In the early 1990s, when films based on biblical subjects had long ceased to appear in theaters, and quite well existed in the television field, producers Luke and Matilda Bernabey dared to start a series of films “Bible Tales”, the purpose of which was to fully illuminate the entire Bible (Old and New Testaments). It was a large-scale project of co-production of a huge number of countries (Italy, Germany, USA, Great Britain, France, etc.) with a large scale and expensive costumes. In late 1993, a film about Abraham was released with Richard Harris in the title role. But in the next, 1994, his ideological prequel (from which you can start counting the entire cycle) - "The Book of Genesis: Creation of the World" was released.
I'll tell you right away, the film was controversial.
On the one hand, I liked the original approach the creators took to the story of the Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and his ark. Whether it’s because I’m so used to the Hollywood campaign to take for such projects the main roles of Americans and Europeans (albeit of Jewish origin), but somehow it was even unusual to see actors from the Middle East in such a film. The film was filmed in Morocco with a Moroccan film company. And the plot of the film is built in such a way that before us a certain Bedouin elder (Omero Antonutti) tells his grandchildren stories like Scheherazade. And not just bedtime stories, but Holy Scripture. The writer and director Ermanno Olmi deliberately chose the tactics of demonstration on the plot screen, where all the characters do not say a word, but the voiceover of the old man explains everything. This made the film at least original.
On the other hand, there is a low budget. So if someone wants to watch how the Flood kills humanity all over the Earth (except those who were saved in Noah’s Ark), then for cool special effects it is better to turn to other, later versions of the film adaptation of the Bible. Everything looks modest here.
6 out of 10