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Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 epic-religious drama film: The Ten Commandments, is a gold mine for critical analysis. This short film review will do so, by using Ninian Smart’s Seven Dimensions of Religion. In this essay, three of those seven dimensions will be utilized to review this, iconic chef d’oeuvre of a motion picture. Before doing so, it is important to mention that this movie was brilliantly produced, and directed. The variation of colors used on the set captivated, without being too intrusive, or imposing, like many other early technicolor productions. The special effects were simply enthralling for a fifties flick. When Moses, played by Charlton Heston, parted the Red Sea, in the third act, it probably felt so genuine, that audiences must have held on to their seats. Made with a budget of 13 million dollars, The Ten Commandments grossed in 120 million dollars at the box office. This film was cinematographically speaking, ahead of its time. Smart’s Seven Dimensions of Religion Ritual Emotional Mythic Doctrinal Ethical Social Material The Seven Dimensions of Religion may be used to analyze world views, ideologies, and systems of thought to each other. Religious Studies, according to Ninian Smart, was not interested in epistemological claims, truth claims, or apologetics, but rather in analyzing worth and comparisons, between world views, and religious systems. He described religious studies as the secular tradition of studying religion that isn’t interested in neither truth claims, nor apologetics. Ritual (Passover scene) Examples of systems that can be analyzed through this dimension: (1) How prayer is done within the Christian tradition. (2) Puja, the act of worship in Hinduism. (3) The Hajj, a mandatory annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. In the case of The Ten Commandments, the Passover scene relates to Smart’s ritual dimension of religion. Inspired by God, Moses prompts his people (Hebrews enslaved by the Egyptian Pharaoh) to smear the blood of a lamb on their front door, so that they could be spared from the plague, sent by God, to punish their captors. The movie doesn’t go into as much detail as the Bible; where God says to Moses to tell his people that “each household should have a lamb, and this lamb shall be without blemish. They shall kill it at twilight, and they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts, and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it, and they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs. Let none of it remain until morning: the Passover lamb had to be eaten completely, a family had to totally consume the sacrifice” (Exodus 12: 1-6). For thousands of years, the ritual of Passover has remained an integral part of both Jewish, and Judeo-Christian orthopraxy It celebrates the liberation of the Hebrew people from Egyptian tyranny by God. But, in Christianity, it is the crucifixion of Christ that is seen as the ultimate sacrifice, and hence commemorated during Passover. There is an interesting article on tvovermind.com that may help support the previous statement: “To this day the story of Moses and how his coming helped to set his people free is told freely every year and with great relish since it reminds everyone of a great injustice that was righted at one time in history” (Tom Foster, 2019). Emotional (God appears as burning bush, and speaks to Moses) The emotional dimension of religion helps to explicate phenomena by linking it to the human emotion. For example, in Acts 9:1-22 Saul meets an already deceased Christ, which completely changes his moral compass, and his entire raison d’etre. Such supernatural experiences can best be analyzed through Smart’s emotional dimension of religion. This is an “experimental dimension which includes an almost, “supernatural” for lack of a better word, connection, that is felt in response to meditation, or prayer” (B.Moran, 2013). Since it’s scientifically impossible to prove that a plant can speak to a person, as if it were itself human, the emotional degree of religion best explains the scene in which God, portrayed as a burning bush, speaks to Moses. After being expelled from Egypt, and saved by Jethro (Eduard Franz), Moses began really warming up to the idea that God had a calling for him. Shortly after, profuse with all sorts of feelings with respect to his real identity, and the situation of his people, he climbs Mount Sinai, where he is told God resides. The man’s emotions must have been overwhelming, fatigue from the long hike up the mountain didn’t help either, so he may have inexplicably saw and heard what he knew he had to see and hear, in order to liberate his people from Egyptian rule. God speaks to Moses again in the third act, and engraves the ten commandments onto a couple of old stone tablets. This occurs ofcourse, after he liberates the Hebrew nation. Since no society can function without a set of laws, regulations, and statutes, it was only natural for Moses to have come back down with the two tablets full of instructions, as to man’s code of conduct, and ethical standards. Would this be a more believable allegory if put into perspective? It’s entirely possible that the commandments were the result of an array of emotions rooted in the heart of a man whose entire mission was the salvation, and progression of his people.

Social (The Golden Calf) This dimension deals with the social aspect of religion, it emphasizes the gathering of followers of a particular religious movement. “The social dimension highlights the significance of community within a religion. It provides a sense of belonging within a given group that inspires and motivates individuals” (P.Esch, 2013). One example is, the assembly of Roman Catholics on Sundays for mass. There were a few scenes in which people assembled for religious purposes, but the gathering of Hebrews around the golden calf near the end was about the most ceremonious one. This scene was very festive and colorful, Encyclopedia Britannica's take on it is, that the calf “is probably a representation of the Egyptian bull god Apis in the earlier period and of the Canaanite fertility god Baal in the latter” (Encyclopedia Britannica). In Jochem Kahl’s 2007 publication, it is said that “worship of an Apis bull, experienced by ancient Egyptians as holy, has been known since the First Dynasty in Memphis, while worship of the Apis as a proper god, at least according to Manetho's Aegyptiaca, seems to be a later adoption, purportedly started during the reign of king Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty” (J.Kahl, 2007). The preceding statement links the golden calf scene to the ritual dimension of religion, as previously discussed. As a matter of fact, there’s a three ton Merill Lynch, charging bull replica in New York City, located at the Bowling Green Park in Downtown Manhattan. The Sculpture looks, and feels like brass, or bronze, and attracts thousands (tourists mostly) if not more sometimes, on a daily basis. What’s funny about this massive piece of art, is that it was once compared to the Bible’s golden calf, by an old acquaintance, may he rest in peace. He made the remark while observing a group of people, who took turns rubbing the statue’s scrotum for “wealth” and “fortune”.

Biblical Inaccuracies Interestingly enough, Ramesses is a biblical inaccuracy. The name of the Pharaoh who persecuted the Hebrews, and pursued them up until the point where Moses split the Red Sea, was never mentioned in the Book of Exodus. The Pyramids shown in the film’s second act, when Moses flees into the desert were also never spoken of, anywhere in the Bible. In fact, the first book to even bring up pyramids in History, was published during the nineteenth century. The Torah actually includes six hundred thirteen commandments, ten of which were printed into the Judeo-Christian Bible. The Ten Commandments encompasses all aspects of religion, and it is one of the highest grossing films of all time. This film is a grand epic, and a true adventure film. The soundtrack is also magnificently composed, it accompanies each scene masterfully. A monument of the seventh art that has forever marked the history of cinema. I was really caught up in the story from beginning to end. The four hours passed like a GSXR-1000 getting bench-marked on I-95 Express. We follow with passion the story of Moses, this prince of Egypt who will stop at nothing to free his people. The staging of Cécile B. De Mille is masterful. It offers us a simply grandiose spectacle with thousands of extras playing Hebrew slaves, simply grandiose sets, splendid costumes, simply magnificent and exotic Egyptian landscapes, breathtaking special effects which even today, are not too outdated and still quite impressive, especially during the Red Sea streak. This major motion picture is a real monument of the seventh art that we no longer present, a somewhat grandiose reconstruction of the life of the Hebrew prophet, Moses.

Works Cited https://www.tvovermind.com/the-top-five-passover-scenes-in-movies/ https://prezi.com/bjyy9j3vws6m/7-dimensions-of-religion/#:~:text=The%20second%20area%20is%20the,service%20or%20mass%20and%20prayer. https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/32641/191510_73863_IJMS_Vol_5_No_1_2013.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y https://www.britannica.com/topic/golden-calf https://books.google.com/books?id=tTzrbPfbGugC&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q&f=false