Ben-Hur (1959) – 3/5

The Return of the Prince

„Ben-Hur“ is an American English-language film from 1959, so this means that it is almost 65 years old now (or maybe even over depending on when you read this review of mine) and sadly this also means that almost nobody or even nobody who worked on the film is alive anymore. But the memory remains and this film is also far from forgotten. When we talk about monumental movies, it is probably one of the first choices for most people, especially if we look at films before the 1960s that exclude „Gandhi“ and „Lawrence of Arabia“. The running time of over 3.5 hours also contributes to that of course. However, it can also be said that this film is not seen as perfection by many as you can see from the fact that it is only slightly above the magical 8.0 on imdb and on other reception sites even below 80%. So maybe as groundbreaking as it was back then, it is not seen totally like that anymore today as we are deep into the 21st century. Of course, people opposing Christianity or lead actor Charlton Heston because of his conservative views may also have to do with that. What people also remember about the film is that it won a total of 11 Oscars back then. The only category where it was nominated and came short was for its screenplay. One of two Oscar nominations for writer Karl Tunberg. There are two other writers credited here: Lew Wallace was in charge of the base material and by 1959 deceased for a long time and the still relatively young Gore Vidal was a co-writer here and he was not a star yet at that point, but this film at least partially helped turning him into one. The director, William Wyler, however, was already closer to 50 than to 60 back then and among the defining filmmakers in Hollywood with many other famous films under his belt.

If we look at the cast, we have the aforementioned Heston in the lead and this was the only film for which he scored a competitive Oscar nomination and he went 1 for 1 indeed. The Oscar for Best Supporting Actor that year went to Welsh actor Hugh Griffith, which surprises me a bit because while he was fine with what he was given, it was by no means a crucial role or character with a lot of depth. Maybe some voters just liked how he played an Arab convincingly despite being a Brit (people today may have a bigger problem with that) or that his character was on the likable side or brought rare comedic content to the movie. The Golden Globe went to Irish actor Stephen Boyd, so this film had it with wins for supporting performances, even if Boyd came short at the Oscars, but who know if otherwise he would have won or taken votes away from Griffith that might have resulted in a winner from another movie. As for Heston, the film peaking right on time at the Oscars surely helped him with his quest there as he did not win at the Golden Globes yet. The women in this film, there are three supporting performances worth mentioning, namely the protagonist’s mother, sister and love interest, did not win big at any awards shows. Still the number of female characters was probably higher than what you usually got from films or at least epics around then. You go check out the names of these actresses yourself. I just find it a bit sad that the one who played Ben-Hur’s sister died at a really young age. Just like the handsome Boyd by the way. May they rest in peace. The one who played the love interest, however, lived a really long life until pretty recently.

Now if we look at the film itself, it is of course in color and let me say that I got to watch this one on the big screen last night and it is probably a film that belongs on the big screen. There are many issues dealt with in here: (betrayed) friendship, romance, family, illness, power struggles, trust and with the road the film takes towards the end, religion is also a major factor. Actually, this became bigger than I expected. The inclusion of the Christ is one that stays extremely memorable, no matter if we are talking about the moment he gives water to the title character, his speech up on top of the hill or his suffering at the end. Of course, also how you can say that his blood or rather the tears during a big thunderstorm after his departure from Earth heal the main character’s mother and sister, who lived away from society as lepers before that. This was also an interesting aspect we saw there, how these people are treated, how they are given food basically, but kept away from healthy humans. There are quite a few quotes from this movie that are worth remembering. Take for example the words from the main antagonist it was I think that you have to fight an idea with an idea. This was relatively early. Or take the title character’s words towards the end when he quotes Jesus and how he asked God to forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. A lot to be found here. But then again, it was a really long movie. These words there also resulted in a change in the main character’s mind when it comes to forgiving the Romans for what they did to his people. Or at least not pursuing a bloody revenge anymore. He already got what he wanted anyway, namely the death of Messala (Boyd).

Said death happened as a direct consequence of the chariot race, one aspect and lengthy sequence that the film will always be remembered for for sure. I mean it won awards, even an extra Oscar, for this race alone. And it also took place the way it was shown there, so the actors were actually riding the chariots. During earlier scenes, you could see that they were working with blue screens, like for example with the sea in the background and two people surviving there. But back to the chariot race, it was really spectacular and no denying ahead of its time. The drama that came with it as well when Messala was trying to win through foul tricks as he was riding a Greek chariot. Or when he used his lash against Ben-Hur there, which was of course also a direct reference to what happened earlier when the latter had to endure many lashes when being forced to work as a slave pretty much on a ship. There another quote comes to mind when somebody says that he is a man who has the strength to resist, but is smart enough not to when his time has not come yet. The fatherly friend he made on the ship there was also a good inclusion. He remained his true friend towards the end and despite the man being a Roman too Ben-Hur never saw him as the enemy. So he was able to draw a line when necessary. There was a break in my screening shortly after the two-hour mark, so much more than half of the film was already over and this was a crucial point there when Ben-Hur thought his mother and sister to be dead and we knew the upcoming rest would be about his revenge. However, it was not a totally clean cut as it would have been if Ben-Hur had never found out that they are still alive, which definitely would have been an option too, so there was really a great amount of potential and possible story directions the movie could take for the remaining 80 minutes or so. I definitely did not see it coming that the film would really become so religious there and that one of the three Magi would even return on several occasions there. It was Balthasar, but then again you could have guessed maybe if you look at the movie’s beginning. That the circle would close in the end perhaps. The very last shot, completely away from the film itself than when we see the shepherd with his herd, also stays in the mind for sure, even if it was only a few seconds long.

It probably also could not be expected that in the final third of the film after the chariot sequence Ben-Hur would only become a shared lead or almost a supporting character. But if you go against Jesus, it is probably no surprise that they would not want him take away too much spotlight, even if Wyler and the rest paid a great deal of attention that we would never see a face on Jesus. Rather see him from behind or see his hair. But there were for example quite a few scenes that included the trio of females I already talked about and did not show us Ben-Hur for several minutes. One thing that did stay in the mind for me though was the idea of how he seemed almost inferior during his initial meeting with Messala, physically, in terms of look, strength, power of course too that you could wonder who is the lead here, but how that changed throughout the film and Ben-Hur really became a massive leader and alpha. We also do not really find out much about his rise as a chariot driver by seeing him in action. We only see people mention it before the crucial duel then. Or with the other contenders, we cannot even call it a duel. Other than that, there are a few scenes with Julius Caesar here and if you have seen a lot of Asterix as I have, you will maybe have a hard time to really take him seriously here. They definitely want you to though. Pontius Pilate is also depicted here before his rise to great power and actor Frank Thring had nice recognition value for sure. I did not think he would become a real villain or at least antagonist towards the end then with how he was depicted in his very first scene, but yeah he was basically the man in charge of killing Jesus. The scene there when Ben-Hur wants to return the favor from early on and give the man some water stayed also memorable. This is pretty much it then. Overall, I would say it is a good film, but not a great film. Seeing it once is maybe enough and the it will be a rewarding watch and surely you will find many interesting inclusions worth talking about. The restored digital version makes it worth for sure. I guess if you have not yet seen it, then wait as well until it is shown in your local (retro) movie theater. Back then, it was probably not unusual that parents showed the film to their children, especially fathers to their sons. A very masculine film overall. How Ben-Hur’s love acted so full of delight when she saw him was almost a bit over the top. That is all. Thumbs-up from me.