THE PRINCE OF EGYPT

US, 1998, 98 minutes, Colour.
Voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, Martin Short.
Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steven Hickner, Simon Wells.

Dreamworks Studios have produced an ambitious animation feature, designed for an adult audience as well as for younger audiences, experimenting with drawings that move away from Disney expectations to more stylised, even severer, characters. Layout is also more stylised as is the use of colour. In these achievements, The Prince of Egypt is most impressive.

The film will obviously be seen as something of a remake of Cecil B. De Mille's 1956 The Ten Commandments and a television-wise audience will be making comparisons. The most obvious is the parting of the Red Sea which was one of De Mille's more obvious use of the special effects of the time. Here it is almost the climax of the film (the giving of the Ten Commandments seems a little anti-climactic) and it is animated in super-epic proportions.

Any reading of the book of Exodus has to deal with the literary forms of the early chapters: Moses, his being wonderfully saved from massacre, his growing up in Pharaoh's court, his realisation of his heritage, his exile in Midian and experience of God in the burning bush, his confrontation with pharaoh, the plagues and the exodus itself. All these elements are dramatised in The Prince of Egypt.

One would hope that the good effect of the film is that audiences all over the world, and children who don't always have access to religious education, will become familiar with the events and themes of the Exodus.

Those who have studied Exodus and appreciate the saga elements (the dramatising and the imaginative inflating of the power of Moses over that of Pharaoh as well as the devices used to glorify the role of the Hebrews' God in their history) will have a context for enjoying this version.

However, most people will not have this background and will interpret the film in a literal way. This is always a risk with a biblical film unless audiences are alerted to the imaginative style of the storytelling. With an animated film, this is an inbuilt advantage. We know that what we are watching is a stylised interpretation. With The Prince of Egypt, this impression is enhanced by the inclusion of a number of songs (evocative of traditional Jewish melodies) and by visual references to other plays and films: the opening, with the Hebrew slaves labouring seems to be straight out of Les Miserables and there is an excitingly drawn and computer-enhanced chariot race that will have everyone thinking Ben Hur.

But there is one major worrying feature. When we read Exodus, we know that the God who is revealed in chapter 3 is a covenant God of loving mercy, justice and truth and that the rest of the scriptures will show how early responses to God as severe and wrathful will develop into a deeper awareness of the goodness and love of God.

This is not the case for many who will see the film. Here God is kind to his people but can be interpreted as vengeful and cruel to others. The plagues make exciting reading and visual display. But, with the killing of the firstborn (again drawn most effectively and bleached into a sinister monochrome), we respond emotionally to the death of children no matter how harshly we judge the actions of their parents. This is especially the case when Moses looks at the vast pictures commemorating Pharaoh's slaughter of the Hebrew children. One might ask how different is God from Pharaoh. An impression from The Prince of Egypt, without any context, is that God is vindictive, arbitrarily cruel and can sweep the Egyptians away without compunction.

Obviously that cannot be the whole story. The Prince of Egypt is quite a cinematic achievement. However, isolating the Exodus story as if this were a definitive portrait of Moses, the Hebrew people and their God, means that it may be a mixed blessing.

1. Oppression of people, massacres, slavery and the suppression of human dignity while oppressors live in comfort and luxury? Social justice issues?

2. Dramatising a biblical book? With computer-animation techniques: the look and sound of characters, the musical score and the themes of the songs, layouts and scenery, special effects eg, the chariot race, the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea? Dramatic impact of the plot? Audience knowledge of the book of Exodus?

3. Audiences identifying with Moses: his escape from death, his growing up in the wealth of the court not knowing his true origins, his encounters with his people, his violence and going into exile, his acceptance in Midian, his experience of God in the burning bush, his sense of mission, confrontation of Rameses, his former brother and friend, the plagues, his leading his people to freedom, giving the Ten Commandments?

4. The religious background: the history of the Hebrew people, their worship of their God, the nature of their God (protective of the Hebrews, destructive of the Egyptians)? The response to a God of vengeance? How did the understanding of God change over the period of Hebrew history to a more merciful and loving God?

5. Did the animation style of the film, the songs, the special effects contribute to an understanding of the events and personalities of the Exodus and the Hebrews' religious experience or put in the realm of fantasy?

6. The picture of Egypt, the kingdom, the monuments, pyramids, the slave labour to produce them, the role of the Hebrews?

7. The Pharaoh, as a father, strong, relationship with Rameses, the issue of slavery, Moses challenging him, his refusal to relent, no regrets, his death?

8.Rameses accepting young, reckless, Moses as his brother, accepting him, the bond between the two? The range of pranks? The Pharaoh’s reaction? The elaborate chariot race, the destruction, excuses?

9.Moses, as a character, the reaction of Mary and Aaron ? Tzipporah as a prisoner? Celebration, Moses arranging her escape? The discovery of his Hebrew origins, going to the building, the death of the man, the fear of the other Hebrews? Going to the desert, the experience of the burning bush, the experience of God? Meeting Tzipporah, Jethro her father, the welcome, the marriage? Singing and celebration? Moses and his decision to return, Tzipporah going with him?

10.Rameses and his reaction, welcoming him as a friend, Moses and his directness? The officials, the rods as serpents? The experience of the plagues, the effect on Rameses, the hardening of his heart? His relationship with his son? The plague of the destruction of the firstborn? The effect on Rameses?

11. The preparation of the Hebrews to leave Egypt, Miriam and Aaron, going out, the Egyptians in pursuit, Moses, at the banks of the Red See? The parting of the waves, the spectacle? Rameses and his charioteers pursuing, in the sea, the waves rolling over them? Rameses and his survival? Lament?

12. The Hebrews in the desert? Mount Sinai, the 10 Commandments and Moses presenting them?

13. The impact of the film, for believers, the non-believers, for the uninformed?