9. The Ten Commandments – Cecil B. DeMille, 1956
So, again, I like these sorts of Biblical-ish films. I mean, Charlton Heston is not my favourite person, he was very right wing, the head of the NRA – but he’s great in the film. That’s the story of our exodus, the Passover, that’s the story that we retell every year at Easter time. So much so that even Christ was retelling it in the moment right before his crucifixion.
Well, one thing about these films is they’re all very long. And you’re famous for long durational pieces. So in terms of films, do you think that certain things can only be achieved, with that epic scale?
Well, yes to be enveloped, to be really enveloped. I was lucky to be brought up in the 50s and in Times Square I saw The Ten Commandments. Back then, everyone paid much more to see a movie. Each seat was reserved and it was like being in business class in an airplane and the screen was incredibly large and they had speakers everywhere. So you were really enveloped in this three and a half hour long extravaganza, and so, sure, that had a very big effect on me. Especially The Ten Commandments, that predates my music and my long pieces. And they’re sort of Gesamtkunstwerks: you’re in this room and it’s dark, except for all that you see and all that you hear. In those days, I even saw with my parents, sometimes "smell-o-vision and all those!
