Fromclassicbookstofilm Review of Joseph from Egypt

Joseph from Egypt (2013)

The best so far of the re-tellings of the story of Joseph

[9/10 · 2 November 2013]

I enjoyed this miniseries from the beginning to the end.It followed the Biblical account.Examples: The rape of Dinah by Prince Shechem ,half-sister and also cousin of Joseph and Joseph's half-brother/cousin Reuben's affair with his father Jacob's concubine Bilhah and half-brother/cousin Judah who deceived in disguise by Tamar,his ex-daughter-in-law widow of Judah's two no good sons Er and Onan impregnates her with twin sons.Judah's wife by the way was a Canaanite woman who hated her Aramaic daughter-in-law Tamar.This version doesn't mention or other versions that Judah's wife wanted her sons married to Canaanite women and succeeded in marrying off her youngest Shelah to a Canaanite woman.She wasn't going to have her youngest surviving son end up like his brothers.She blamed Tamar for the deaths of Er and Onan.You will not see these Biblical stories in most of the movies about Joseph.Ted Turner did a wonderful version in the nineties that kept the Dinah and Tamar episodes.Some of the names picked for the wives of the sons of Jacob were incorrect as well as the nationalities with the exception of Asenath.Reuben did not marry a Canaanite woman named Naamah whom Levi and Simeon captured when they killed Prince Hamor and Prince Shechem and the men of their city in retaliation for the rape of their full sister Dinah.The Naamah character in this story's husband was killed in front of her and she was in early stages of pregnancy with the Mara character who later becomes Joseph's full brother Benjamin's wife.It was one of Zilpah's another concubine of Jacob's. One of she and Jacobs sons married a widow with a young daughter.My one disappointment with this story was too much time given to Joseph's four eldest half-brother & half sister/cousins (the sons of his mother Rachel's sister Leah,the first wife of Jacob) Reuben,Simeon,Levi,Judah and Dinah hardly any characterization or time given to Issachar and Zebulon the youngest sons of Jacob and Leah.Benjamin the full brother of Joseph and the youngest son of Jacob and his second and favorite wife Rachel he gets a lot of storyline,too.The sons of Jacob and his concubines (secondary wives) Bilhah,the mother of Naphtali and Dan and Gad and Asher the sons of Zilpah,the second concubine of Zilpah get hardly any storyline at all.The sets and costumes were great.Someone certainly did their homework on costume design and study of ancient history.The Egyptians,Canaanites,Ishmaelites,Midianites and Israelites were dressed as the ancient drawings portrayed them.This series treated all ancient peoples with dignity.Some of the previous adaptations of the Jacob and Joseph stories made the ancestors of today's Israelite and Jewish peoples look like unwashed bums.The Jews have always been a clean people and even in the worst of circumstances tried to dress decently.Jacob,his father Isaac and grandfather were made wealthy men thanks to their faith in God.This version portrays Jacob and his family as wealthy people which they were.I love this version would recommend it to anyone who likes films of faith or Bible epics.