Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a Polish historical drama set in ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom. The young ruler Ramesses XIII takes the throne in a time of crisis: the treasury is drained, the army is restless, and the population is poor, while the priests of the great temples hold vast wealth and effectively control much of the state. The new pharaoh sets out to challenge the priesthood and recover power for the crown, placing him in direct conflict the high priest Herhor, who commands the religious and political machinery of the country. Foreign pressures, including threats from Assyria, close in on Egypt at the same time. The story blends political struggle with the personal life of the ruler, which is complicated by his ties to two women, Kama and Sarah.

Jerzy Kawalerowicz directed and co-wrote the film with Tadeusz Konwicki. It is the earliest of the three films listed for Kawalerowicz, followed by Maddalena in 1971 and Austeria in 1983. Jerzy Zelnik plays the pharaoh, with Barbara Brylska as Kama, Krystyna Mikołajewska as Sarah, Wiesława Mazurkiewicz as Nikrotis and Piotr Pawłowski as Herhor among the large credited cast and crew. The production had a budget of about ten million dollars and took a similar amount worldwide, a modest result relative to its scale. On IMDb it rates 7.3 from around 2,600 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.7 from a much smaller set of 95 votes.