If you love Bible stories for their soap-opera grade drama, you’ll swoon over adaptions of said stories that make them even juicier. Take, for example, Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, a feminist epic based on the biblical story of Dinah. Jacob and Leah’s daughter, Dinah—who does not even speak in the text—is raped by a prince and then avenged by her brothers. The book, however, gives Dinah a voice, a different story and more control over her fate than the Bible does.
But now, this retelling is being retold—in the form of a Lifetime movie. The two-part miniseries promises to take soap opera to a whole new sudsy level. In the movie, the star-studded cast of women inexplicably boasts British accents and moves through visually striking scenes that are so sexy, they’re downright harlequin. Although the film takes significant liberties with the book, which itself took liberties with the biblical story, it stays true to Diamant’s feminist reading. As Diamant, who wasn’t involved in the making of the film, told Ha’aretz recently: “I’m really happy with how they maintained the celebration of women’s ability and the importance of their relationships with each other.”
Photo Credit: Joey L./Lifetime
___
» Read up on the biblical story of Dinah.
» Buy Diamant’s The Red Tent.
» Watch a preview of the new series.
» Hear from Diamant about the film.
____
Check out a preview of the new Lifetime series:
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
