The Moon of Israel

Director: Michael Curtiz

Starring: Maria Corda

Category: Epic

Country: Austria

Runtime: 103 min

Language: Silent

The Moon of Israel is a 1924 Austrian epic film directed by Michael Curtiz. The story is based on H. Rider Haggard's novel Moon of Israel, which in turn was inspired by the biblical tale of the Exodus. Around the year 1230 BCE, the Israelites are enslaved by the Egyptians. During this time of turmoil, the Jewish slave-girl Merapi falls in love with Prince Seti, son of the Pharaoh Menapta. Their romance violates class boundaries, thus causing chaos to ensue. At the end of the film, Moses* leads his people through the Red Sea to freedom.

*Note: Moses is a prophet in the Abrahamic religions. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was adopted by an Egyptian princess, and later in life became the leader of the Israelites, to whom the authorship of the Torah, or acquisition of the Torah from Heaven is traditionally attributed. He is the most important prophet in Judaism. He is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and a number of other Abrahamic religions.

Gerhard Gruber (Composer, pianist)

Gerhard Gruber is an Austrian composer and pianist who has been the leading authority of piano accompaniment for films in Austria since 1988. Gruber prefers to improvise his work in order to foster new dialogue between the events on screen, the music, and the audience, and thus make each performance unique. He attempts to convey to the audience the process of being drawn back into the film during each performance.

Gerhard Gruber: “For me the feeling of being amidst the events of a film story has been indescribably exciting from the first moment and is unchanged until today. This guarantees the liveliness and vibrancy of each performance. It is always the unity of film, music, and audience. Thus each presentation is able to be a special experience.”

Cultural Forum of the Austrian Embassy Beijing