"Ben-Hur" (1959): A Test of Patience For Characters and Viewers Alike
This week's film is without a doubt the longest film I've ever watched, 1959's Ben-Hur. Directed by William Wyler, Ben-Hur tells the tale of Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), a Jewish prince of Roman-occupied Judea who sees his family's lives turned upside down after a disagreement over the freedom and futures of the Jewish people leads to a fallout with his best friend, the Roman tribune Messala (Stephen Boyd).
When faulty roof tiling knocks out the new Roman governor of Judea, Messala sentences Judah (without trial) to spend the rest of his life in the galleys, and his sister Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell) and mother Miriam (Martha Scott) to fates unknown, as a ruthless warning to the rest of Judea that Rome is in charge and there to stay. On the verge of losing hope while his chain gang is steered to the shipyard, a kind soul from Nazareth (yes, Jesus Christ is in this movie, which I did not know beforehand and never bothered to check because I just thought this was a film about chariot racing) gives Judah a drink of water, revitalizing him and encouraging him to continue living with purpose. That purpose is to get his life and family back.
From that point onward, the film gets into the traditional religious tales of how much can God make life into a rollercoaster before a person finally loses their faith and their patience. Hatred for what Messala did keeps Judah alive in the galleys of various ships for about five years, which is a negative situation to be in. Yet Judah believes that God would've taken him at some point if he wasn't meant to get out of the galley and do something righteous, so he continues to live without breaking to Consul Quintus Arrius' (Jack Hawkins) torture. Low and behold, Judah gains the respect of the Consul, and is allowed to row unshackled as their ship is under attack. Because the Consul left Judah unshackled, Judah was able to save the Consul when he fell overboard, committing the righteous deed that he believed he was kept alive for. As reward for saving the Consul's life, Judah was spared from having to go back to the galleys, and was instead taken in as the Consul's slave, before being adopted as his son a few years later. With a new father and several chariot race crowns under his reputation, things seem to finally be going right for Judah.
Then on his way home, Judah comes in contact with one of the three wisemen, Balthasar (Finlay Currie), who witnessed Christ's birth. For a brief moment, the wiseman thinks Judah could possibly be the messiah, but soon realizes it's not him, and instead introduces Judah to Shiek Ilderim (Hugh Griffith) that he's been traveling with. The Shiek shows off his race horses, and Judah gives the Shiek some advice about improving the horses' positioning so they'll run more smoothly. The Shiek mentions that his horses will be racing against Messala, and again, it seems as though God is stacking the deck in favor of Judah to get the retribution he desires.
The next day, Judah confronts Messala and tells him he'll put the past behind him if Messala gives him back his mother and sister. Low and behold, they're alive in a prison cell, which is more good news that... oh wait, they have lepers. Just when it looked like Judah was about to reclaim everything he lost, God threw a monkey wrench into the equation, because the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Judah's ex-slave turned girlfriend Esther (Haha Harareet) - who I forgot to mention gave Judah her slave ring after he freed her, ironically right before Messala made Judah a slave to Rome - finds Miriam and Tirza hiding behind a wall, and grants them their request to not tell Judah they're alive. Hearing that they're dead puts Judah back into a rage that has him questioning his faith, and he resumes his plans for vengeance on the racetrack.
On the racetrack, Judah finally gets his retribution against Messala, knocking him off of his chariot and causing him to be trampled by the horses behind him, but also winning the race and instilling a newfound hope in the hearts of the people of Judea with his victory. Judah then gets more good news (sort of) as Messala reveals through his dying breaths that Miriam and Tirzah are alive in the Valley of the Lepers. However, God plays with Judah's heartstrings again when he confronts Esther about lying to him and feeling sad that his family is living in a literal dark cave of seclusion.
At this point, Judah is questioning God so much, that he doesn't even stay to hear God's son speak. He's so angry and vengeful at the world, that he denies his adopted father's request to return home and returns his father's prized ring to mutual friend, Governor Pontius Pilate (Frank Thring). Judah is so angry, he's speaking of the Romans with the same disdain that Messala spoke of the Jews. According to Esther, Judah has become the very thing he sought to destroy, and she tells him to listen to the words of Jesus and rid himself of the hate and suffering in his heart.
In order for Judah to do that though, he has to see his family against their wishes, and that's when he finds out that Tirzah is dying. That's when Judah finally realizes that his family could use something good, and the four of them go to see Jesus. Rather than a lifting speech though, they instead find Jesus carrying the infamous cross on his back, and that's when Judah realizes, "That's the guy who gave me water!" So when Jesus falls while carrying the cross, Judah tries to return the favor and give Jesus a drink of water, but a Roman soldiers kicks away his gesture of kindness before it can be received.
Eventually, we get to Jesus' crucifixion, and it feels like all of Judea has lost hope. When Jesus dies, everyone feels a unique pain. That said, it also feels like a weight has been lifted. It feels like the world's sins have been redeemed, and everyone can begin anew. This is most true for the Ben-Hur family, as Miriam and Tirzah are suddenly cured of their leprosy. Faith had to be questioned, lost, regained, and patience had to be heavily exercised to get to this moment, but it paid off in the end, and Judah Ben-Hur finally had the happy ending he wanted with his family.
This isn't as much of a review as it is my personal summary of the film. So to give an actual review, I'll say this...
I liked Ben-Hur, but I did not love it for a variety of reasons. Firstly, having to watch this film felt like a chore, mostly because it was an actual chore that I had to complete for a Music in Film quiz. Much like Judah has to exercise lengthy amounts of patience to finally have his happy ending, I had to exercise a lot of patience to get through this almost 4-hour-long film. The overture was six-and-a-half minutes long (I checked), and I just fast-forwarded through the intermission (yes, there was an intermission).
Secondly, the film wasn't what I expected it to be. As I stated in one of the earlier paragraphs, I had no idea Jesus was going to be in this film. I thought this film was going to be about chariot races and gladiators, and had I gotten a lot of those things, it likely would've made up for the nearly 4-hour runtime. However, the film had no gladiators and only one chariot race. So rather than watching Ben-Hur from the perspective of a film fan, I felt like I was watching it from the perspective of someone who had to watch it for work.
Lastly, and this may be a lame reason to some, but it's justified in my eyes... I'm missing Kurt Angle's first wrestling match in a WWE ring in 11 years in order to write this review! I don't like when homework conflicts with my sports entertainment addiction, and having to write this review is interfering with me getting my fix! If a film is going to make me miss a sports entertainment event, it needs to knock my socks off and wow me to the nth degree. I liked Ben-Hur, but it did not do that for me. It did not wow me enough to justify making me wait to watch the return of Kurt Angle, or the dream match between AJ Styles and Finn Balor.
In conclusion, is Ben-Hur good? Yes, but I'd rather be watching wrestling.
When faulty roof tiling knocks out the new Roman governor of Judea, Messala sentences Judah (without trial) to spend the rest of his life in the galleys, and his sister Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell) and mother Miriam (Martha Scott) to fates unknown, as a ruthless warning to the rest of Judea that Rome is in charge and there to stay. On the verge of losing hope while his chain gang is steered to the shipyard, a kind soul from Nazareth (yes, Jesus Christ is in this movie, which I did not know beforehand and never bothered to check because I just thought this was a film about chariot racing) gives Judah a drink of water, revitalizing him and encouraging him to continue living with purpose. That purpose is to get his life and family back.
From that point onward, the film gets into the traditional religious tales of how much can God make life into a rollercoaster before a person finally loses their faith and their patience. Hatred for what Messala did keeps Judah alive in the galleys of various ships for about five years, which is a negative situation to be in. Yet Judah believes that God would've taken him at some point if he wasn't meant to get out of the galley and do something righteous, so he continues to live without breaking to Consul Quintus Arrius' (Jack Hawkins) torture. Low and behold, Judah gains the respect of the Consul, and is allowed to row unshackled as their ship is under attack. Because the Consul left Judah unshackled, Judah was able to save the Consul when he fell overboard, committing the righteous deed that he believed he was kept alive for. As reward for saving the Consul's life, Judah was spared from having to go back to the galleys, and was instead taken in as the Consul's slave, before being adopted as his son a few years later. With a new father and several chariot race crowns under his reputation, things seem to finally be going right for Judah.
Then on his way home, Judah comes in contact with one of the three wisemen, Balthasar (Finlay Currie), who witnessed Christ's birth. For a brief moment, the wiseman thinks Judah could possibly be the messiah, but soon realizes it's not him, and instead introduces Judah to Shiek Ilderim (Hugh Griffith) that he's been traveling with. The Shiek shows off his race horses, and Judah gives the Shiek some advice about improving the horses' positioning so they'll run more smoothly. The Shiek mentions that his horses will be racing against Messala, and again, it seems as though God is stacking the deck in favor of Judah to get the retribution he desires.
The next day, Judah confronts Messala and tells him he'll put the past behind him if Messala gives him back his mother and sister. Low and behold, they're alive in a prison cell, which is more good news that... oh wait, they have lepers. Just when it looked like Judah was about to reclaim everything he lost, God threw a monkey wrench into the equation, because the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Judah's ex-slave turned girlfriend Esther (Haha Harareet) - who I forgot to mention gave Judah her slave ring after he freed her, ironically right before Messala made Judah a slave to Rome - finds Miriam and Tirza hiding behind a wall, and grants them their request to not tell Judah they're alive. Hearing that they're dead puts Judah back into a rage that has him questioning his faith, and he resumes his plans for vengeance on the racetrack.
On the racetrack, Judah finally gets his retribution against Messala, knocking him off of his chariot and causing him to be trampled by the horses behind him, but also winning the race and instilling a newfound hope in the hearts of the people of Judea with his victory. Judah then gets more good news (sort of) as Messala reveals through his dying breaths that Miriam and Tirzah are alive in the Valley of the Lepers. However, God plays with Judah's heartstrings again when he confronts Esther about lying to him and feeling sad that his family is living in a literal dark cave of seclusion.
At this point, Judah is questioning God so much, that he doesn't even stay to hear God's son speak. He's so angry and vengeful at the world, that he denies his adopted father's request to return home and returns his father's prized ring to mutual friend, Governor Pontius Pilate (Frank Thring). Judah is so angry, he's speaking of the Romans with the same disdain that Messala spoke of the Jews. According to Esther, Judah has become the very thing he sought to destroy, and she tells him to listen to the words of Jesus and rid himself of the hate and suffering in his heart.
In order for Judah to do that though, he has to see his family against their wishes, and that's when he finds out that Tirzah is dying. That's when Judah finally realizes that his family could use something good, and the four of them go to see Jesus. Rather than a lifting speech though, they instead find Jesus carrying the infamous cross on his back, and that's when Judah realizes, "That's the guy who gave me water!" So when Jesus falls while carrying the cross, Judah tries to return the favor and give Jesus a drink of water, but a Roman soldiers kicks away his gesture of kindness before it can be received.
Eventually, we get to Jesus' crucifixion, and it feels like all of Judea has lost hope. When Jesus dies, everyone feels a unique pain. That said, it also feels like a weight has been lifted. It feels like the world's sins have been redeemed, and everyone can begin anew. This is most true for the Ben-Hur family, as Miriam and Tirzah are suddenly cured of their leprosy. Faith had to be questioned, lost, regained, and patience had to be heavily exercised to get to this moment, but it paid off in the end, and Judah Ben-Hur finally had the happy ending he wanted with his family.
This isn't as much of a review as it is my personal summary of the film. So to give an actual review, I'll say this...
I liked Ben-Hur, but I did not love it for a variety of reasons. Firstly, having to watch this film felt like a chore, mostly because it was an actual chore that I had to complete for a Music in Film quiz. Much like Judah has to exercise lengthy amounts of patience to finally have his happy ending, I had to exercise a lot of patience to get through this almost 4-hour-long film. The overture was six-and-a-half minutes long (I checked), and I just fast-forwarded through the intermission (yes, there was an intermission).
Secondly, the film wasn't what I expected it to be. As I stated in one of the earlier paragraphs, I had no idea Jesus was going to be in this film. I thought this film was going to be about chariot races and gladiators, and had I gotten a lot of those things, it likely would've made up for the nearly 4-hour runtime. However, the film had no gladiators and only one chariot race. So rather than watching Ben-Hur from the perspective of a film fan, I felt like I was watching it from the perspective of someone who had to watch it for work.
Lastly, and this may be a lame reason to some, but it's justified in my eyes... I'm missing Kurt Angle's first wrestling match in a WWE ring in 11 years in order to write this review! I don't like when homework conflicts with my sports entertainment addiction, and having to write this review is interfering with me getting my fix! If a film is going to make me miss a sports entertainment event, it needs to knock my socks off and wow me to the nth degree. I liked Ben-Hur, but it did not do that for me. It did not wow me enough to justify making me wait to watch the return of Kurt Angle, or the dream match between AJ Styles and Finn Balor.
In conclusion, is Ben-Hur good? Yes, but I'd rather be watching wrestling.
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