Huston's Bible vs. DeMille's Ten Commandments: Film Analysis

Huston's View of God and the Old Testament

Before discussing the central aspects of this section, it is illuminating to consider John Huston's personal views on religion, as they shed light on his interpretation of the Biblical text and reveal a thematic unity that flows throughout the film. The following is part of an interview response by Huston to the question, "Do you believe in God?"

"In the beginning, the Lord God was in love with mankind and accordingly jealous. He was forever asking mankind to prove our affection for Him — for example, seeing if Abraham would cut his son's throat. But then, as eons passed, His ardor cooled and He assumed a new role — that of a beneficent deity. All a sinner had to do was confess and say he was sorry and God forgave him. The fact of the matter was that He had lost interest. That was the second step. Now it would appear that He had forgotten about us entirely. He has taken up, maybe, with life elsewhere in the universe on another planet. It is as though we ceased to exist." (Huston on Making the Bible)

This quotation is instructive in that it sheds light on how Huston sees the God of the Old Testament. He views this God as essentially a deity of jealousy and dominance — a theme repeatedly invoked throughout the film. Huston also notes that God was "forever asking mankind to prove our affection for Him," a facet present in every section of the film and especially in God's instruction to Abraham to sacrifice his own son. A third related factor is that Huston describes God in strikingly human terms as being "in love" with mankind. This humanized view of God is a central aspect that shapes the way Huston reads and interprets the Biblical text.

Adam and Eve: Curiosity, Obedience, and the Jealous God

Adam and Eve, as the archetypal human beings, are portrayed in the film in a way that fosters questions and ambiguity. In the first instance they seemingly have no desires other than to live in the garden and to obey God. They initially have no need to know anything about themselves. At its opening, the film portrays Adam and Eve as blank slates upon which God writes His will. Their appearance is stereotypical and their actions seem robotic, devoid of natural volition.

This depiction raises a number of issues that form an integral part of this often problematic film. The first is that God creates creatures who appear to have no inner life or curiosity about the world around them. Curiosity is in fact the very thing that is prohibited on pain of spiritual death. This raises the question of why God created human beings in the first place. While this question touches on the incomprehensible mystery of creation, there is also the suggestion that the director is making a subtle but defining point in his depiction of these two characters. Is Huston implying that God, as the omnipotent and all-knowing creator, must have known about the flaws in His creation? Why would God create something that is potentially flawed? This leads to the intimation that in some sense Adam and Eve were intended to fail — so that they could prove their love and devotion to God in a world of pain and death. These are issues that open onto a vast area of theological discourse; they are raised in a close reading of the film but never answered.

Given these complex issues, it is the characterization and the subtle clues that Huston provides that are most interesting in the first section of the film. Unlike Adam, Eve is interested in more than simple compliance. She is curious about herself and is tempted by the serpent, who promises knowledge. This is a crucial point in the film: her facial expression and the way she is enticed show the first glimmers of humanity and life in the characters. It is also enlightening that Adam makes only token resistance to eating the apple. One commentator adds to this point: "Huston appears to be saying that the human experience is cast in the image of the first woman, not the first man. It was Huston's woman who demonstrated a willingness to die for us, since, in the Garden, there was no death and no children." However, the most important aspect of this scene is that it marks the beginning of the complex conflict and relationship between the God of the Old Testament and mankind — the central subject the film attempts to explore.

This presentation of Adam and Eve is, of course, an interpretation of the Biblical text that emphasizes the attributes the director wishes to highlight. Any film version of the Biblical text will of necessity carry its own biases and predilections. Huston's interpretation is, to a great extent, shaped by his personal ideology: the idea of a jealous and deeply humanized God who makes mistakes and errors.

The complexity and the underlying biases in Huston's view can also be seen in his depiction of the serpent in the tree. It is significant that he partially humanizes the serpent by giving it a human face. The snake is therefore both human and something else, suggesting it is both good and evil. The snake figure also intimates that the origins of evil are at least partly human, creating some confusion about where evil actually comes from.

While Eve's approach to the snake is extremely cautious and fearful, the director simultaneously emphasizes her desire to find out more. Even though she is in mortal danger, her eyes are radiant with intention and curiosity. Huston focuses on this tension between desire and fear in a single extended frame, where we see Eve's face and the golden apple at the same moment. The apple looms over her expectant face and seems to dominate her. The snake appears to have no other intention except to corrupt the innocent Eve. Its voice is clear and intriguing, its argument compelling and dramatic. The consequences of Eve's actions and Adam's compliance are inevitable, and they are abruptly and without mercy dismissed to the world of pain and death.

Cain, Abel, and Noah: Jealousy, Punishment, and Submission

Their sons Cain and Abel are born in the barren wilderness, which is powerfully conveyed in the film. Cain is the tiller of the soil, while Abel tends the flock of sheep. Cain is portrayed as the more taciturn and dissatisfied of the two brothers. The theme of jealousy emerges strongly in this section, and Cain kills his brother in a fit of rage when his offering is not accepted by God. It is worth noting that Cain may have had cause to be angry and jealous, in that his agricultural labor would have been considerably more arduous than Abel's pastoral work.

In the film, the humanism and sensationalism of the Biblical text — or rather its reduction to the level of human motivation — characterize Huston's interpretation of the characters. In the story of Cain and Abel, the murder is again a matter of jealousy: one brother is accepted by God while the other is not. This emphasis on jealousy recurs again and again throughout the film. While Huston's interpretation does conform to one reading of the Bible, it also ignores more esoteric and less humanistically influenced perspectives on the Biblical text.

One reason for Huston's interpretive choices is that he had to be mindful of his audience's expectations. Possibly he felt that a more complex vision of the Bible would be too radical and would upset most viewers of the time. As the lecture notes state, "Huston is himself at the mercy of the audience." The lecture notes also make certain assertions that go to the heart of the portrayal of character and the general ethos of the work: "Huston's biblical God appears to like to watch pain and suffering; there is evil in the world because the biblical God is evil… Huston's portrayal is unequivocal: God is bad."

This view relates directly to the way Huston portrays character and edits the Biblical text accordingly. The way God deals with Cain generally follows the Biblical text, but the director ensures that the harsh justice and apparent cruelty of God are depicted in a clear and explicit manner. There is no attempt to soften or excuse God's actions, and the acting does not add any ameliorating nuance to the pain and hurt that Cain experiences.

For the murder of his brother, Cain is banished to the wilderness and is marked with the image of the tree of good and evil on his forehead: "On Cain's forehead, drawn as it were by the finger of God, is the leafless, serpent-less Tree of Knowledge." There is a certain moral incongruity in the way Cain's predicament is portrayed. While he was hardworking and industrious, God refused his offering merely because he withheld some grain — a small fault. Yet God's rejection of this offering leads to the murder of Abel and severe consequences. This once again emphasizes the central theme of a jealous God who will not tolerate any sign of disloyalty or disobedience, no matter how small. In his humanization and popularization of God for his audience, the director places increasing emphasis on a God who is jealous and rather petty, a God who operates on the principle that might is right.

There are many areas of the film that diverge from the Bible and embellish on the original text. The portrayal of Noah is certainly out of step with the Biblical account and is an area where the director has exercised considerable artistic license to dramatize his script. Yet this portrayal of Noah once again emphasizes the importance of unwavering and unquestioning obedience to the God of the Old Testament.

Noah is depicted in an almost comedic light as a rather eccentric character. We see him half-hiding in a doorway from God and sliding down a gangway in the Ark onto his sleeping or inebriated son. This slightly comic portrayal of Noah is intended firstly to generate a humorous audience reaction and also serves an artistic purpose, acting as an emotional counterfoil to the harshness and darkness of the previous scenes. While this interpretation may be artistically acceptable, it also tends to reduce the father of civilization to a clown-like figure.

Beside the liberties taken with Noah's character, many other aspects are omitted from the film — such as the reference to the "Nephilim," the human-divine creatures mentioned at the start of the Biblical story. The film also avoids the larger, more mysterious or esoteric context of the story. There are aspects that could have added depth to our understanding of Noah and his family that are, it seems, intentionally ignored — for example, the Biblical account of Noah's drunkenness and his exposure before his sons:

"The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled. Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent." (Genesis 9:18–29)

These omissions are purposeful: the director wants to present a clear and unambiguous picture of Noah so as not to confuse his public. What Huston does present clearly is Noah as the obedient and never-questioning servant of God. His strength is his calm acceptance, compliance, and unbending loyalty to whatever God commands. He is the perfect servant of the One God and carries out every order to the letter. His weaknesses — such as his drunkenness — are not mentioned in the film, the implication being that the director saw them as elements that would detract from the image of utter and selfless devotion to God that he was attempting to present.

A cardinal aspect of the entire story of Noah and the flood, as portrayed in the film, is the harshness and apparent cruelty of a God who would destroy every living thing, including children. The reaction of Noah's wife to the flood and the screams of those dying outside the ark are illustrative of these themes. His wife cannot bear so much suffering and asks what the noise is. She is obviously perturbed by the sounds of those perishing outside. Noah, on the other hand, is calmly unperturbed and accepts God's actions with an almost callous equanimity. This is a reference to his strength as a complete servant of the Old Testament God, who accepts God's judgment on the world without question. Through the character of Noah, Huston again provides insight into his underlying view: there must be total and unquestioning acceptance of the word of God.