★ 7 / 10
I’m always surprised that given the huge breadth
CinemaSerf
I’m always surprised that given the huge breadth of stories from Egypt’s pantheon and it’s history, that so few films have ever - Jack Hawkins and Victor…
I’m always surprised that given the huge breadth of stories from Egypt’s pantheon and it’s history, that so few films have ever - Jack Hawkins and Victor Mature, notwithstanding - been made for mainstream cinema. This one from Pole Jerzy Kawalerowicz tells the story of the fictitious Prince “Ramses” (Jerzy Zelnik) as he strives for his ailing Pharaoh father’s approval in the face of hostility from the High Priest “Herhor” (Piotr Pawlowski) and those who would ensure the king ruled in name only. With precious few soldiers, the young prince is fully aware that their borders are unsecured and with plotting and scheming going on all around him, he knows that in order to reign as he would want, he is going to have to bring down the all-powerful priesthood. It doesn’t help his situation that his lover just happens to be “Sarah” (Krystyna Mikolajewska) and as her name suggests, she has as much Egyptian blood flowing through her veins as Yul Brynner. When she gives birth to a son, and then he accedes to the red and white crowns, the battle lines become violently drawn. He wants the temples to release their vast golden treasure of the labyrinth, they are declining and what the new king doesn’t realise is that he has a doppelgänger in “Lykon” who is in love with the spurned and now treacherous priestess “Kama” (Barbara Brylska) so “Herhor” has a cunning plan to ensure his grip on power remains intact. The plot itself is a bit of a muddle borrowing from just about everyone from Dumas to Cecil B. deMille, but the filming on location allows the photography to do much of the heavy lifting amidst the great temples and pyramids, and both Zelnik and Pawlowski deliver considered, if perhaps not so exuberant, performances as this history plays out. Readers of Christian Jacq might recognise the stories that pitted the might of the priests who served the gods with that of the pharaoh was was supposed to be one, and in the end this displays those power plays, as well as the odd orgy, quite conspiratorially well. The production is designed to look realistic, there are no gadgets and exotic machines of war, just men in sandals with spears, woven shields and chariots for the generals and the whole film has a genuine look to it that I appreciated.
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★ 7 / 10
Excellent Atypical Epic
kitablett-05623
I watched this movie thinking that it would be a poor, low budget ( by Hollywood standards) epic, but was absolutely delighted with it, with little actual…
I watched this movie thinking that it would be a poor, low budget ( by Hollywood standards) epic, but was absolutely delighted with it, with little actual graphic or blood-thirsty battle scenes and an excellent story, well told and one that I knew little about, in actual fact. Interesting to see again that the religion and it's leaders of the time are corrupt (has there ever been a time when that hasn't been the case ?) and that even a powerful Pharaoh is no match for them. People have constantly, in these reviews, criticized the wigs, which are actually authentic of the time, unlike Hollywood's version of them, and were actually made of wool at that period of time. The actors were all excellent in their respective roles and I think that anyone who enjoys an epic with the story well told will like this movie. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it and, not knowing much about Polish cinema, will certainly seek out more of the same from that country. And, best of all, like all the old epics, dating back to the silent era, NO phony looking CGI like the modern cinema has all the time mow. A breath of fresh air, so to speak.
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Original Runtime 3 hours. Here it is surprisingly 2 hours 30 minutes? Address please.