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In November 2013, Total Film was lucky enough to visit the epic set of Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings . Here’s what we found out…
“It’s not quite the story I was taught in religious studies,” admits producer Mark Huffam as we sit down on the set of Ridley Scott’s Moses movie, Exodus: Gods And Kings (for the book of the Bible from which the tale’s taken).
“It’s still that story, but it’s had the Ridley Scott treatment. It’s the story I remember being told; we’ve just anchored things in reality.” Following Noah in what could be a new wave of Old Testament epics, this one tells the story of Christian Bale’s Moses, but there’s more to it than just the parting of the Red Sea. Before becoming an icon, Moses was a soldier, and staging historical conflicts on an enormous scale is something Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about.
The scale of the set in Almería, Spain – recreating the Egyptian homeland of Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton) is staggering. You need quite an actor to ground the spectacle. And this leading man is someone you’d want on your side in an uprising...
“Christian Bale brings a quiet man gravitas to the role, and in a funny way, Moses was a quiet man who got it all done,” explains Huffam. “He is perfect casting.” He certainly cuts an imposing figure on the battlefield, hinting at an action-packed event picture that’s worlds away from what you remember from Sunday school. Armoured up and glowering with intensity, he’s more reminiscent of Russell Crowe’s Maximus than he is of Chuck Heston’s commandment-deliverer.
