This film is an earnest telling of chapters 25 through 33 of Genesis, and starts when Esau sells his birthright to his twin brother Jacob for a bowl of pottage (red lentil stew), and then gets maneuvered out of his father's blessing by his mother Rebekah. She knows Esau doesn't listen to God's voice, and his two Canaanite wives are a wearisome thing in her life, so Jacob is sent off to her brother (who has daughters), some 400 miles away, where Jacob falls in love with the attractive Rachel...and once there, "everything he touches, flourishes". It is a narrative of great faith and perserverance, and the relationship between Jacob and Rachel is touching and sweet.
Most of the story follows biblical lines, with a few additions; one of them is inexplicable to me, because it is the only part of the film that could be upsetting to children; it shows Jacob on his journey, fleeing a man he thinks is Esau seeking retribution (it is actually Esau's brother-in-law), when his donkey has a fatal fall from a hillside. It is odd that they would embelish the story with such an unpleasant event, because otherwise the sheep, goats and camels are wonderful, and would be enjoyable viewing for children.
The story ends as Jacob, his wives and children (the sons who would become the twelve tribes of Israel), servants and flocks arrive at Shehem. The story is continued in another film of this series, "Joseph", which is superior to this film, and highly recommended.
The cast:
Matthew Modine is fine as Jacob, Lara Flynn Boyle an excellent, lovely Rachel, and the ever beautiful Irene Papas is a marvelous Rebekah. Sean Bean (Boromir in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) is very good as Esau, and Giancarlo Giannini is Rebekah's devious brother Laban.
The score by Marco Frisina adds to the atmosphere, and the cinematography by Ennio Guarneri, though often darkened with a lot of shadows, is nice when using the sub-saharan landscape around Quarzazate, Morocco, where this was filmed; it well depicts how one would imagine the primitive life of ancient nomadic shepherds could be.
Total running time is 94 minutes.
