Good concept, poorly executed.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It hates men and the Jewish faith,.Do you think they could or would pull this with any Muslim story....No, that would be rude and raciest. Jacob is seen as a joke, good women can help shape a great man for good or evil.The idea Jacob would just say okay to false gods..wtf, and i guess he was a mental midget for he could not do anything without a woman's okay, not like advice but her okay dear, yes dear.

This was an amazingly told story, and if the author had changed the names of every character, moved the context to almost any more primitive culture, it would have been wonderful. But I kept realizing that, at every turn, the author betrays the characters of the real history of the family of Jacov, and shreds every measure of decency in everyone's story to aggrandize the one-chapter person of Dinah. There is nothing wrong with a little story embellishment, so long as it doesn't move into downright lies. But this tale is riddled with lies. The author claims that Rivkah - Rebeccah - is a diviner of some sort, and a rather self-absorbed woman, which is not suggested in the history of these people at all. She tells that the circumcision of Shechem and family and friends was Jacov's idea, instead of the notion of his sons, the brothers of Dinah. And the author assumes the idol worship of the wives of Jacov where there is no cause to make such an assumption. In fact, Jacov's father's wife is chosen from these same people BECAUSE they are not of the idol worshiping kind. He is sent to the same people - the people of his mother - and he is sent by his mother, to find a worthy position in life and a suitable bride. He gets four. On that count the author is correct though making more assumptions on the brides Zilpah and Bilhah. If this tale had taken place in a galaxy far, far away, and if all the names had been changed - if the author was not trying to re-write scripture to her own ends above God's, it would have been wonderful. BUT I only rate it a three because it plays so fast and loose with the truth. It is almost as if it were written by a Clinton.

This is fiction loosely occurring in a historical setting but is not historical fiction (realistically filling in blank areas but not contradicting the historical account). While The Red Tent gives a reasonable depiction of ancient life in the Middle East, it does not follow the Scriptural text (the only account of Dinah's life) and often seems to try to rewrite the Scriptural account of Jacob's family, giving little if any value to Jacob trying to lead his family to follow and worship only Almighty God and forsaking foreign idols. While it is understandable that Jacob's "wives" (2 wives and two unrelated concubines) would find it difficult to forsake their cultural religious practices (something we must all work through), scripture seems to indicate that is what they did after they had left Laban's household and traveled with Jacob. At times, it seems the plot is trying to teach anti-God religious practices as women rebelling against men's teaching about (and invention of) an Almighty God.

If you are expecting a rehashing from the book of Old Jewish Fairy Tales this isn't it. This is a totally engrossing drama loosely based on the daughter of the biblical figure who was Jacobs daughter told from her perspective. I have to add it to my collection. I can't find it on DVD or Blue Ray so I'm breaking out my old VCR and waiting for it to come back on. This Movie was made for a more sophisticated taste. After watching the first night I was hooked and had to see part two. After reading the other reviews I'm a bit confused, did they think it was going to be a bible story ? I guess they hated most John Wayne movies too since they were mostly fiction too. I absolutely LOVED The Red Tent and I'm determined to own a copy.