EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS directed by Ridley Scott, written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Jeffrey Caine and Steven Zaillain, with Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul and John Turturro. A 20th Century Fox release. 150 minutes. Opens Friday (December 12). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NN
Ridley Scott has said he cast Exodus: Gods And Kings with predominantly Caucasian leads because he couldn’t mount a movie of this scale with “Mohammed so-and-so from such-and-such” as his Moses.
This may indeed be true, but the dismissiveness with which Scott made his statement – telling Variety “the question doesn’t even come up” – means he didn’t try. The 77-year-old Englishman is likely not the most forward-thinking of filmmakers.
His Moses is Christian Bale. His Rameses is Joel Edgerton. The actors of colour are relegated to secondary roles. That’s the way he wanted it, and that’s how it is.
The actors are strangely irrelevant to the movie itself, which exists in relation to The Ten Commandments in much the same way Scott’s Oscar-winning Gladiator did to The Fall Of The Roman Empire – a big, historically questionable genre picture upscaled with CGI and a lot of very serious acting.
As in Gladiator, the movie’s massive story plays out in the personal conflict between two characters: Moses and Rameses, raised as brothers by the emperor Seti (John Turturro, somehow) and divided by tribal commitments. Rameses becomes pharaoh of Egypt Moses discovers his Hebrew heritage and is exiled to the desert, where he marries Sefora (Maria Valverde) and is commanded by God to return to Egypt and free his people.
Rameses refuses, of course – by citing the economic impact of replacing 400,000 unpaid labourers. Edgerton’s genuine concern in the delivery of that line is easily my favourite moment in the picture, suggesting a looser, more human approach to the material.
Sadly, it’s the one flash of inspiration to sneak through Scott’s self-serious machinery, which demands sombre realism even during the depiction of miracles – and proves kind of a drag.
I found myself longing for the clarity of Darren Aronofsky’s recent Noah, which acknowledged the insane implications of its story by putting rock monsters (fallen angels!) on the screen.
Scott makes sure we know that the proper definition of “Israelite” is “one who wrestles with God.” He himself is still wrestling with the kind of movie he wants to make.
normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner
