Ben-Hur: the only film to ever put Jesus Christ himself on the sideline as a supporting character. William Wyler's 1959 biblical epic is truly a film to behold in all of its nearly 4-hour glory. It is unbelievable that this long of a film could hold up so well after almost 60 years, but I surprisingly enjoyed almost every minute of this. With some incredible performances, cinematography, and storytelling, Ben-Hur stands its ground as not only the epitome of a comeback story, but as an amazingly well-made film as well.
My New Year's resolution is to watch and review all 100 of the AFI's Top 100 films, but I have been putting off starting for a while simply because of the ridiculous length of this. I am glad that I did, however, because I loved this film much more than I had originally thought I would. Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd absolutely shine in this movie as Judah Ben-Hur and Messala, two close childhood friends who end up on opposing sides of history. The tyrannical Messala gives the peaceful Judah the choice to either join his conquest or face the wrath of the Romans and as Judah refuses to join him, he ends up in slavery for years as he works to get revenge on the man who wronged him, his family, and his country. The writing by Karl Tunberg, adapted from the novel by Lew Wallace, is incredible and paves the way for a storyline that I have now realized as being one of the most recycled plots in film history. This classic revenge story can be seen in countless different films, but the way that it was introduced and executed in this movie is perfect. The grand, triumphant music of this film, done by Miklós Rózsa, helped with the story too, flourishing the film's ups and dramatizing its biggest downs in the best ways possible.
The dialogue in this film accompanies the story in one of the best and most engaging ways possible. I tend to find myself hyper-critical of older, classic films, and while I was carefully watching this one, I can honestly say that there is not a single line that I would change. The dialogue is simply elegant and suits each and every character in their own, unique way. Every single scene of this epic film is articulately planned and performed with the utmost extravagance and passion and I am certain that Tunberg and Wallace were overjoyed at how well the entire cast and crew were able to pull off this magnificent feat. The only piece of the writing that I did not particularly care for was the inclusion of the shift of focus to Jesus Christ's storyline in the last half an hour or so. Jesus himself made an appearance towards the beginning of the film when he gave Judah water, which was very clever to set up the environment and time period, but I did not feel it was necessary to continue his story in the conclusion. Despite being a biblical film, the movie is titled Ben-Hur after all, and it was a bit distracting to not end the film with the plot of the titular character.
Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd stood out as two of the best performances that I have ever seen from this era of film. Even though this time was riddled with white men in stereotypical roles, Heston and Boyd both gave very compelling and emotionally-believable portrayals of their characters. In fact, every cast member involved from a minor character like Tirzah, played by Cathy O'Donnell, to Judah's love interest Esther, played by Haya Harareet, were astounding. The acting from the entire cast honestly reminded me of a Shakespearean production, as the phenomenal dedication could be seen in every minuscule gesture. Other aspects that I adored were the cinematography and production quality. The camerawork by Robert Surtees was so grand and colorful that I could not look away from the screen. His use of framing and setting up the characters in this film's environments was absolutely beautiful. Of course, this was aided by the incredible sets and filming locations that were used to create this biblical atmosphere. The quality of this production is unmatched and while some obvious early green-screen techniques could be seen, the rest was quite glorious. And lest we forget the breathtaking chariot race action scene that is excruciatingly brutal, even by today's standards.
Ben-Hur, while painful for some to sit through, is an experience that is worth the time spent. Even though there were some parts that I did not think of being necessary, the absolute spectacle of this movie overshadows it all. I would strongly recommend this film, especially to anyone who dares say that older, classic movies cannot be good.
My Rating: ★★★★
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