and 3.brotherly.Family tension-Is between moses and rameses when moses tell rameses to let his people go but he does not listen until the ten plagues come and force rameses to let moses people go.Freedom-Moses led his people into the promise land after they were slave for rameses.Brotherly love is between moses and rameses and how they get along at the begging of the story until moses finds out they are not brothers.
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