Pharaoh
Young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt's clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.
Working with a modest budget of $10.0M, the film achieved a steady performer with $10.0M in global revenue (+0% profit margin).
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Pharaoh (1966) demonstrates precise narrative design, characteristic of Jerzy Kawalerowicz's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 13-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 31 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.7, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (2% through the runtime) establishes Young Prince Ramses leads military maneuvers in the desert, demonstrating his ambition and impatience to rule, while the aging Pharaoh remains on the throne. The prince is shown as headstrong and eager for power.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 19 minutes when The old Pharaoh dies, and Ramses ascends to the throne. Rather than freedom, he immediately discovers the enormous debt Egypt owes to the temples and the limitations on his power, realizing the crown is a burden rather than pure authority.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
At 76 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat Ramses discovers the priests have been systematically undermining him. A false victory in his reforms transforms into the realization that the priesthood has anticipated his every move, controlling information and manipulating events. The stakes escalate dramatically., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 114 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Ramses' final military gambit fails when the priests stage a fake divine intervention during an eclipse, causing his army to refuse to fight. His closest allies are dead or turned against him. He faces complete defeat, his authority shattered before the entire nation., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 121 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Ramses learns the ultimate truth: the priests planned his father's death and his own coronation, controlling the succession itself. With this terrible clarity, he understands he was never truly Pharaoh. He chooses to attempt one desperate final confrontation with Herhor., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Pharaoh's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 13 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Pharaoh against these established plot points, we can identify how Jerzy Kawalerowicz utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Pharaoh within the adventure genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional adventure films include Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Bad Guys and Zoom.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Young Prince Ramses leads military maneuvers in the desert, demonstrating his ambition and impatience to rule, while the aging Pharaoh remains on the throne. The prince is shown as headstrong and eager for power.
Theme
High Priest Herhor warns about the limits of royal power, stating that even Pharaohs must respect the authority of the temples and priests. This introduces the central conflict between political power and religious authority.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of ancient Egypt's complex power structure: the aging Pharaoh, the ambitious prince, the powerful priesthood controlling wealth and land, the struggling treasury, foreign threats from Assyria, and the Jewish slaves. Ramses' romance with a Jewish woman and conflicts with priests are introduced.
Disruption
The old Pharaoh dies, and Ramses ascends to the throne. Rather than freedom, he immediately discovers the enormous debt Egypt owes to the temples and the limitations on his power, realizing the crown is a burden rather than pure authority.
Resistance
Ramses debates how to rule: should he submit to the priesthood or challenge them? He consults advisors, including the rational Hiram the Phoenician, who explains the economic stranglehold of the temples. Ramses begins to understand the systemic nature of his constraints.
Act II
ConfrontationPremise
Ramses attempts to rule as a reformer-Pharaoh, implementing his vision of royal supremacy over religious authority. He navigates palace intrigue, pursues military glory, manages his relationships, and increasingly confronts the priests' countermeasures at every turn.
Midpoint
Ramses discovers the priests have been systematically undermining him. A false victory in his reforms transforms into the realization that the priesthood has anticipated his every move, controlling information and manipulating events. The stakes escalate dramatically.
Opposition
The priesthood intensifies its campaign against Ramses. They orchestrate supernatural demonstrations, turn the people against him, manipulate the treasury crisis, and isolate him politically. Ramses' allies begin to fall away or are compromised. His power erodes despite his title.
Collapse
Ramses' final military gambit fails when the priests stage a fake divine intervention during an eclipse, causing his army to refuse to fight. His closest allies are dead or turned against him. He faces complete defeat, his authority shattered before the entire nation.
Crisis
In despair, Ramses confronts the emptiness of his struggle. He realizes the depth of the priests' control over Egypt's systems - economic, military, religious, and social. He must decide whether to submit completely or make one final stand knowing it may cost him everything.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Ramses learns the ultimate truth: the priests planned his father's death and his own coronation, controlling the succession itself. With this terrible clarity, he understands he was never truly Pharaoh. He chooses to attempt one desperate final confrontation with Herhor.
Synthesis
Ramses confronts the High Priest Herhor directly in the labyrinth beneath the temple. The final battle is not military but ideological - a struggle over who truly rules Egypt. The priests execute their final solution to the problem of an uncontrollable Pharaoh.
Transformation
Ramses lies dead, assassinated by the priesthood. A new, controllable Pharaoh is installed. The closing image mirrors the opening: another young prince stands ready, the system unchanged. Individual ambition means nothing against institutional power. The cycle continues.