The Ten Commandments (1923)

I'm feeling religious, and I want to review all the religious films that I have seen. So over the next 2 months, I will review the Islamic and Christianity films I have watched. To kick off this religious celebration, let's take a look at one of the greatest directors of all time, Cecil B. DeMille's biblical trilogy in the early 20s to early 30s. The first in this epic trilogy is the silent film titled "The Ten Commandments." I know that everyone is familiar with the 1956 version, since that is really popular, and hands down, one of the greatest films of all time, but not that many people seem to be familiar with the 1923 silent film version. First off, I would like to say that until probably much later, this will be the oldest film that I will have reviewed so far. Let's start the review:

You're probably wondering: is the entire film about the Exodus chapter in the Bible or Torah. The answer is no. That only takes up the first third of the film. However, it is appropriate to start off with that portion. So, appropriately enough, the film starts off with Moses, played by Theodore Robers, leading the Jews out of the his brother Rameses's, played by Charles de Rochefort, grasp in Egypt to the Promised Land. Of course, they do show the famous chase scene of Rameses with his crew and Moses with all of the Jews, the splitting of the Red Sea, and receiving the tablets from God of the Ten Commandments. For those who remember that part of Exodus, when the people started to lose faith and instead Dathan, played by Lawson Butt, build a golden calf as a way of begging for Rameses's forgiveness. After forcing Moses's brother Aaron, played by James Neill, to complete the gold plating, they start to commit a lot of sin. Once Moses gets the tablets and sees what the Jews were doing, he throws the tablets down, killing Dathan and his men. The people are forced into 40 years of exile, the rebellious generation are killed, and the Hebrews are accepted into Canaan. Moses can't be accepted after disobeying God at the waters of strife (not shown), and that's where the story ends.

The film then cuts to a family in San Francisco where a mother named Martha McTavish, played by Edythe Chapman, is telling the Exodus chapter to her two sons, John, played by Richard Dix, and Dan, played by Rod La Rocque. These two brothers are polar opposites, where John is a die-hard religious man, but a poor carpenter, and Dan is an atheist where he wants to break every single one of the Ten Commandments and be dishonorably successful. Now, that's the first Commandment broken, which is "I am the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt not have no other gods." The mother, like any religious mothers who teaches her children about their religion and read the Bible, has been teaching her two sons to be afraid of God, which everyone should be. When John reads the part in the New Testament where Jesus cures the lepers, he analyzes that you should love and forgive God, which is another essential part of Christianity. I can see why you should love God, but I'm not sure how you can forgive God. Mrs. McTavish's strict morality compared to John's view is shown as well.

For the remainder of this film, it shows Dan breaking the Ten Commandments, with each of them showing up on screen, and how it makes him realize later on that he is sinking really deep. This is a really powerful lesson where a person should not attempt to break the Ten Commandments and believe in and fear God. Otherwise, a person would be punished in a severe way, like how Dan is portrayed in this movie. When he constructs a Cathedral out of really poor material, and Mrs. McTavish shows up to see it, the Cathedral collapses, killing her. She realizes that she should have taught her children to love God as opposed to fear him. Another Commandment, “Honour thy Father and thy Mother," is broken. Dan then starts to really hate himself for what he has done, which a person will realize once they have done something wrong. It's better if you realize that you're doing something wrong quickly before it's too late.

Also, the brothers are both in love with Mary Leigh, played by Leatrice Joy, but she goes for Dan instead, which is another Commandment broken: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." You'll have to watch the film in order to see how Dan breaks every single one of the Ten Commandments. He attempts to steal pearls from her, and when she tries to stop him, he kills her, which is something that really makes Dan sink deeper into his own sin and hating himself for. He just broke another Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not steal." This is really powerful for a silent film at the time. I haven't seen so many silent films, but this one really brings the drama out of it, which DeMille did a tremendous job doing. After breaking all of the Ten Commandments, he tries to escape by sailing to Mexico on a motorboat, but because of the heavy waters out at sea, he dies crashing into a rocky island.

Let this film be a lesson to all of you out there. Be a good person and fear God every day. Also, be as religious as you can. I know there are people that aren't really religious, but still know that God exists and honor and worship God for as long as you live. If you even think of crossing him, you will end up just like Dan in this film. This would be hard for Atheists and Agnostics out there, but for those who do believe, fear and love God. Now, I know that a lot of people don't like silent films because you have to read the line when it is shown what the character is saying, but you should still appreciate them and give them a watch. This one is a great silent film, but underrated in the sense that not a lot of people are familiar with it. So, do give this one a watch and see for yourself the religious lesson this film portrays.