Year: 1959
Director: William Wyler
Synopsis: Judah, a Jewish prince, is unjustly sent to the gallies by the Roman tribune, Messala, and must survive so that he may return to take vengeance and discover the fate of his imprisoned family.
Academy Awards:
- Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
- Best Cinematography, Color
- Best Costume Design, Color
- Best Director
- Best Effects, Special Effects
- Best Film Editing
- Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
- Best Picture
- Best Sound
We begin our AFI Top 100 countdown with Ben-Hur, a film that took home a whopping 11 Academy Awards in 1959. Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish prince living in the 1st century AD. As the Roman Empire spreads its reign into the kingdom of Judea, Judah comes face to face with his childhood mate Messala (played by Stephen Boyd), a powerful tribune of the Roman military. The reunited brothers rekindle their bond, but matters of the state soon test their friendship.
Judah, a proud Jew, refuses to aid the Roman government in oppressing the Judean people. Through an unfortunate turn of events (and poor Jewish roofing), Messala is presented with a golden opportunity to rid himself of Judah's opposition once and for all. With no trial, Judah is unjustly sentenced to the galleys, while his mother, Miriam, and sister, Tirzah, are thrown into the lowest levels of the Roman prison.
The bonded Judah is forced to relentlessly trek across the Roman wilderness until his captors halt at a small village to water their horses. As the Romans replenish their strength, the slaves beg for water. In anguish and exhaustion, Judah topples to the ground. All hope fades from his eyes until the shadow of a man covers his fallen body. The man kneels to the ground and offers a cup full of refreshing water to our suffering protagonist. This is when the magic starts. With each sip, Judah regains strength. Hope returns to his eyes. It is as if God himself is tilting the cup into Ben-Hur's mouth... With a new vigor, Judah looks up to smile upon this good samaritan, but his jaw drops as he is overtaken by awe. He doesn't quite know it, but he is looking directly into the face of his savior-to-be, Jesus of Nazareth. A Roman centurion tries to disrupt this charitable act, but is only able to half raise his whip before stepping back in apprehension. Judah is slowly pulled away as the slave march continues. He continues to look back over his shoulder, like a moth longing for the moon, as the caravan of prisoners tread up the hill and out of site. Judah Ben-Hur can't quite put his finger on why, but he knows he was saved for a reason.
Over the next four years, Judah hardens his heart as a rowing slave in the Roman navy. One fine Mediterranean afternoon, Roman Consul Quintus Arrius boards Judah's warship in search of gladiators, where Ben-Hur immediately catches his eye. After a brisk whipping session, Arrius discovers that our protagonist is full of rage, yet has the wit not to attack a Roman superior. Impressed, Arrius proclaims, "Hate keeps a man alive." Shortly afterward, the fleet rows into battle with Macedonian warships. As the crew reaches ramming speed, Arrius has his servant release Judah's rowing chains (smart move). The battle rages on until Ben-Hur's ship falls victim to a port-side ram. Water fills the vessel as Judah rushes to free his fellow slaves. He proceeds to the top deck just in time to land a spear in the chest of a boarding foe and catch glimpse of the Consul flopping overboard. Judah seizes a golden opportunity, leaping into the sea to rescue Arrius. This bold move rewards him handsomely when the Roman fleet wins the day, resulting in a great victory for the retrieved Consul, who is soon given possession of his rescuer.
A strong father-son bond develops between the Consul and Judah during the months to come. Judah becomes renowned in the city of Rome as an unbeatable charioteer. One night at a glorious Roman banquet, Arrius addresses the crowd, proclaiming Judah to be his new son. This is a beautiful scene as Arrius hands down his family signet to the man who was once his slave. With his freedom, Judah expresses his love for his new found father and heads back to Judea with two goals in mind: to track down the whereabouts of his imprisoned family and to take his vengeance upon Messala.
During his journey home, Judah encounters the wise man Balthazar, who speaks fondly of the one named Jesus who heals the sick while teaching the word of God. Judah also meets an Arab man known as Sheik Ildermin (played by Hugh Griffith), who introduces our hero to his four children, a set of the most beautiful white Arabian stallions the world has ever known. After hitting it off, Judah and Ildermin conspire to lure Messala, the great and boastful charioteer, into a challenge, then humiliate him with a defeat in front the new Judean governor, Pontius Pilate. Knowing that many men are killed in the chariot races, Balthazar tries to talk Judah out of his vindictive path. However, Judah coldly announces that his way is set. His life had been save twice (once by Jesus, once by Arrius) for a reason, and that reason is to take revenge for the iniquities he has suffered.
Once in Judea, Judah comes to Messala's chamber in what culminates as an exceptionally intense scene. Messala, in complete shock and fear, can hardly believe his eyes as the man he sent to the gallies years ago has returned for revenge. Our hero demands to know what has become of his mother and sister, offering to forgive Messala's transgressions if his family is delivered safely. Messala stands in fear as Judah delivers his ultimatum and descends from the palace. The Roman guards quickly disperse to uncover the whereabouts of Judah's family. Their answer lies in the darkest depths of the Roman dungeon, where Miriam and Tirzah have been trapped in darkness for almost five years. As the door to their pen is opened, the Romans gasp in terror. Miriam and Tirzah have fallen victim to one of the most horrific fates of their day and age, leprosy. The two are immediately released and expelled from the city, cast into the valley of the Lepers. Before they flee the city, however, they pay a visit to Esther, a lovely unmarried woman. They beg that she not tell Judah of their condition. Reluctantly, Esther agrees and tells Judah that his mother and sister have died in the Roman prison. Fueled with unbridled rage, Judah enters the race.
If I haven't made a point of this yet, Ben-Hur is epic, simply put. The first thing I noticed when watching this film is the grand scale on which it stands. For 212 minutes, Director William Wyler takes viewers into the raw world of the Roman Empire in ways they could only begin to imagine prior to 1959. Seriously, in an era before Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI), this film is nothing short of a cinematic marvel. This is most evident in the colossal seven scene chariot race, which took over five weeks to film.
It's worth noting that the chariot race from Ben-Hur may go down as the single greatest action sequence in the history of film. For nine nerve-racking laps, audiences are kept on the brink of the edge of their seats. This sequence begins with a grand procession in which the charioteers ride into the grand arena, which is filled with 15,000 extras. Governor Pontius Pilate addresses the crowd and with the wave of his hand, the first of nine golden dolphins is lowered. What comes next revolutionized the way filmmakers would shoot the race scene forever.
As the seven chariots speed away from the starting line, Heston and Boyd, who trained for over 5 weeks to learn how to drive a chariot, engage in a fierce, heart-racing pursuit. Led by the esteemed second unit director, Yakima Canutt, cinematographers were able to bring audiences not only to the track, but into the race itself. Cameramen rode on cameratrucks only feet away from bolting horses to capture unique shots of clashing wheels and charging chariots. Then, through the use of a never-before-used quantity of quick cuts and tight shots, the editors were able to create an experience that echoes in eternity.
With each passing lap, the intensity builds through faster cuts. Messala, as expected, continues to make a villain of himself by using his bladed wheels to sabotage rivals. Judah's white Arabians close in for the final laps, pulling side to side with the rival black stallions. The scene begins to climax as Messala's blades begin to eat into Judah's spokes. Entering the final laps, Judah is pinned against the wall with unavoidable chariot wreckage just ahead. As the Arabians barrel toward inevitable doom, Judah makes a reckless move, speeding his horses into a jump that roughly flips him over the front rail. Holding on by one hand, Judah pulls himself back into the chariot. In 1959, the following shot may have been the most difficult the world had ever seen. To pull off this feat, in stepped Yakima's son, Joe Canutt, one of the greatest stuntmen of the time. Heston went as far as to describe Joe as the greatest athlete he had ever seen. Yakima had encouraged Joe to ease the horses before coming to the jump, but when the time came to shine, Joe rushed the horses to full speed. The horses nailed the jump, but Joe unexpectedly found himself somersaulting over the chariot. Dangling by one hand, inches from death, Joe managed to pull himself up, saving the shot and his life. The result? Three stitches and one of the greatest stunts of Hollywood's golden age.
The final golden dolphin lowers as Judah and Messala come into the final lap. In anger, Messala begins using his whip as a weapon against Judah. Our hero endures a few lashes before pulling the whip from his rival's grasp. Amidst the turmoil, the chariots clash violently, sending Messala's craft into a wild crash. Judah looks back to see his childhood companion lay lifelessly trampled on the ground. The white Arabians cross the finish line and the crowd goes wild. Messala is carted off to the surgeon while Judah is crowned champion by Pilate.
On his deathbed, Messala calls for Judah. The tribune uses his final breaths to tell Judah that his family had not, in fact, been murdered in prison. To Judah's surprise, he learns that Miriam and Tirzah had been cast into the Valley of the Lepers.
Did I mention there's a love story amidst all the bloodshed and horse racing? From early on, Judah builds this romantic tension with Esther, a girl with big brown eyes. Once returning home to Judea, he discovers that she has remained unmarried. While they seem to have had a wonderful relationship up to this point, Judah is not pleased with her once he discovers his mother and sister are, in fact, still alive. She pleads with him to let them die in peace, not knowing that he has learned of their illness, but Judah, being the strong willed hero we know and love, has no other choice but to seek them in the valley.
Wyler took a very reverent approach in his portrayal of Jesus. At no point in the film does the audience actually catch a glimpse of the Messiah's face, nor do they ever hear him speak. Jesus is always shot from behind, but his noble demeanor, accompanied by a very distinctive build in the score, let viewers know that Christ has stepped onto the screen. I believe this reverent approach was a wise move by the filmmakers as it gives Jesus' character a mysterious bearing, seeming preeminent yet, at the same time, humble. I would wager that this was highly effective with audiences in the late 1950's.
In the final scene of the film, Jesus is nailed to the cross and hoisted up for all to see. Judah retreats in sorrow, believing Miriam and Tirzah's last hope of healing has passed before their eyes. The dramatic tension builds as Christ takes his final breath. A violent storm begins to brew overhead, forcing Judah's family to seek shelter in a nearby cave. They mourn as the rain pours down and all hope seems to be sucked from the world. Then, in a beautiful resolution, Esther leans in to discover that Miriam's leprosy has been healed. Much to everyone's delight, Miriam and Tirzah have both been miraculously renewed. It is as if the cascading waters have washed away their illness. The final shots of the film show the rain falling heavily as the blood of Christ spreads over the land. The score continues to build powerfully until the screen fades to black.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed Wyler's Ben-Hur. In our search to gain access to this film, which involved over a week of Netflix rummaging, online shopping, and library exploration, my partner in AFI crime and myself kept coming up empty handed. To make matters even more frustrating, no one in our friend circle owned, or knew anyone who owned, this historic film. We finally tracked down a copy at The Great Escape, a Nashville favorite for finding quality used films and music. At first, I was reluctant to drop $17.99 on the four-disc collectors edition, but we were down to our last hope. I pulled the trigger and could not be happier with my decision. Ben-Hur proudly sits in the category of revolutionary films that every movie buff and aspiring filmmaker should watch at least once, and now I proudly hold it in my movie collection.
Sure, it's a real dedication (and can be somewhat of a struggle) to make it through a 212 minute flick, but Ben-Hur is three hours and thirty two minutes of cinematic spectacle. And if you don't want to take my word for it, I believe the film's 11 Academy Awards speak for themselves.
I hope you've enjoyed this analysis of the American Film Institute's #100 film. I don't intend for future blog entries to surpass 2,500 words, but this epic film called for a nothing short of a saga.
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