The Ten Commandments (miniseries)
The Ten Commandments | |
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Robert Halmi Sr. | |
Running time | 167 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | April 10[1] – April 11, 2006 |
The Ten Commandments is a 2006 miniseries that dramatizes the biblical story of Moses. It aired on ABC.
The series was filmed in Egypt, Mount Sinai, and the Sinai Peninsula.
Plot
Moses's mother,
Some time later, Bithia gives birth to a son Menerith, and they are raised as brothers. Moses grows up knowing that he is not the blood brother of Menerith, but is shown his true heritage (something he knows nothing about) at about the age of 10: he is re-introduced to Jochebed, his father Amram, his brother Aaron, and his sister Miriam.
Years later, Prince Moses and Menerith inspect a building site. While Menerith leaves for a task, Moses continues his inspection only to witness an Egyptian overseer attempting to rape the wife of a Hebrew laborer. Moses manages to rescue the Hebrew couple by killing the Egyptian overseer and hiding the body. When the body is discovered, Pharaoh orders Moses' arrest, but he is able to escape with the aid of Menerith.
After traveling days through the desert, Moses arrives in
Moses, still wanting to know why God allows the Hebrews to be enslaved, climbs
Because Pharaoh Ramesses refuses to free the Hebrews, Egypt is struck with ten plagues. Only after the final one, during which Pharaoh's beloved son dies, are the Hebrews freed. However, Pharaoh's heart is hardened once more due to him being unable to accept his son's death, and decides to try to re-capture them.
The Hebrews are guided to the
Moses climbs the mountain to receive God's commandments in the form of two stone tablets, but when he descends, he finds that many of the Hebrews have built a golden calf and created an orgy. Moses destroys the tablets and the idol in a fit of rage and orders the deaths of the wicked revelers. After a brutal fight that leaves many dead, the survivors plead to receive God's commandments and Moses climbs up the mountain again. After Moses reads the commandments, the tablets are placed in an ark.
Sometime later, an elderly Moses lives his life as a hermit on a mountain slope and is seen looking at the promised land, which he is not allowed to enter due to an unspecified previous disobedience to God.
Cast
- Dougray Scott as Moses
- Linus Roache as Aaron
- Naveen Andrews as Menerith
- Mía Maestro as Zipporah
- Paul Rhys as Ramses
- Richard O'Brien as Anander
- Silas Carson as Jered
- Padma Lakshmi as Princess Bithia
- Susan Lynch as Miriam
- Claire Bloom as Rani
- Omar Sharif as Jethro
Reception
Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter gave the mini-series generally positive review, praising the performances as well as "the stunning cinematography and eye-catching special effects" but also noted that it "fails to take full advantage of the source material".[2] David Bianculli of the New York Daily News
reviewed it as "Thou shalt not watch",
References
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
- ^ Garron, Barry (2006). "The Ten Commandments". The Hollywood Reporter (online ed.).
- ^ "'Ten' Inspires A Quick Exodus". Daily News. New York. April 10, 2006.
- ^ The Ten Commandments: Season 1, Metacritic.com
- ^ The Ten Commandments: Season 1, Metacritics.com
- ^ Shales, Tom (April 10, 2006). "'The Ten Commandments': Exodus Comes to ABC". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
External links
- The Ten Commandments at IMDb
- Official site