Easter movie ritual

Alright just to keep with Renee's expectations of the Liscum Lab Blog becoming Mannie's personal movie blog, here's another movie review: Every year at Easter time I sit down for ~4 hrs and watch Ben-Hur.

This is a classic Hollywood epic by William Wyler, made when epics were commonplace, but Ben-Hur is not a commonplace movie. Based on the book by Gen. Lew Wallace (Federal soldier in the US Civil War) titled, "Ben-Hur: A Story of the Christ", this 1959 screen adaptation features Charlton Heston in the lead role of Judah Ben-Hur. We follow the life of Judah from XXVI AD until the death of Christ. The Hur family is 'nobility' in Jerusalem of the day and Judah is a respected member of the Jewish community then under the yoke of the Roman Empire. Confronted with the challenge of his boyhood Roman friend, Massala and now (XXVI AD) Tribune of Jeruselum (aptly played by Stephen Boyd) to use his influence to help the Romans quell discontent, Judah spuns friendship over love for 'his people'. When a tile falls from the roof of the Hur family complex and nearly kills the new Governor of Judea, Massala seizes his chance at revenge and imprisons Judah's mother and sister and sends Judah to die in the Roman galleys. Now comes the first of Judah's 'close encounters' with the carpenter's son - while on his own personal Battan death march from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean, Judah, parched from walking in the desert is given water by a strange hippy-looking man - one who scares the scat out of the rough and tumble Roman guard by simply looking his way.

Now jump ahead ~3.5 years, Judah has lived below deck in a number of Roman warships - 'row[ing] to live' - when a great battle commences and drawn once again by fate, he saves the life of Roman council Quintus Arrius (played by Jack Hawkins - also had a small but important role in William Holden's "Bridge Over the River Kwai"). When it turns out the Roman's won the great battle, despite the flag ship going down, Arrius is grateful to Judah and takes him to Rome where Caesar gives Judah to Arrius as 'his slave' rather then sending him back to the galley's. Judah is then adopted by Quintus Arrius and becomes 'young Quintus Arrius' so when he returns to Jerusalem to seek revenge on Massala he surprising him by entering as Quintus Arrius the younger, rather than Judah Ben-Hur. Of course this is not what Massala wanted or expected. Judah only wants to rescue his family members but it turns out that they are 'dead', or at least that's what the love interest of Judah (Esther) tells him when she finds out from mom and sister that they are now lepers (Massala sends his cronies to find them and the jailer finds them as lepers and casts them outside the city walls). Now Judah is REALLY pissed...he befriends Sheik Ilderim who owns a 'magnificent' set of Arabian chariot horses with an eye to beat the Roman Tribune - Massala of course - in the circus in Jerusalem. Judah sees his chance - helped of course by the pointed comment of the Sheik that 'anything can happen in the circus...men die".

Now the action scene to match all action scenes - the great chariot race - this is worth the price of admission, but only in widescreen. If you watch Ben-Hur in pan-and-scan you are getting took. Too much happens during the chariot race to waste your time with pan-and-scan - black bars be damned (I don't actually mind them but many do) - watch ONLY the WIDESCREEN version of this movie. Of course Judah wins the chariot race and Massal dies a nasty death (sorry if I spoiled anything - it's a full 3 hrs into the movie though so you'll probably forget I told you). On his death bed Massala gets the last 'laugh' when he tells Judah the 'race is not over' and his mother and sister are alive in the Valley of the Lepers.

Judah then searches out his mother and sister and when bringing them home from the Valley of the Lepers runs into the carpenter's son for the second time (actually he sees him from a distance once other time before the chariot race) as the latter is 'the Dead man Walking' - Judah returns the favor of giving the Hippy guy water and is of course forever changed by the experience (you can almost hear the chorus of Hallelujahs). Upon he crucifixion and rain storm that follows Judah's mother and sister are 'cured' from runoff of the cross....from here on out (another 15 minutes or so) the movie is a bit anticlimactic, but hey we can forgive it since we've already sat through 3.5 hrs of spectacular.

I fully love this movie, have since I was a kid - of course the chariot race was the only thing I cared a lot for as a kid. As an adult I can now more fully appreciate the nuances of the story line. I highly recommend this movie if you've never seen it. Of the 'Biblical' movies this is one of the best - I rank it equal to, if not better than, the Ten Commandments (again with Heston, but backed by a more high power supporting cast including Yul Brenner and Edward G. Robinson). Ben-Hur won 11 Academy Awards and deservedly so.

(alright enough I guess since it took me 2 hrs to write this and 2 hrs for you to read it!!!)