…And God Spoke (1994)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Arthur Borman and Mark Borman
Directed by Arthur Borman
Starring Michael Riley and Steven Rappaport

Released by: Artisan
Region: 1
Rating: R
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Don't bother.

…And God Spoke is a mockumentary in the vein of This is Spinal Tap. Replace the rock group with a director and assistant director, and you have this film: an "inside" look at the making of a big budget Biblical epic in the finest tradition of Cecil B. DeMille. We follow the director as he struggles with camera crews, actors, writers, the producers, and of course the big villain in the film: the budget.

While this film provides a few truly funny moments, especially when the director attempts to interact with his creative people, it’s really just overall too biting and self-conscious to be either funny or insightful. It tries to poke gentle fun at the film industry, but there’s just nothing here we viewers don’t already know or suspect, and it’s just not funny enough to make up for its lack of freshness. More than anything, it brings to mind the painfully self-aware movies of the late 1980s, where characters had a habit of breaking the fourth wall at will and for no apparent dramatic or comic gain; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was the only film of that type that really used that device well.

My only real question with this film was "why a Biblical epic?" I appreciate the possible connection between director and God, but that’s not a strong enough reason to center a film on a movie-type that hasn’t been made in decades. It might have been a more approachable film for modern spoof-lovers had the faux film in question been, say, a historical blockbuster like Titanic or Braveheart.

There are no features on this release, but then documentaries about a fake documentary might have seemed a bit too surreal for the producers of this film. I would, however, have liked to see a list of other mockumentaries, placing this film in a larger context of films of its ilk.

In short, if you like spoofs and enjoyed films such as Hot Shots or This is Spinal Tap, then you should give …And God Spoke a view. If you aren’t a major fan of the self-referential, self-conscious postmodern films making fun of films, then give this one a miss. Film students might want to at least give this a watch just to recognize their professors and themselves, but it will probably just depress them. Go watch Kurosawa instead and be inspired--it’s a lot healthier mentally.