Lifetime Channel special.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A sweeping Old Testament tale, told through the eyes of Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob. Airing over two nights, the miniseries begins with Dinah’s happy childhood spent inside the red tent where the women of her tribe gather and share the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood. Dinah matures and experiences an intense love that subsequently leads to a devastating loss, and the fate of her family is forever changed.

The Red Tent has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into 28 languages. The novel is a New York Times, Los Angeles Times and USA Today Top Ten Best Seller.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television and directed by Roger Young (Jesus), the miniseries airs on the Lifetime Channel, December 7 & 8 at 9:00pm ET/PT. Debra Winger (unrecognizable) portrays Rebecca, Jacob’s mother, while Will Tudor (Game of Thrones) plays Joseph, Dinah’s brother.

PREVIEW REVIEW: It’s what every Hollywood producer dreams of – a biblical story that has nothing to do with God. Men are not allowed in the red tent, and neither, evidently, is the Almighty. God isn’t a supporting character in this production, or even an extra. He’s only mentioned in passing, and mostly with a negative connotation. Top heavy with childbirths and more family turmoil than a TV soap opera, the writers are given plenty of latitude concerning the biblical accounts of Jacob and Joseph. The production has been adapted to please Lifetime’s main demographic, the ladies.

Whenever the action begins to slow, and it does a lot, the producers place us back in that red tent or a palace or a house built out of clay during the throes of childbearing. Lots of sweat, lots of screams, lots of times. (If every thirteen-year-old girl saw this film, it would cut down on worldwide pregnancy by half.)

Unrated, it contains content unsuitable for little ones, such as several childbirths and much violence, some including throats being cut (bloody) and women being struck or mistreated physically; there are also several sexual situations, including a couple of graphic depictions of sex between a man and wife; the women worship idols from their homeland rather than God.

There are several film retellings of the story of Jacob and Joseph. Or, you could read the Bible.