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{{Infobox Film
{{Infobox film
| name = Pharaoh
| name = Pharaoh
| image = Faraon.jpg
| image = Faraon.jpg
| caption = Publicity still
| image_size =
| director = [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]]
| caption = Publicity still from ''Pharaoh''
| director = [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]].
| producer =
| producer =
| writer = [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]], [[Tadeusz Konwicki]], [[Boleslaw Prus]].
| writer = {{ubl|Jerzy Kawalerowicz|[[Tadeusz Konwicki]]|[[Bolesław Prus]]}}
| starring = {{ubl|[[Jerzy Zelnik]]|[[Wiesława Mazurkiewicz]]|[[Barbara Brylska]]|[[Krystyna Mikołajewska]]}}
| narrator =
| music = Adam Walaciński
| starring = Jerzy Zelnik<br />Wieslawa Mazurkiewicz<br />[[Barbara Brylska]]<br />Krystyna Mikołajewska
| music = Adam Walaciński
| cinematography = Jerzy Wójcik
| cinematography = Jerzy Wójcik
| editing = Wiesława Otocka
| editing = Wiesława Otocka
| distributor =
| distributor =
| released = [[March 11]], [[1966]] (Poland)
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1966|3|11}}
| runtime = 175 minutes
| runtime = 145 minutes
| country = [[Poland]]
| country = Poland
| language = [[Polish language|Polish]]
| language = Polish
| budget =
| budget =
| gross = 7 million tickets<ref name="Ford">{{cite book |last1=Ford |first1=Charles |last2=Hammond |first2=Robert |title=Polish Film: A Twentieth Century History |date=2015 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-1-4766-0803-7 |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiYkCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA107}}</ref>
| gross =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| website =
| amg_id =
| imdb_id = 0060401
}}
}}


'''''Pharaoh''''' ([[Polish language|Polish]]: ''Faraon'') is a [[1966 in film|1966]] [[Cinema of Poland|Polish]] film directed by [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]] and adapted from the [[Pharaoh (novel)|eponymous novel]] by the Polish writer [[Bolesław Prus]]. It was nominated in 1967 for an [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]].
'''''Pharaoh''''' ({{langx|pl|Faraon}}) is a 1966 [[Epic film|epic]] [[Polish film]] directed by [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]] and adapted from the [[Pharaoh (Prus novel)|eponymous novel]] by the Polish writer [[Bolesław Prus]]. In 1967, it was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]].<ref name="Oscars1967">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967 |title=The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=2011-11-09|work=oscars.org}}</ref> It was also entered into the [[1966 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2843/year/1966.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Pharaoh |accessdate=2009-03-07|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> It sold more than {{nowrap|7 million}} tickets in Poland, becoming one of the highest-grossing Polish films of all time.<ref name="Ford"/> ''Pharaoh'' is among 21 digitally restored classic Polish films chosen for ''[[Martin Scorsese]] Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema''.<ref>[http://culture.pl/en/article/martin-scorsese-presents-21-masterpieces Martin Scorsese Presents 21 Masterpieces ]</ref>

==Cast==
*Ramses XIII; and his [[Look-alike#Literature|look-alike]], Lykon: '''Jerzy Zelnik'''
*Herhor (High Priest of Amon): '''Piotr Pawłowski'''
*Pentuer (priest, Herhor's assistant): '''Lezek Herdegen'''
*Thutmose (Ramses XIII's cousin): '''Emir Buczacki'''
*Ennana ([[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] army officer): '''Ryszard Ronczewski'''
*[[Fellah]]: '''Jerzy Block'''
*Sara (Ramses XIII's mistress, mother of his son Seti): '''Krystyna Mikołajewska'''
*Ramses XII (father of Ramses XIII): '''Andrzej Girtler'''
*Nitager (Egyptian general): '''Wiktor Grotowicz'''
*Queen Nikotris (mother of Ramses XIII): '''Wiesława Mazurkiewicz'''
*Berossus ([[Chaldea]]n priest): '''Kazimierz Opaliński'''
*Mefres ([[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]ian high priest): '''Stanisław Milski'''
*Mentezufis (Egyptian priest): '''Józef Czerniawski'''
*Dagon ([[Phoenicia]]n merchant): '''Edward Rączkowski'''
*Rabsun (Phoenician merchant): '''Marian Nosek'''
*Hiram ([[Tyre|Tyrian]] prince): '''Alfred Łodziński'''
*Kama (Phoenician priestess): '''[[Barbara Brylska]]'''
*Sargon ([[Assyria]]n envoy): '''Jarosław Skulski'''
*Tehenna ([[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] commander): '''Leonard Andrzejewski'''
*Priestess at [[mummification]] of Ramses XII: '''Lucyna Winnicka'''
*Keeper of the [[Labyrinth#Herodotus' Egyptian labyrinth|Labyrinth]]: '''Bohdan Janiszewski'''
*Samentu (High Priest of [[Set (mythology)|Set]]): '''Mieczysław Voit'''
*Hebron (Ramses XIII's last mistress): '''Ewa Krzyżewska'''
*Other principal actors: '''Bronisław Dardziński''', '''Jerzy Fidler''', '''Jerzy Kozłowski'''<ref>[http://www.filmpolski.pl/index.php/121764] [[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School of Film, Television and Theater]], "''Faraon''." (In "''Szukaj''," type in "Faraon" and click "OK". When the page changes, click "''Filmy: Faraon''".)</ref>


==Novel==
==Novel==
[[Pharaoh (Prus novel)]] ({{langx|pl|Faraon}}) is the fourth and last major [[novel]] by the Polish writer [[Bolesław Prus]] (1847–1912). Composed over a year's time in 1894&ndash;95, serialized in 1895–96, and published in book form in 1897, it was the author's sole [[historical novel]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325945937_Boleslaw_prus%27_faraon_pharaoh-ancient_Egypt_and_polish_context |title=Boleslaw prus' "faraon" ("pharaoh")-ancient Egypt and polish context |date=January 2017 |journal=Pamietnik Literacki |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=27-53 |first=A. |last=Lukaszewicz |via=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref>
[[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]], who had previously directed such films as ''Cellulose'' (1953), ''Under the [[Phrygia]]n Star'' (1954), ''[[Shadow (film)|The Shade]]'' (1956), ''[[The Real End of the Great War]]'' (1957), ''[[Night Train (film)|Night Train]]'' (1959) and ''[[Mother Joan of the Angels]]'' (1961), turned in the 1960s to [[Bolesław Prus]]' novel ''[[Pharaoh (novel)|Pharaoh]]'' because, he said, "There are brilliant things in it.... The drama of [[political power|power]] in ''Pharaoh'' is incredibly topical and contemporary. The mechanics don't change all that much."


[[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]], who had previously directed such films as ''Cellulose'' (1953), ''Under the [[Phrygia]]n Star'' (1954), ''[[Shadow (1956 film)|The Shade]]'' (1956), ''[[The Real End of the Great War]]'' (1957), ''[[Night Train (1959 film)|Night Train]]'' (1959) and ''[[Mother Joan of the Angels]]'' (1961), turned in the 1960s to [[Bolesław Prus]]' novel ''[[Pharaoh (Prus novel)|Pharaoh]]'' because, he said, "There are brilliant things in it.... The drama of [[political power|power]] in ''Pharaoh'' is incredibly topical and contemporary. The mechanics don't change all that much."
Kawalerowicz's co-author of the [[scenario]], [[Tadeusz Konwicki]], commented: "It's not a [[historical novel]] in the full sense of the word, it's above all a penetrating analysis of a system of [[political power|power]].... The story of Ramses XIII is a typical example of the actions of a young person who enters upon life with a faith and need for renewal. He does not yet know anything about higher [[reason of state|reasons of state]], he has no interest in the laws governing the complex apparatus of power. It seems to him that he is the person to change the existing order of things."<ref>[[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School]], "''Faraon''."</ref>

Kawalerowicz's co-author of the [[scenario]], [[Tadeusz Konwicki]], commented: "It's not a [[historical novel]] in the full sense of the word, it's above all a penetrating analysis of a system of [[political power|power]].... The story of Ramses XIII is a typical example of the actions of a young person who enters upon life with a faith and need for renewal. He does not yet know anything about higher [[reason of state|reasons of state]], he has no interest in the laws governing the complex apparatus of power. It seems to him that he is the person to change the existing order of things."<ref name="National">[[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School]], "''Faraon''."</ref>


==Film==
==Film==
''Pharaoh'''s production took three years, beginning in the fall of 1962 with the setting up of a studio in [[Łódź]] which did in-depth studies of the costumes and realia of life in [[ancient Egypt]]. Filming took place in [[Europe]], [[Asia]] and [[Africa]]. Most of the indoor scenes of the pharaoh's palace, the temples and the [[Labyrinth#Herodotus' Egyptian labyrinth|Labyrinth]] were shot at the [[Łódź]] studio. The Warsaw River Shipyard built an Egyptian ship according to drawings from 4,000 years ago. An artificial island was created on [[Mamry|Lake Kirsajty]], near [[Giżycko]], Poland, and planted with [[date palm|palm]]s and [[Nymphaea|lotus]] for the scene involving Ramses' row on the [[Nile]] with Sara.<ref>[[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School]], "''Faraon''."</ref>
''Pharaoh''{{'}}s production took three years, beginning in the fall of 1962 with the setting up of a studio in [[Łódź]] which did in-depth studies of the costumes and realia of life in [[ancient Egypt]]. Filming took place in [[Europe]], [[Asia]] and [[Africa]]. Most of the indoor scenes of the pharaoh's palace, the temples and the [[Labyrinth#The Egyptian labyrinth|Labyrinth]] were shot at the [[Łódź]] studio. The Warsaw River Shipyard built an Egyptian ship according to drawings from 4,000 years ago. An artificial island was created on [[Mamry|Lake Kirsajty]], near [[Giżycko]], Poland, and planted with [[date palm|palm]]s and [[Nymphaea|lotus]] for the scene involving Ramses' row on the [[Nile]] with Sara.<ref name="National"/>


Mass scenes were filmed mainly in [[Uzbekistan]]'s part of the [[Kyzyl Kum]] Desert. The crew spent nearly five months there, working in very difficult conditions—at the height of summer, the noon temperature exceeded 60 degrees [[Celsius]] (140 [[Fahrenheit]]); the temperature of the sand, 80 degrees Celsius (176 Fahrenheit). Film stock had to be kept in cold storage. A very vexatious thing was the ubiquitous dust. Every day, 10,000 bottles of mineral water were delivered to the shooting location. Hazards included sand [[viper]]s and [[venom]]ous [[spider]]s that launched themselves at people from a couple of [[yard]]s' distance.<ref>[[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School]], "''Faraon''."</ref>
Mass scenes were filmed mainly in the [[Soviet Union]], in the [[Uzbek SSR]]'s part of the [[Kyzyl Kum]] Desert (now [[Uzbekistan]]). The crew spent nearly five months there, working in very difficult conditions—at the height of summer, the noon temperature exceeded 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit); the temperature of the sand, 80 degrees Celsius (176 Fahrenheit). Film stock had to be kept in cold storage. A very vexatious thing was the ubiquitous dust. Every day, 10,000 bottles of mineral water were delivered to the shooting location. Hazards included sand [[Viperidae|viper]]s and [[venom]]ous [[spider]]s that launched themselves at people from a couple of [[yard]]s' distance.<ref name="National"/>


Some scenes were filmed at authentic Egyptian locales. For example, the scene in which Prince Ramses learns that his father Pharaoh Ramses XII has died and that he has now become Pharaoh Ramses XIII, takes place against the backdrop of the [[pyramids of Gizeh]]; but the crowds of tourists and the present-day appearance of the area made it near-impossible to find good takes. One of the many consultants on the film was [[Kazimierz Michałowski]], a world authority in [[Egyptology]]. Another was Shady Abdel Salem, an Egyptian art historian who had consulted on the 1963 ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]''.<ref>[[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School]], "''Faraon''."</ref>
Some scenes were filmed at authentic Egyptian locales. For example, the scene in which Prince Ramses learns that his father Pharaoh Ramses XII has died and that he has now become Pharaoh Ramses XIII, takes place against the backdrop of the [[pyramids of Giza]]; but the crowds of tourists and the present-day appearance of the area made it near-impossible to find good takes. One of the many consultants on the film was Poland's Professor [[Kazimierz Michałowski]], a world authority in [[Egyptology]]. Another was [[Shadi Abdel Salam]], an Egyptian film director and costume designer, who had consulted on the 1963 ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]''.<ref name="National"/> Abdel Salam was the costume designer for Pharaoh.


In adapting [[Pharaoh (novel)|Bolesław Prus' novel]] to the screen, the film's producers made a number of notable decisions. One was to keep the film in a predominantly golden-yellowish register and to almost completely eliminate bright colors; bright foliage appears only once—in the scene with Ramses and Sara on the Nile.<ref>[[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School]], "''Faraon''."</ref> During the military maneuvers that open the film, an incident has been introduced that does not appear in the novel, involving the wrangling down of a horse. Near the movie's end, High Priest Mefres is dispatched by the Keepers of the [[Labyrinth#Herodotus' Egyptian labyrinth|Labyrinth]] not with a [[chloroform]]-like substance, but with a rope looped around his neck and pulled tight by its ends, several yards apart.
In adapting [[Pharaoh (Prus novel)|Bolesław Prus' novel]] to the screen, the film's producers made a number of notable decisions. One was to keep the film in a predominantly golden-yellowish register and to almost eliminate bright colors; bright foliage appears only once—in the scene with Ramses and Sara on the Nile.<ref name="National"/> During the military maneuvers that open the film, an incident has been introduced that does not appear in the novel, involving the wrangling down of a horse. Near the movie's end, High Priest Mefres is dispatched by the Keepers of the [[Labyrinth#The Egyptian labyrinth|Labyrinth]] not with a [[chloroform]]-like substance, but with a rope looped around his neck and pulled tight by its ends, several yards apart. Pharaoh is among 21 digitally restored classic Polish films chosen for ''Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema''.<ref>[http://culture.pl/en/article/martin-scorsese-presents-21-masterpieces Martin Scorsese Presents 21 Masterpieces ], [https://culture.pl/en/article/scorsese-restores Scorsese Restores!]</ref>


==Notes==
==Plot==
The young pharaoh, [[Ramesses (Egyptian name)|Ramesses]] XIII, intends to reform [[Ancient Egypt]]. Herhor the priest opposes him. The power struggle between them is the focus of the film.<ref>[https://culture.pl/en/work/pharaoh-jerzy-kawalerowicz Pharaoh - Jerzy Kawalerowicz]</ref> Other themes include the friendship with Pentuer the priest, the love for Sara the beautiful Jewess and Kama the priestess. It is also the story of the secret pact with [[Assyria]], the [[Solar eclipse]] and how the priests used it to subdue the crowds, and the assassination of Ramses XIII at the hands of his look-alike. A historical fresco of universal meaning, revealing the mechanisms of power and the influence of religion on social life. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://culture.pl/en/artist/jerzy-kawalerowicz | title=Jerzy Kawalerowicz }}</ref>
{{reflist|2}}

==Cast==
*Ramses XIII; and his [[Look-alike#Literature|look-alike]], Lykon: [[Jerzy Zelnik]]
*Herhor (High Priest of Amon): [[Piotr Pawłowski (actor)|Piotr Pawłowski]]
*Pentuer (priest, Herhor's assistant): [[Leszek Herdegen]]
*Thutmose (Ramses XIII's cousin): [[Emir Buczacki]]
*Ennana ([[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] army officer): [[Ryszard Ronczewski]]
*[[Fellah]]: [[Jerzy Block]]
*Sara (Ramses XIII's mistress, mother of his son Seti): [[Krystyna Mikołajewska]]
*Ramses XII (father of Ramses XIII): [[Andrzej Girtler]]
*Nitager (Egyptian general): [[Wiktor Grotowicz]]
*Queen Nikotris (mother of Ramses XIII): [[Wiesława Mazurkiewicz]]
*Berossus ([[Chaldea]]n priest): [[Kazimierz Opaliński]]
*Mefres ([[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]ian high priest): [[Stanisław Milski]]
*Mentezufis (Egyptian priest): [[Józef Czerniawski]]
*Dagon ([[Phoenicia]]n merchant): [[Edward Rączkowski]]
*Rabsun (Phoenician merchant): [[Marian Nosek]]
*Hiram ([[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]] prince): [[Alfred Łodziński]]
*Kama (Phoenician priestess): [[Barbara Brylska]]
*Sargon ([[Assyria]]n envoy): [[Jarosław Skulski]]
*Tehenna ([[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] commander): [[Leonard Andrzejewski]]
*Priestess at [[mummy|mummification]] of Ramses XII: [[Lucyna Winnicka]]
*Keeper of the [[Labyrinth#The Egyptian labyrinth|Labyrinth]]: [[Bohdan Janiszewski]]
*Samentu (High Priest of [[Set (mythology)|Set]]): [[Mieczysław Voit]]
*Hebron (Ramses XIII's last mistress): [[Ewa Krzyżewska]]
*Other principal actors: [[Bronisław Dardziński]], [[Jerzy Fidler]], [[Jerzy Kozłowski]]<ref>[http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/121764 Faraon (Polish)] [[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School of Film, Television and Theater]], "''Faraon''."</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
*[[List of Polish films#1960s|List of Polish films]]
*[[List of actors who have played multiple roles in the same film]]
*[[List of historical drama films]]
*[[Pharaoh (novel)|''Pharaoh'' (the novel)]]
*[[List of Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]
*[[List of submissions to the 39th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]]
*[[National Film School in Łódź]]
*[[Pharaoh (Prus novel)|''Pharaoh'' (the novel)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0060401|title=Pharaoh}}
*[http://www.filmpolski.pl/index.php/121764] [[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School of Film, Television and Theater]], "''Faraon''." (In "''Szukaj''," type in "Faraon" and click "OK". When the page changes, click "''Filmy: Faraon''".)
*[http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/121764 Faraon (Polish)] [[National Film School in Łódź|Leon Schiller State School of Film, Television and Theater]], "''Faraon''."
*{{imdb title|id=0060401|title=Pharaoh}}


{{Jerzy Kawalerowicz}}
[[Category:Polish films]]
{{Polish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film}}
[[Category:Polish-language films]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Films directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz]]
[[Category:Films based on novels]]
[[Category:1966 films]]
{{Poland-film-stub}}
{{CinemaofPoland}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Pharaoh}}

[[Category:1966 films]]

[[Category:1960s Polish-language films]]
[[pl:Faraon (film)]]
[[Category:Films based on Polish novels]]
[[ru:Фараон (фильм)]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz]]
[[de:Pharao (Film)]]
[[Category:Films set in ancient Egypt]]
[[Category:Films set in the 11th century BC]]
[[Category:Films shot in Egypt]]
[[Category:Films shot in Poland]]
[[Category:Films shot in Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Films set in deserts]]
[[Category:Polish historical films]]
[[Category:1960s historical films]]
[[Category:Polish epic films]]
[[Category:KADR films]]

Latest revision as of 13:09, 27 October 2024

Pharaoh
Publicity still
Directed byJerzy Kawalerowicz
Written by
Starring
CinematographyJerzy Wójcik
Edited byWiesława Otocka
Music byAdam Walaciński
Release date
  • 11 March 1966 (1966-03-11)
Running time
145 minutes
CountryPoland
LanguagePolish
Box office7 million tickets[1]

Pharaoh (Polish: Faraon) is a 1966 epic Polish film directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz and adapted from the eponymous novel by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus. In 1967, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[2] It was also entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival.[3] It sold more than 7 million tickets in Poland, becoming one of the highest-grossing Polish films of all time.[1] Pharaoh is among 21 digitally restored classic Polish films chosen for Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema.[4]

Novel

[edit]

Pharaoh (Prus novel) (Polish: Faraon) is the fourth and last major novel by the Polish writer Bolesław Prus (1847–1912). Composed over a year's time in 1894–95, serialized in 1895–96, and published in book form in 1897, it was the author's sole historical novel.[5]

Jerzy Kawalerowicz, who had previously directed such films as Cellulose (1953), Under the Phrygian Star (1954), The Shade (1956), The Real End of the Great War (1957), Night Train (1959) and Mother Joan of the Angels (1961), turned in the 1960s to Bolesław Prus' novel Pharaoh because, he said, "There are brilliant things in it.... The drama of power in Pharaoh is incredibly topical and contemporary. The mechanics don't change all that much."

Kawalerowicz's co-author of the scenario, Tadeusz Konwicki, commented: "It's not a historical novel in the full sense of the word, it's above all a penetrating analysis of a system of power.... The story of Ramses XIII is a typical example of the actions of a young person who enters upon life with a faith and need for renewal. He does not yet know anything about higher reasons of state, he has no interest in the laws governing the complex apparatus of power. It seems to him that he is the person to change the existing order of things."[6]

Film

[edit]

Pharaoh's production took three years, beginning in the fall of 1962 with the setting up of a studio in Łódź which did in-depth studies of the costumes and realia of life in ancient Egypt. Filming took place in Europe, Asia and Africa. Most of the indoor scenes of the pharaoh's palace, the temples and the Labyrinth were shot at the Łódź studio. The Warsaw River Shipyard built an Egyptian ship according to drawings from 4,000 years ago. An artificial island was created on Lake Kirsajty, near Giżycko, Poland, and planted with palms and lotus for the scene involving Ramses' row on the Nile with Sara.[6]

Mass scenes were filmed mainly in the Soviet Union, in the Uzbek SSR's part of the Kyzyl Kum Desert (now Uzbekistan). The crew spent nearly five months there, working in very difficult conditions—at the height of summer, the noon temperature exceeded 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit); the temperature of the sand, 80 degrees Celsius (176 Fahrenheit). Film stock had to be kept in cold storage. A very vexatious thing was the ubiquitous dust. Every day, 10,000 bottles of mineral water were delivered to the shooting location. Hazards included sand vipers and venomous spiders that launched themselves at people from a couple of yards' distance.[6]

Some scenes were filmed at authentic Egyptian locales. For example, the scene in which Prince Ramses learns that his father Pharaoh Ramses XII has died and that he has now become Pharaoh Ramses XIII, takes place against the backdrop of the pyramids of Giza; but the crowds of tourists and the present-day appearance of the area made it near-impossible to find good takes. One of the many consultants on the film was Poland's Professor Kazimierz Michałowski, a world authority in Egyptology. Another was Shadi Abdel Salam, an Egyptian film director and costume designer, who had consulted on the 1963 Cleopatra.[6] Abdel Salam was the costume designer for Pharaoh.

In adapting Bolesław Prus' novel to the screen, the film's producers made a number of notable decisions. One was to keep the film in a predominantly golden-yellowish register and to almost eliminate bright colors; bright foliage appears only once—in the scene with Ramses and Sara on the Nile.[6] During the military maneuvers that open the film, an incident has been introduced that does not appear in the novel, involving the wrangling down of a horse. Near the movie's end, High Priest Mefres is dispatched by the Keepers of the Labyrinth not with a chloroform-like substance, but with a rope looped around his neck and pulled tight by its ends, several yards apart. Pharaoh is among 21 digitally restored classic Polish films chosen for Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema.[7]

Plot

[edit]

The young pharaoh, Ramesses XIII, intends to reform Ancient Egypt. Herhor the priest opposes him. The power struggle between them is the focus of the film.[8] Other themes include the friendship with Pentuer the priest, the love for Sara the beautiful Jewess and Kama the priestess. It is also the story of the secret pact with Assyria, the Solar eclipse and how the priests used it to subdue the crowds, and the assassination of Ramses XIII at the hands of his look-alike. A historical fresco of universal meaning, revealing the mechanisms of power and the influence of religion on social life. [9]

Cast

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Ford, Charles; Hammond, Robert (2015). Polish Film: A Twentieth Century History. McFarland & Company. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-4766-0803-7.
  2. ^ "The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  3. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Pharaoh". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  4. ^ Martin Scorsese Presents 21 Masterpieces
  5. ^ Lukaszewicz, A. (January 2017). "Boleslaw prus' "faraon" ("pharaoh")-ancient Egypt and polish context". Pamietnik Literacki. 108 (2): 27–53 – via ResearchGate.
  6. ^ a b c d e Leon Schiller State School, "Faraon."
  7. ^ Martin Scorsese Presents 21 Masterpieces , Scorsese Restores!
  8. ^ Pharaoh - Jerzy Kawalerowicz
  9. ^ "Jerzy Kawalerowicz".
  10. ^ Faraon (Polish) Leon Schiller State School of Film, Television and Theater, "Faraon."
[edit]
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