The Ten Commandments

Ladies and gentlemen, young and old,

this may seem an unusual procedure,

speaking to you before the picture begins,

but we have an unusual subject:

the story of the birth of freedom.

The story of Moses.

As many of you know,

the Holy Bible omits some 30 years of Moses' life,

from the time he was a three-month-old baby

and was found in the bulrushes by Bithiah,

the daughter of Pharaoh,

and adopted into the court of Egypt

until he learned that he was Hebrew

and killed the Egyptian.

To fill in those missing years,

we turned to ancient historians

such as Philo and Josephus.

Philo wrote at the time that Jesus of Nazareth walked the Earth,

and Josephus wrote some 50 years later

and watched the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

These historians had access to documents

long since destroyed, or perhaps lost,

like the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The theme of this picture

is whether men are to be ruled by God's law,

or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Rameses.

Are men the property of the state,

or are they free souls under God?

This same battle continues throughout the world today.

Our intention was not to create a story,

but to be worthy of the divinely inspired story

created 3,000 years ago:

the five books of Moses.

The story takes three hours and 39 minutes to unfold.

There will be an intermission.

Thank you for your attention.

And God said, "Let there be light. "

And there was light.

And from this light, God created life upon Earth.

And man was given dominion

over all things upon this Earth,

and the power to choose between good and evil,

but each sought to do his own will

because he knew not the light of God's law.

Man took dominion over man.

The conquered were made to serve the conqueror

The weak were made to serve the strong.

And freedom was gone from the world.

So did the Egyptians cause the children of Israel

to serve with rigor;

and their lives were made bitter with hard bondage,

and their cry came up unto God and God heard them.

And cast into Egypt,

into the lowly hut of Amram and Yochabel,

the seed of a man

upon whose mind and heart would be written

God's law and God's commandments.

One man to stand alone against an empire.

Divine One,

last night our astrologers saw an evil star

- enter into the house of Egypt. - Meaning war?

From the frontiers of Sinai and Libya to the cataracts of the Nile.

What nation would dare draw the sword against us?

The enemy to fear is in the heart of Egypt.

What?

The Hebrew slaves in the land of Goshen.

I number my enemies by their swords,

not by their chains, High Priest.

Chains have been forged into swords before now, Divine One.

Among these slaves, there is a prophecy of a deliverer

who will lead them out of bondage. The star proclaims his birth.

Then let the Hebrews die.

Slaves are wealth, Commander.

The more slaves we have, the more bricks we make.

I would still see fewer bricks made and fewer Hebrews in Goshen.

It is our eastern gate.

Since this deliverer is among their newborn,

only their newborn need die.

Every newborn Hebrew man-child shall die.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

So speaks Rameses I.

No!

Oh, no!

Please! Please! No!

God of Abraham,

take my child into thy hands,

that he may live to thy service.

But Mother, we have not even given him a name.

God will give him a name.

Follow it, Miriam.

Watch it from the reeds.

- See where the Lord will lead him. - Yes, Mother.

- Why didn't you say no? - She didn't think of it.

Here! Throw!

- You're getting fat. - Too many sesame cakes!

Catch a lotus and you catch a wish.

What will you wish for, Tuya, gold or a man?

Gold, of course.

- Then I could have any man! - Gold will never fill an empty heart.

Quiet, you chattering geese.

Memnet, you're only happy when you're miserable.

You fools! Talk of empty hearts before the Pharaoh's daughter.

What is there in her heart, but the memory of a dead husband?

We meant no harm, Memnet.

Look, there's something here!

Be sure it's not a crocodile!

Bithiah can charm tears from a crocodile.

What is it, Bithiah? What did you End?

Only a drifting basket.

- Shall we come and help you get it? - Memnet, send the girls away.

I'd rather be alone now.

Now see what you've done. Back to the palace, all of you.

- Go on. All of you. Musicians, too. - We wouldn't hurt Bithiah.

Bithiah's tired of you and so am I. Off you go.

- You're tired of everything. - Go on. Off you go.

Go on. Hurry up! You've hurt her enough.

- What have you found? - The answer to my prayers.

You prayed for a basket?

No. I prayed for a son.

Your husband is in the house of the dead.

And he has asked the Nile god to bring me this beautiful boy.

Do you know the pattern of this cloth?

If my son is covered in it...

...it is a royal robe.

Royal? It is the Levite cloth of a Hebrew slave.

This child was put upon the water

to save its life from your father's edict.

I am the Pharaoh's daughter, and this is my son.

He shall be reared in my house as the Prince of the Two Lands.

My mother and her mother before her

were branded to the Pharaoh's service.

I will not see you make this son of slaves a prince of Egypt.

You will see it, Memnet.

You will see him walk with his head among the eagles.

And you will serve him as you serve me.

Fill the ark with water. Sink it into silence.

Raise your hands, Memnet.

What you have buried in the Nile shall remain buried in your heart.

- Swear it. - I will be silent.

The day you break that oath will be the last your eyes shall ever see.

You will be the glory of Egypt, my son.

Mighty in words and deeds.

Kings shall bow before you.

Your name will live when the pyramids are dust.

And...

...because I drew you from the water, you shall be called Moses.

Moses! Moses!

Moses...

He proclaims his coming from afar, does he not, my son?

Such favor with the people can be dangerous, Great Sethi.

To whom, Rameses? To me or to you?

It would not be the first time that fame has turned a prince against his Pharaoh.

Or that envy has turned a brother against his brother.

Envy is for the weak.

And beauty is for the strong.

That is what you have in mind.

If you mean Nefretiri, yes, my father.

Is it the princess' beauty that attracts you, Rameses,

or the fact that she must marry the man I choose to follow me on the throne?

I am the son of your body.

Who else could be your heir?

The man best able to rule Egypt will follow me.

I owe that to my fathers, not to my sons.

- Then I shall follow you. - Shall you?

Do not let ambition shave your prince's lock.

I sent Moses to destroy a city. He returns in triumph.

I sent you to build a city.

Where is it?

It will rise when I have put fear

into the stiff-necked Hebrew slaves who build it.

But this I know, my father:

no pretended brother

will ever have your crown...

...or Nefretiri.

Indeed?

Whoever I choose shall have my crown...

...and Nefretiri.

I think I see him, Memnet.

Moses...

Yes, I can see him!

Moses!

Listen, Memnet. Listen.

The trumpets tell all the world he's come back to me.

Hear them.

And all those shouts are drowned by the beating of my heart.

- Moses! - Do you hear, Memnet?

- The whole city calls his name. - I hear them, Nefretiri.

The Lord Moses, Prince of Egypt,

son of the Pharaoh's sister,

beloved of the Nile god, commander of the Southern Host.

Welcome home!

- Prince Moses! - The blessings of the god Amun-Ra

be upon you, Great Prince.

He has brought down the pride of Ethiopia.

- Yes, that is... - The old windbag.

- I agree with him. - May your name be exalted on Earth,

o' conqueror, even as the sun is exalted in the heavens.

Welcome to my sister's son.

We have heard how you took ibis from the Nile

to destroy the venomous serpents used against you