Joseph (1995 film)

The Bible: Joseph is a German/Italian/American 'Made-For-TV' movie filmed and released in 1995, which tells the story of Joseph from the Bible's Old Testament, particularly the Book of Genesis, chapters 37 through 50.
This film is one of many standalone miniseries based on stories from the Bible produced for and aired on the TNT cable television network in the United States beginning in April 1995. 
The film was nominated for five Emmy Awards including for Supporting Actor (Ben Kingsley), and winning one for Best Miniseries. Lionel Chetwynd, who co-wrote the film, was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award
== Plot Summary ==
Joseph, a Semite, is an Egyptian slave to Potiphar, chief of Pharaoh's palace guard. When Joseph is placed under the charge of Ednan, Potiphar's overseer, Ednan, torments Joseph for his refusal to show deference for the Egyptian god Amun, but when Joseph reveals that he knows how to read and write, he earns Ednan's respect and he starts relying more and more on Joseph.
Joseph is eventually put in charge of Potiphar's home, but his wife begins to desire Joseph, and repeatedly but unsuccessfully tries to seduce him. She ultimately becomes so angry at Joseph that she falsely accuses him of raping her and demands his execution. But Potiphar, knowing Joseph's trustworthiness (and his wife's infidelity), has his doubts. Potiphar speaks to Joseph alone and demands that Joseph give him something from his life experiences, some reason, to trust him.
Joseph gives Potiphar his life's story from his youth: Joseph is a son of Jacob (aka Israel) and the first of two sons to his mother Rachel, who later died giving birth to his younger full-brother Benjamin. Joseph also had a half-sister, Dinah, and six of his ten half-brothers through Jacob and his first wife Leah, Rachel's older sister. Jacob and his extended family make a pilgrimage to a fertile plane near the Hivite town of Shechem, where they are visited by the city's king, Hamor, along with his counsel and his son.
While Jacob and Hamor make arrangements to pay taxes for the land, Hamor's son, also named Shechem, notices Dinah and takes a liking to her. As they leave, Hamor invites Jacob and his family to come to a wedding celebration, and asks that Dinah accompany them. After Hamor leaves, Simeon, one of Joseph's half-brothers, disliking the way Shechem looked at Dinah, suggests they resist Hamor by force, but Jacob rebukes Simeon's irascibility. The night of the wedding celebration, Shechem catches Dinah and rapes her. The next day Hamor and Shechem come to talk to Jacob about making amends by having Shechem marry Dinah. Jacob replies that Dinah can only marry a man who is of her faith. After consideration Hamor agrees that all the Shechemite men will convert to Jacob's faith, including circumcision. But while Jacob is satisfied, Simeon secretly seeks revenge against Shechem. While the Shechemites are recovering from their circumcisions, the brothers and other members of the tribe attack the fortified village, setting many of their buildings ablaze and killing many Shechemites including Shechem himself. Jacob is furious with his sons' ruthless actions and announces that they now have to leave Shechem. They travel to Beth-El, where Rachel gives birth to Benjamin, but dies soon afterward.
Nine years later, Reuben, Joseph's oldest half-brother, desires Bilhah, one of Jacob's women. Zilpah, one of Leah's handmaids, sees the couple together and tells Jacob, who angrily declares to Reuben that authority over the tribe will fall to Joseph instead. This adds even more fuel to Reuben's- and the other brothers'- angry jealousy toward Joseph.
While the brothers are out at work in the fields, they decide to kill and eat one of their own lambs, an act expressly forbidden by Jacob. The brothers only taunt Joseph mercilessly after he reminds them of Jacob's rule. They later try to tell Jacob that the lamb was killed by a wild animal. But Jacob, a lifelong shepherd, is not fooled and berates his sons for disobeying him. The brothers blame Joseph for Jacob's anger and accuse him of spying on them for Jacob.
Jacob is so pleased with Joseph that he gives him a beautiful multicolored coat, which only increases the brothers' jealousy of him. Making matters even worse is Joseph's frequent interpretations of his dreams that one day his brothers and his father will bow before him. Spurred on by Simeon, the brothers discuss killing Joseph, but when Reuben says he will not have his own brother's blood on his hands, they instead strip Joseph of his fancy coat and throw him into a dry well pit. They then sell Joseph into slavery to a group of Ishmalite traders. Back at the encampment, the sons then show Jacob the coat, torn and bloodied by the brothers to make it look like Joseph had been slaughtered by a wild animal. Jacob is inconsolably overcome by grief.
After listening to Joseph's life story, Potiphar asks him to tell him exactly what happened with his wife; Joseph tells Potiphar of his wife's repeated attempts to seduce him and his refusal to accede to her demands. Potiphar then calls in the household and announces that Joseph will be placed in Pharaoh's prison; Potiphar's wife complains that he has humiliated her, but he merely responds that one humiliation deserves another.
Seven years later Joseph, now in charge of many of the prisoners, has earned a reputation as a talented interpreter of dreams. He makes two interpretations of the dreams of the Royal cupbearer and the Royal baker, both imprisoned on suspicion of theft. He says the cupbearer's dream means that he will soon be forgiven and returned to his post, whereas the baker's dream means that Pharaoh will have him executed. Both of these interpretations later happen just as Joseph said they would.
In Canaan, Judah, another of Joseph's half-brothers, had left Jacob's encampment because of Jacob's unabated grief over Joseph. During his self-imposed exile Judah has sex with a prostitute (whose face is partially hidden from him). Not having enough money, Judah gives the woman his staff and seal as assurance that he will pay her the following day, but when Judah returns the woman, the staff and his seal are all gone. When Judah later returns to Jacob's camp he seeks advice on how to deal with his daughter-in-law, Tamar; Tamar married Judah's firstborn son who died before they could have children; his second son suffered the same fate, and Judah is afraid to let her marry his third son for fear that he too will die. But Tamar, twice widowed and not remarried, is now pregnant and refuses to reveal the father's identity. Jacob reminds Judah of the Canaanite custom which decrees Tamar must be put to death, so when Judah goes to see Tamar she returns Judah's staff and seal; Judah shockingly realizes that Tamar was masquerading as the prostitute Judah had sex with, making Judah himself the father of her child. With this revelation, Judah spares Tamar's life.
Back in Egypt, Pharaoh himself has two disturbing dreams: the first involves seven fat cows being swallowed by seven sickly cows, the second is similar with seven full ears of corn being devoured by seven withered ears. After unsuccessfully asking his vizier and his staff what the dreams mean, the cupbearer and Potiphar communicate to Pharaoh that Joseph can interpret his dreams, so Pharaoh summons Joseph from prison. Joseph's interpretation is that the seven fat cows and the seven full ears of corn mean that there will be seven years of great plenty; the seven sickly cows and the seven thin ears of corn signify that after the seven-year abundance will follow seven years of extreme drought, which could take many lives.
At first Pharaoh, calling Joseph's interpretations "madness", has him thrown back in prison, but that night Pharaoh is again plagued by the same dreams. Realizing the dreams are too important to ignore, Pharaoh again summons Joseph from prison the next day and asks his advice about what can be done to avoid the deaths. Joseph suggests that Pharaoh appoint a steward to have all the farmers give one-fifth of their crop to Pharaoh for storage for the coming famine. After some consideration, Pharaoh decides that no one, including his own advisors, has the ability to carry out Joseph's plan except for Joseph himself, so Pharaoh appoints Joseph as governor over all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. He then gives Joseph a new name: Zaphenath-Paneah (translated in the film as "the savior"), and also gives him a wife, Asenath, confidant to Pharaoh's wife and daughter of the high priest of On. Potiphar, who now serves Joseph, gives Ednan into Joseph's charge as his assistant.
By the time the famine begins, Joseph and Asenath now have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. With the onslaught of famine, times are difficult at best, especially in Canaan. Someone in Jacob's camp tells of the abundance of grain in Egypt, so Jacob sends all of his sons, except Benjamin, to Egypt to bargain for provisions. On their arrival, Joseph recognizes his brothers (though they don't recognize him) and, because he notices they haven't changed in the years since they sold him into slavery, Joseph accuses them of espionage and orders them imprisoned, during which time they bicker over what is going on, and when Reuben mentions that they are being punished for what they did to Joseph, Simoen and some of the others disagree, and they all begin throwing blame at one another. 
Three days later Joseph gives them a chance to prove their innocence, by bringing Benjamin with them when they come back to Egypt. To ensure their return, Simeon is retained in prison. Initially, Jacob is firmly against the idea and refuses to listen to reason, as Benjamin is Jacob's only other son by Rachel, whom Jacob loved more than Leah. But over time, with no end to the drought in sight, and their food again on the verge of running out, Jacob is forced to admit there's no other choice and reluctantly allows Benjamin to go to Egypt with his half-brothers. They arrive and are reunited with Simeon, and Adnan tells them they are to prepare to dine with the master (Joseph, still in his Egyptian garb). When Joseph enters the room he is immediately drawn to Benjamin, addressing them in Hebrew and not Arabic. When Benjamin curiously asks how it is that he can speak their language, Joseph, overcome by emotion, quickly runs out of the room. After he leaves, Benjamin then notices that they are all seated according to their age: from Reuben the oldest, to himself, the youngest. Overhearing Benjamin as he returns, Joseph mentions that he was able to divine their birth order "by looking into my magic cup". 
Later, as they have just started on their trip back to Canaan, Joseph's palace guards detain them on suspicion of theft; when the guards examine the sacks of grain and find Joseph's "magic cup" (planted) in Benjamin's sack, he is arrested and they all return to Egypt. Back in his palace, Joseph, still not recognized by his brothers, declares that Benjamin will stay in Egypt but the rest can leave. Simeon and most of the others overpower the guards by grabbing their spears, swearing that they would rather die than leave Benjamin behind (and be subject to Jacob's wrath). Joseph confronts them about their actions; that they are now willing to put their lives on the line for another brother, but not for the first one (meaning himself). After sending Adnan and the guards out, Joseph tearfully reveals his true identity to his brothers; Benjamin immediately embraces Joseph, but the others, overwhelmed by shock and shame, drop their spears. Full of remorse, Simeon admits that what they did to Joseph was mostly his doing, but Joseph explains to them that while they meant to do harm to him, God used his suffering for the greater good- not just the survival of their own families, but for millions more.
Joseph tells his brothers to go back to Canaan and bring Jacob and the entire settlement to Egypt where Joseph can guarantee that they will be well provided for during the remaining time of the drought. The entire family arrive in Egypt and Jacob is emotionally reunited with Joseph, and meets his children for the first time.
== Cast ==
* Ben Kingsley – Potiphar
* Paul Mercurio – Joseph
* Martin Landau – Jacob
* Lesley Ann Warren – Potiphar's Wife
* Alice Krige – Rachel
* Dominique Sanda – Leah
* Warren Clarke – Ednan
* Monica Bellucci – Pharaoh's Wife
* Stefano Dionisi – Pharaoh
* Valeria Cavalli – Asenath
* Kelly Miller – Tamar
* Gloria Carlin – Bilhah
* Michael Angelis – Reuben
* Vincenzo Nicoli – Simeon
* Colin Bruce – Levi
* Michael Attwell – Judah
* Davide Cincis – Dan
* Rodolfo Corsato – Naphtali
* Pete Lee Wilson – Gad
* Silvestre Tobias – Asher
* Diego Wallraff – Issachar
* Michael Zimmerman – Zebulun
* Jamie Glover – Benjamin
* Rinaldo Rocco – Young Joseph (17 yrs)
* Timur Yusef – Young Joseph (8 yrs)
* Paloma Baeza – Dinah
* Brett Warren – Young Benjamin (9 yrs)
* Anna Mazzotti – Zilpah
* Andrew Clover – Shechem
* Arthur Brauss – Hamor
* Eric P. Caspar – Bera
* Anton Alexander – Hirah
* Milton Johns – Cupbearer
* Renato Scarpa – Baker
* Peter Eyre – Vizir
* Timothy Bateson – Priest
* Nadim Sawalha – Ishmaelite
* Josh Maguire – Manasseh
* Gabriel Thomson – Ephraim
* Oliver Cotton – Architect
Category:Films