The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb
Year:
2006
Running time:
100 mn
Nationality:
USA
Language:
English
Genre:
Adventure, Fantasy
Director:
Russell Mulcahy
Producer:
Hallmark Entertainment, Silverstar, Larry Levinson Productions, Khussro Films
Screenwriter/s:
David Titcher
Cast:
Casper Van Dien, Leonor Varela, Jonathan Hyde, Malcolm McDowell, Simon Callow, Steven Waddington, Niko Nicotera, Tat Whalley, Francisco Bosh, Parvin Dabas, Brendan Patricks, Vir Das, Suvarchala Narayanan, Patrick Toomey, Vinod Nagpal
Other websites:
Trailer:
Summary of the film
Thousands of years ago, the great Child King Tutankhamen ruled. Few know the details of his life—no one knows the secrets of his death. All that is about to change. It’s 1922, and free-spirited archaeologist Danny Freemont (Casper Van Dien) is infamous for his outlandish theories about the pyramids, Atlantis, alien civilizations, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. He may enliven the lectures at Cairo University, but he certainly infuriates serious Egyptologists like the beautiful Dr. Azelia Barakat (Leonora Varela)—especially when it comes to his speculations about the life and death of Tutankhamen. Freemont is certain that if found, the Emerald Tablet, rumoured to be buried in Tut’s tomb, would hold the power to control the world. Unfortunately, the only one who believes Freemont is nefarious archaeologist Morgan Sinclair (Jonathan Hyde), a member of the diabolical secret cabal known as the Hellfire Council. (Filmaffinity)
Danny and Azelia in the course of an archaeological dig (Screenshot by the author)
Egyptomania narratives or motifs
The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb is a movie released in 2006 and directed by Russell Mulcahy. The title of the film, which is a combination of adventure, horror and fantasy, recalls a previous film dating back to 1980 (https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film610764.html). The title, however, is the only common element between these two movies, since the 2006 film is not actually focused on the legendary curse of the young pharaoh – as its 1980 counterpart – but, rather, on a quest to find a mysterious emerald tablet. At the heart of the quest is the epic battle between Good and Evil, respectively embodied by Tutankhamun and the god Seth. Ancient Egypt is depicted in a deeply fictionalised way, including setting, characters and material culture, which appears to be quite cartoonish. Main issues – strictly related to concerns of cultural appropriation – also arise in the representation of modern Egypt: the movie was filmed in India and all the Egyptian roles are actually played by Indians.
The film presents numerous clichés related to ancient Egypt and archaeology, beginning with the main character of the movie, Danny Freemont, played by Casper Van Dien, who is presented as an archaeologist, but is rather an adventurer, whose main goal is to gather all the pieces belonging to the emerald tablet that Tutankhamun destroyed (in order to prevent the return of Seth) and scattered around the globe. Moreover, despite the fact that the most part of the story is set in the Valley of the Kings (both the main character and his antagonists are looking for the tomb of Tutankhamun, since the movie takes place in the early twentieth century), on multiple occasions the Giza pyramids or other buildings far from Luxor are shown. This evidently underlines the perception of ancient Egypt that the movie wants to reflect: a miscellany of commonplaces, used as a pretext for creating an adventurous and fantastic film, seasoned with paranormal and horror elements. Nonetheless, this cinematic product has the merit of arousing the curiosity of a broad audience about ancient Egypt and archaeology (the figure of Danny Freemont clearly recalls Indiana Jones and Rick O’Connell, the main character of The Mummy franchise), and, in fact, has been fairly successful with the public.
A small treat: a few seconds of authentic historical footage about the actual discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun feature at the very end of the film.
The film presents numerous clichés related to ancient Egypt and archaeology, beginning with the main character of the movie, Danny Freemont, played by Casper Van Dien, who is presented as an archaeologist, but is rather an adventurer, whose main goal is to gather all the pieces belonging to the emerald tablet that Tutankhamun destroyed (in order to prevent the return of Seth) and scattered around the globe. Moreover, despite the fact that the most part of the story is set in the Valley of the Kings (both the main character and his antagonists are looking for the tomb of Tutankhamun, since the movie takes place in the early twentieth century), on multiple occasions the Giza pyramids or other buildings far from Luxor are shown. This evidently underlines the perception of ancient Egypt that the movie wants to reflect: a miscellany of commonplaces, used as a pretext for creating an adventurous and fantastic film, seasoned with paranormal and horror elements. Nonetheless, this cinematic product has the merit of arousing the curiosity of a broad audience about ancient Egypt and archaeology (the figure of Danny Freemont clearly recalls Indiana Jones and Rick O’Connell, the main character of The Mummy franchise), and, in fact, has been fairly successful with the public.
A small treat: a few seconds of authentic historical footage about the actual discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun feature at the very end of the film.
Author: Valentina Santini
Other information
Santini, V. (2022), I segreti di Tutankhamon. Storia di un faraone tra mito e realtà, Milan: Longanesi, p. 261.
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