“Location, location, location!”
If the place where the story is set is important, then the movie version of that story should be shot in that place or at least somewhere that looks like that place.
For The Ten Commandments, the final film of his career, legendary Hollywood director Cecile B. DeMille took his cameras, cast and crew off to Egypt, Mount Sinai and the Sinai Peninsula.
Here’s the 1956 film’s trailer:
There are times when I wonder if movie director Peter Jackson ever read more than these two books in his entire life: Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, both written by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Jackson’s “Lord” trilogy of films, released from 2001-2003, were a box office bonanza and also dramatically increased tourist travel to New Zealand where the films were shot.
A decade later, he produced another three-part cinematic saga based on The Hobbit.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released in 2012, and was followed the next year by The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
The final chapter will be told in December when The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies opens in theaters. Here’s the trailer.
But Jackson’s latest movie may not be as entertaining a take on the Tolkien stories as another short film.
…
And while the conflict serves as the backdrop for Omar, the official submission of Palestine to the 2014 Oscars in the best foreign language film category, it involves universal themes: Friendship, love, trust, and betrayal.
