The Bible: In the Beginning...

• Michael Parks: Adam
• Ulla Bergryd: Eva
• Richard Harris: Cain
• Franco Nero: Abel
• John Huston: Noah
• Pupella Maggio: Noah's wife
• Stephen Boyd: Nimrod
• George C. Scott: Abraham
• Ava Gardner: Sara
• Peter O'Toole: The three angels
• Zoe Sallis: Hagar
• Gabriele Ferzetti: Lot
• Eleonora Rossi Drago: Lot's wife
• John Huston: Narrator / Voice of God / voice of the serpent ( speaking roles )

The Bible (Original title La Bibbia ) is a Bible film from 1966 directed by John Huston.

Action

It begins with the creation of the earth, the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall into sin ( eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge) and their subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden. After the birth of the sons of Cain and Abel and the fratricide of Cain to Abel God banished Cain from the Garden of Eden in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

A descendant of Eve's third son Seth - - Now the story of Noah is told, and how he was instructed by God to build the ark, so he lives with his family and a pair of each animal, the deluge. After that, a great-grandson of Noah is presented: Nimrod the king gave the order to build the Tower of Babel and thereby evoked the wrath of God, so that God the people who previously had a common language, punished with confusion of tongues and over the whole earth distributed.

We meet Abram, this leaves after a call God his native city of Ur to go to a land that God wants to show him. Abram takes on his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with slaves on the journey and eventually they find the Promised Land. To avoid dispute over grazing land for their herds, Abram and Lot go separate ways now.

Abram complains that his wife is barren and he will have no heir. God asks him to sacrifice him a three-year calf, a three-year goat, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. After Abram has done this, God prophesies that he will have a son and that he should call his name Isaac. Abram's wife commands her slave, Hagar the Agypterin that she should sleep with her husband to give him a child. Hagar is then pregnant.

In the Valley of Siddim it will be a battle in which the troops of the four kings of the nations of Mesopotamia fighting against the troops of the five kings of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah are beaten and driven into the swamps. At the battle Lot got caught in the crossfire and was captured. Abram decides view, despite the superiority of the enemy to follow the victorious kings to attack and liberate Lot - which he succeeds.

God gives Abram the transfer, that his name should be from now on Abraham and his wife from now on no longer Sarai, but Sarah shall be called. In addition, God would bless his wife and ( the seemingly barren woman ) give a son. God, however, carries him to a condition: Every son should be cropped from now on. When the slave Hagar brings her begotten by Abraham 's son Ishmael to the world, this is trimmed as the first child.

There appear three angels who have from God the order to destroy the city of Sodom, as the residents are viciously in his eyes. If the angels would, however, find in Sodom ten upright people, they would desist from the destruction. The in Sodom residing righteous Lot, his wife and his two daughters is granted the escape from the city, but they should look back not more. As Lot's wife turns up but in the destruction, it solidifies into a pillar of salt.

Abraham's wife Sarah brings in old age as promised son Isaac was born. Subsequently, contrary Abraham, on the request of his wife, his son Ishmael and his biological mother, the slave Hagar. God now calls upon Abraham to offer up Isaac his son upon him a mountain as a burnt offering. You go into the land of Moriah, where the chosen of God mountain should stand. As Abraham is about to perform the sacrifice of Isaac, God declares, he should let go of him, as he now knew that he would sacrifice his only son for him.

Background

• The film is about the first 22 chapters of the Old Testament, which essentially represents the contents of the first book of Moses.
• Producer Dino De Laurentiis originally planned that this should be the first feature film of a series of films that should make a film of the entire Old Testament. There, however, never came.
• The film has (after about half the time) an almost 3 -minute intermission.
• The first feature film to be shot in the dimension technique called 150, while a 70 - mm film by Todd - AO is used with an extremely wide-angle 150 -degree lens. The second and final film major motion picture with this technique was Patton - Rebell in uniform.
• During the filming was hardly worked with artificial lighting, about 80 % of the film was shot in dark environments. Therefore, even the Garden of Eden appears as a dark jungle. The locations were in Italy, and there, especially in the Dino De Laurentiis Studios in Rome.

Reviews

" The externalized, episodic representation of the director Huston strives well to work around but reading the Scriptures as a history book and ignored their religious dimension. Cinematic cabinet piece is an appearance of the director in the role of Noah. "

" Twenty-two chapters of Genesis in epic style combines colorful images to a gossip sheet. Created Monumental, the film by Huston (...) smothered in material wealth and the equipment pathos. Only the director himself as Noah is able to give the game lively and individual traits. The template is exciting. ( Score: weak) "

" The tone of the film is very worn - tried noticeably to the topic to approach with appropriate dignity. (...) Unfortunately, dignity and solemnity not necessarily two captivating properties. The individual chapters are slowly processed, which is interesting - but not very entertaining. (...) This is offset by natural that Huston is a master director who resolves every episode in thought- settings and camera movements, so that the images and the staging are always very aesthetic and have some class. He is supported by leading actors who all belong to the first rank of Hollywood and their craft understand (...) "

" The first 22 chapters of the Bible [ ... ] in an epic film, which advantageously distinguishes itself by its parallelism with the Bible text from other films about the Old Testament. However, it exhausts itself in an external reconstruction of the biblical narratives and therefore contributes little to the preaching of the churches. But as he the main content of the first book of Moses also does not bend appreciably, one need to make the effects of these Bible Illustration no particular worries. "

Awards

The soundtrack by Toshiro Mayuzumi was nominated for the Academy Awards 1967 in the category Best Original Score, in the same category, he also received a nomination for the Golden Globes 1967.