Event

Pharoah

Martin Scorcese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema

Jul 07

(Jerzy Kawalerowicz, DCP, 180 min)

Co-presented with the Seattle Polish Film Festival

Monday, Jul 07 at 07:00PM

An epic film productionincluding battle scenes featuring thousands of extras and refined choreographyPharaoh focuses on the story of young Egyptian ruler, Ramses XIII.

With his young passions, love and idealism, the Pharaoh has to face the cold pragmatism of dealing with the country's external enemies and internal struggles. After his position is reduced to a figurehead, Ramses fights to regain power (under absolute the control of knowledge exercised by his priests).

Riddled with psychological, moral and philosophical questions about the nature of power, Pharaoh ultimately rises above large battle scenes and romantic kisses in favor of a deeply meaningful artistic creation. Unfortunately, the German releasing firm that acquired the distribution rights to Pharaoh shortened the film for international release, and then went bankrupt when there was little interest in the truncated version. Now restored to its original form, Pharaoh brandishes its heroism as a weapon, teaching us that noble defeat is better than silence in the face of morally corrupt politics.