Genesis (1999) User Reviews

The Most Interesting Movie of 1999

[michaelf · 8/10 · 13 December 1999]

"La Genese" is not the best film of 1999, but it certainly is the most interesting.

Based rather loosely on the biblical story of Jacob, director Cheick Oumar Sissoko and screenwriter Jean-Louis Sagot-Duraroux have stripped away the text's complexities to give us a study of tribal culture. While not a theological study, it certainly is a fascinating look at a society of which most of us in the western world are unaware.

Straight from the book of Genesis

[bart-44 · 8/10 · 21 September 1999]

A biblical tale not in the style of a massive Hollywood epic but on a much smaller scale as Jacob, his wives, children, and other assorted hangers-on may actually have lived in the desert a few thousand years ago. All the familiar details of the Genesis story are there, although the 'council' scene, where some of the background is filled in, is a bit confusing. The actors and setting are African (though it is hard to tell exactly what race Esau might belong to -- perhaps to emphasize that he has literally given up his birthright and heritage), but who's to say that Soutiguy Kouyate (Jacob) looks any less like an ancient Hebrew than does Charlton Heston? A refreshingly straight-up adaptation of a biblical story and a fine film.

visually sumptuous but narratively diffuse

[Kevin_Maness · 6/10 · 4 May 2000]

The concept of Genesis sounds excellent--a retelling of Jacob's story from the Hebrew scriptures set in Africa, which might very well be where the story actually took place. In fact, the film is visually overwhelming--vast, barren, rocky desert violently interrupted by massive rock formations rising hundreds of feet above the plains. The movie's vision is furthered by the beautiful cast and colorful, traditional African costumes.

The story, however, is difficult to follow or to care about, even for a man raised on Sunday School bible stories. I expected the movie to add life to a biblical text that sometimes seems distant and old, but I was disappointed. The actors seemed unable to fill the huge desert spaces, and the narrative was fragmented by flashbacks that were often long and difficult to connect to the main narrative.

Although I didn't end up liking the movie, it is still worth seeing. There are moments of splendor, humor, and humanity, and it is sometimes fascinating to experience the biblical stories sifted through the distinctive filter of African folklore. As with any movie, you'll have to be the final judge.

It's all in the eye of the believer.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 16 June 2021]

For biblical study, this film is basically nothing but a word by word view of the first books of Genesis, told by someone we assume is Jacob and covering creation up to the covenant of the rainbow. It's the voice of the Oscar winning Paul Scofield that provides the commanding viewpoint, and his soothing voice will have you feeling relaxed even the most intense of Biblical times. Indeed, there are moments that are difficult to take because the narrative is often hypocritical and it creates more questioning of the biblical scriptures than the desire to continue to believe and follow. It's a while before you get to see the first man and woman with only a dimension by name early on and Eve mentioned later on. The murder of Abel by Cane gets some screen time with the brothers shown looking quite young which makes the crime all the more shocking.

We then get the "begat" segment as we get a glimpse of some progress and how these early humans seemingly survived. By the time we get to Noah, it's obvious that corruption has entered the human mindset, and there's no real focus on much of what went on in creating the ark or the entrance of the animals, and certainly not the foolish manner in which Noah was perceived by those who would soon tragically die. There certainly are many profound moments, but it's really nothing more then a visual retelling our stories many of us read over and over as children and a different perspective than was presented in the 1966 epic "The Bible". In a sense, it's a lot more intimate and yet less detailed, but the point is to tell the story directly than to impress with special effects.

I can definitely see this film being more successful with Bible classes for young students, and yet, it's also worth seeing on the big screen. I enjoyed the physical beauty of the film and the gorgeous musical score (by Ennio Morricone) , and to see places where this could have taken place, you get a sense of realness that is overshadowed in those overstuffed epics of the 50's and 60's. The fact that they used real people from the Middle East (Morocco) to play these characters also gives you a sense of what the biblical characters really could have looked like, and to see Adam and Eve played as youthful creations of God reminds us that these people of this era did not look like movie stars. So what's interesting for its point of view, but there's really nothing new in the telling of these things that are greatly debated now.

Stunning, affecting, powerful.

[shemichael · 9/10 · 5 January 2000]

This movie puts the story of "The Rape of Dinah" into the tribal context from which it comes. It also shows how a tribal legal system works & holds the Bible accountable to a higher moral code than Biblical scholars have done.

"La Genese" considers the human toll of Leah's lack of love in her family, of Jacob's excessive grieving & of the jealousy & lack of supervision of the unloved sons. It sides with Esau in his quest for justice from his brother. It pities Dinah who has lost her husband & has been driven mad by her brother's revenge on her "rape", which was in fact her assertion of her right to act on her own sexual desire.

This is a movie of extraordinary power & the scenery is gorgeous (as are the costumes).