Joseph

Joseph, one of Jacob's twelve sons, is his father's favourite. His brothers, jealous, throw him into a pit and sell him into slavery. He goes to Egypt, works in Potiphar's house, is falsely accused and imprisoned, and there learns to interpret dreams. When he interprets Pharaoh's dream he becomes the second man in the country. When the famine comes his brothers arrive in Egypt to buy grain and do not recognise him. Roger Young directs. Paul Mercurio plays Joseph, Ben Kingsley plays Potiphar, Martin Landau plays Jacob. It belongs to the Bible series run jointly by the Italian producer Lux Vide and Turner Pictures. Made through the nineties, the series treated Old Testament stories as independent television films, cast internationally and shot largely in Morocco. This became the most decorated entry in it, winning the Emmy for outstanding miniseries. The subject at the centre is forgiveness. That Joseph does not reveal himself once he recognises his brothers, that he tests them, and what he finally does, carries the whole weight of the story. Ben Kingsley's Potiphar is the most interesting character: a man played as not believing his wife's accusation and obliged by the system to believe it. Who it is for: viewers who follow biblical narrative and period television production. Who it is not for: the television scale is evident, the crowd scenes are limited, and the telling over explains.