From one Biblical captive and interpreter of kings’ dreams to another, we pass from Daniel to Joseph (“Testament: The Bible in Animation,” 1996):
From a libertarian economic standpoint, there’s something a bit dodgy about Joseph’s story: “A famine is coming, Sire! We must institute central economic planning!” [seven years later] “Oh look, we have a famine.”
Joseph’s story is also a version of the Oedipus / Samarra paradox: what the brothers do to prevent the prophecy from coming true is exactly what leads to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
And while we’re on the subject of Joseph, it turns out that the entire film of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version, with nearly every song in a different musical genre (and with Dutch subtitles, because je kunt nooit teveel Nederlands hebben, heb ik gelijk?) is online:
I’m particularly fond of the performances of Jeff Blumenkrantz and Maria Friedman in this.
And as a bonus, here’s a clip of Ben Kingsley as Potiphar in yet another version of Joseph:
The downside of casting Ben Kingsley as Potiphar is that you don’t really remember any of the other characters. But the positive side is – Ben Kingsley!
