The Bible: Miniseries (2013)
Dirs. Crispin Reece (Eps 01, 02, 05, 06) / Tony Mitchell (Eps 03, 04, 10) / Christopher Spencer (Eps 07, 08, 09) | 10 episodes, approx 45 mins each.
Personally, and without trying to offend anyone, I don't have a problem with things being that way because I perceive the work as a TV show that's taking dramatic licence with a text that itself took dramatic licence with historic events; the precedent for deviation was already set. If, on the other hand, you're deeply religious and take every word as it's written in The Bible as a literal truth, then you may have issues with both the series and my personal appreciation of it.
Ep 01: In the Beginning opens on the Ark of six-hundred-year-old patriarch Noah (David Rintoul). As the flood rages outside his impossible to sustain floating sanctuary, he tells his children the Christian creation story. It's really just a way to set the scene for what follows, which is the story of Abraham (Abram). Before I get to discussing that it's worth noting that Noah doesn't murder anyone, and all the resident lambs are safe. That might seem an odd thing to say, but bear with me, please, and all will become clear.
After instruction from God, Abraham (Gary Oliver) leads a number of followers (that dutifully gathered off-screen) into a desperate situation. His nephew Lot (Antonio Magro) is sympathetic to his uncle's situation but nevertheless chooses to leave the camp — at the behest of his wife — and go to Sodom. Abraham is upset at the decision but respectful enough to let Lot leave.
Thereafter Abraham becomes the first of God's chosen murderers; he even screams a war cry in the deity's name right before he gets to murdering. There's a lot of that sort of thing in the OT.
Some years later God tests Abraham's faith in him yet again by asking his follower to murder someone else. It's referred to as a sacrifice, but unless the person to be sacrificed is a willing participant, then there's no difference beyond the semantic one, in my opinion. In this instance the victim is not the willing kind. In a rather understated but dramatic way it's implied that Abraham chooses to kill with a specific knife; from a storytelling point of view, it works well.
I'm guessing that most viewers will know what happens thereafter, but, without going into spoilery detail, it's implied (but not shown) that an unfortunate lamb is ritually slaughtered.
Interestingly, the inherent contradictions and ironies that are in the text, the unfavourable kind that some Christians refuse to acknowledge and/or choose to selectively ignore, aren't glossed over. Furthermore, in respect to its Old Testament provenance and the attempt to tell a story that doesn't pander to modern ideals, it eschews the romantic depiction of angels that much of current society favours. Angels in the miniseries are soldiers with armour and swords - warriors, protecting God's chosen few by killing those that their Lord deems unworthy or unjust.
Ep 02: Exodus is set 400 years after the time of Abraham. It's the story of Moses as a youth (Joe Forte) and as a man (Will Houston), when with God's help he led the enslaved Israelite people out of Egypt. Of course, not before he murders someone. (I'm sensing a theme here.)
It's a more self-contained episode and is by far the best of the early ones. The elder Moses is reminiscent of how Sam Neil played the titular magician in the fantasy miniseries Merlin (1998). Indeed, the acts performed by the staff-wielding Moses aren't far removed from wizardry.
- Let my people go. -
The obligatory burning bush is rendered in CGI, but it doesn't look as bad as it could've; it's not naturalistic, it seems to be slowed a little, giving the flames an ethereal, underwater quality.
Overall, the visual aspect of the series is very good, with many location shoots and frequent use of natural lighting providing a strong stage and backdrop for the drama to present itself.
In the two episodes thus far are definite instances of characters succumbing to pride (Abraham's wife) and envy (the first Pharaoh's son), two themes that relate to the seven deadly sins. It may not have been a conscious decision by the writers to include such things, they're both common writer's tools, after all, but once spotted it's hard to ignore. You may spot more than I did.
Regrettably, more innocent lambs are put to death for God's punitive purpose (Passover).
Ep 03: Homeland has two primary protagonists. The first is Joshua (Andrew Scarborough), yet another chosen subject who murders in God's name (but no lambs are killed this time - yay!).
The other is Samson (Nonso Anozie), who murders Philistines in a revenge-fuelled rage. It's one of the weakest episodes, for a number of reasons: the acting by one or more of the principals isn't very good, and the structuring of time makes both stories feel rushed. What I mean is, while The Bible text is filled with great stories told years after the fact, its narrative structure isn't very conducive to the kind of TV show that the miniseries strives to be. Because of that, one of the biggest failings of the series wholesale is the repeated need to skip over decades of time.
- Let my hair grow. -
Homeland, for example, begins 40 years after Exodus, then jumps forward 100 years, and later a further 50 years. We're rarely told what happened in the intervening decades. Moreover, I'm guessing that being omnipotent would keep a deity pretty busy, but it's not explained in Exodus what God was doing for almost 400 years while the Israelite people were enslaved in Egypt.
As before, the ending scene of the episode leads directly into the opening of the next one.
Ep 04: Kingdom tells of Israel's first king, Saul (Francis Magee), who murders people and kills a lamb. The crazed prophet Samuel (Paul Freeman) tells Saul that God instructs him "to kill everyone and everything!" and then punishes the monarch for showing mercy. Samuel murders someone, too, for good measure. There's not many sympathetic characters in the series, thus far.
Then comes young David (Jassa Ahluwalia), a shepherd boy whose talents include looking like a youthful Val Kilmer and throwing blunt projectiles from a sling. The youth snakes his way into Saul's camp and proves his worth by, unsurprisingly, killing someone.
Later, the matured David (Langley Kirkwood) begins to grow wise to the machinations of an increasingly unstable Saul, who's now an ageing king that's reluctant to give up his throne. Saul promises to grant David his heart's desire (a young lady, naturally) if he'll perform a wicked task for him, which results in a murder tally of 200 more men for the one-time shepherd boy.
He subsequently sneaks into a walled city and takes it for his own. It's there that he fatefully watches Bathsheba (Melia Kreiling) from afar while she's slow-motion bathing; his desire (lust) for new snatch puts him at odds with God's commandments, the ten moral imperatives that were carved onto stone tablets and given to Moses in Episode 02. It ought to be pointed out that God doesn't stick to those rules, either. Sitting pretty far down the list (at number five) is 'Thou shalt not kill,' and no one kills more people in the Old Testament Bible than the Christian God does.
- Don't let your husband know. -
The acting is once again of a high standard, making the previous dip seem like a minor bump in the road. The focus on one timeline is welcome, but it does still skip years in-between.
Ep 05: Survival is set 400 years after Kingdom, with Jerusalem now under the rule of its 21st king, Zedekiah (Samuel Collings). Despite having a monarch's riches, influence, and power, Zedekiah is under threat from the "superpowers" of the day, namely Babylon and Egypt. It's Babylon that makes a move, under the guidance of King Nebuchadnezzar II (Peter Guinness).
The episode reminds viewers that all previous struggles by God’s people are really just individual parts of one lengthy struggle; i.e. the search for the Promised Land, which is now lost, again.
It tells also of Daniel (Jake Canuso), who earns himself certain privileges by becoming a Royal seer thanks to his visionary powers - the kind of ability that could get someone branded as a witch by Church representatives in later years. He has a beard that makes him look like a trend-setting renaissance painter, but neither man nor lamb is killed by his privileged hand. Bravo.
- No hoverhand, bro. -
There's more CGI fire and, interestingly, it's mentioned that the compiling of the Hebrew bible is begun in the seer's era. His inability to pray silently precedes the inevitable lions den scene; it's green-screen but generally well-done outside of that. One of the most terrifying premonitions involves a great beast with iron teeth, 500 years hence, which leads nicely into the next episode.
The format thus far has been to focus on one or two important figures per episode, but when it comes to the book's most famous character, Jesus of Nazareth, the most well-trodden one as far as film versions of Bible stories go, the series-makers opted to split it across episodes 06: Hope, 07: Mission, 08: Betrayal, 09: Passion, and 10: Courage, totalling half the entire series.
The list of actors to have played Jesus onscreen is long and varied, including such talented thespians as Max von Sydow, Donald Sutherland, and John Hurt, so whoever was chosen had some big sandals to fill. The honour went to Diogo Morgado, a Portuguese actor. He did okay. He wasn't overpowering, often allowing the message to speak louder than the man.
- Fishing apropos. -
It starts at the very beginning of Jesus' story, with his mother Mary (Leila Mimmack) and her husband-to-be Joseph (Joe Coen), just before Mary is impregnated with the bastard child of God. The story splits to show the lovers as they travel to Bethlehem; the three wise Kings as they search for the birthplace; and the current king of Israel, Herod the Great (Sam Douglas), who seems to personify sloth and gluttony. Herod is of the Jewish faith but he was placed on the throne by the Romans, so his allegiances are more to them than to his people. Some easy and blunt characterisation has him quick to anger and then... no surprise... killing someone.
The Jesus story has a lot of voice-over narrative in comparison to the other stories, and it's not always a beneficial device. When screened on TV the series had two different actors providing the narration: Keith David in the US, and Robert Powell in the UK. The Blu-ray has them both, so you can choose whichever you prefer. (If you're not aware, Powell played Jesus, too, once upon a time, in a miniseries titled Jesus of Nazareth (1977), which is worth seeking out.)
There's an interesting scene with Jesus as a boy [actor name not given on IMDB]. As he rides into Galilee with his mother and stepfather, he sees men crucified upon a hill, foreshadowing an event in his future; painful flashes of the same come to him periodically as preparatory portents.
It skips then to 25 years later, with Herod's son Antipas (Rick Bacon) on the throne. We meet John the Baptist (Daniel Percival), and Jesus has his forty days and forty nights alone in the desert. The fallen angel Satan (Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni) features rarely, staying mostly in the background, watching events unfold and appearing to take no pleasure in the affairs of men. He resembles the other angels but is drained of colour, appearing cold, patient, and passionless.
We meet the Pharisees of the era, men who are vehemently protective of their role in society, and at odds with Jesus' ways - the latter being more teacher than preacher. The conflict of interests therein is central to the political and personal dealings that push the narrative toward its bloody climax. It's also the thing that makes the series begin to feel like it's promoting the religion, rather than simply adapting its holy book. From an alternate perspective, it seems almost by way of apology for showing many of the previous characters in a less favourable light.
Whatever the intention(s) of the writers or producers regarding the second half of the series, in this reviewer's opinion the pre-Jesus years are the most enjoyable, for the reason stated above.
A sequel miniseries, titled A.D. Kingdom and Empire, was released in 2005.
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