Ben Hur

Ben Hur

A classic film which shattered box office records in 1959 longer than most people can remember the name Ben Hur featuring actress Charlton Heston and lasting four grueling hours, is a film broadcast only once a year around Easter every year for the last half a century. It’s some family meals, some just forget about it, although I believe, there aren’t many out there who does not have any controversial views about the film, are alive now.

It may be one of the greatest films of the sound era however, its most prominent feature is the over the top plot holes and cinematic blunders that audiences have enjoyed for generations. I have no doubts that it made some lethal Easter drinking games. I can’t say that I saw the movie or watched it in its entirety. The remake of the movie was a horrible idea because there were no elements in the film people wanted changing and then the film was released months ago. The movie was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, which came as a shock from his Night Watch legacy.

And do you know what? It is not as foolish as it sounds.

For those who don’t know the storyline of Ben-Hur, there’s no need to feel bad. Even I was in the same boat until this remake came to my mind. Ben-Hur, otherwise known as Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), is a rich Jewish prince living in the city of Jerusalem during the times of the Roman Empire expansion. Everything seems fine up until his step-brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), who was adopted to him, leaves the house to fight in the Roman army.

After a period of three years, he comes back with his army and starts a campaign to invade Jerusalem while requesting Judah’s assistance to facilitate the passage of Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbaek) with assistance of the tormented populace. At the time, however, Judah was already protecting an injured rebel child and obstinately refused to hand him over.

His life turned into a complete disaster when the child attempted to shoot Pilate with the very bow owned by Pilate’s patron, giving him a lifetime sentence in the galleys and setting him on the see, forcibly giving him the same torment that allows one to obtain the lost reputation with time.

In fact, there is absolutely nothing to defend when it comes to remaking Ben-Hur. It is pointless and slightly ridiculous. Hollywood’s entertainment had already become purely godless many years ago and I have no credible arguments why you need to see this film.

While the idea of rebooting Ben-Hur in the first place seems absurd, one can’t deny that it fulfills its objectives, albeit not with creativity. It’s a more self-important, humorous and attractive version of the original and the movie is unapologetic about that fact. It is a typical Ben-Hur. It goes with the fact, however, that it has been portrayed like every other historical drama that has hit the screens over the last 5 years. Many would qualify it as such, as it does provide a decent reading of Christianity, as it gets formulated in quite banal ways. For it is what the story of Judah Ben-Hur is not coming anywhere from.

It’s a book for Christians, addressed to Christians about the madness of revenge. In that respect at least, Timur Bekmambetov’s Ben-Hur (almost) challenges the redemptive violence mantra and this alone is enough for me to forgive it all.

It is possible that the scenes with Jesus in Ben-Hur are the most repeated and the least appreciated in the movie. J Easy has plenty to remember about his portrayal of Jesus in the movie. It feels like the plot is paused because yet another instance is called for when a character embarks on a narration that does not differ from Wayne Campbell’s doubts about the reasons and the significance of things and people around him. Seriously, guys. Dire situations can only last for so long.

If one more shot is taken every time Jesus delivers a piece of the gospel during his argument at the round table, then someone is bound to get drunk. Rodrigo Santoro (who starred as Xerxes, androgynous in Snyder’s 300), the actor who takes the role of Jesus is a truly strange character. Although he acts like a loser, he possess an unusual charm since everything about him is not right which is probably the aim. If I heard someone say that he is in 100% touch with the creator, the Jesus character in Bekmambetov’s Ben-Hur comes to mind. That, is exactly how I imagine him.

The principal argument of the film is that killing your foes does not resolve your issues. Such relations will create a hierarchy of vengeance which can only sustain violence and murder. That message itself is quite interesting. Not that Timur Bekmambetov came up with it himself, but his merit lies in the fact that he has the guts to bring this idea back in a time when violence is ever present in Pavlensky’s America. The value of action films is determined by the quantity of explosions and shooting and the number of dead persons. Ben-Hur has its own doses of intensity and violence but, as is customary, it does not project it in a psychosexual style.

It is the least original initiative, so I won’t say it is an original movie but it is devoid of boredom and offers an interesting perspective that has not only gotten lost in the present day ubiquity but the present day reincarnations as well. Not that it is an absolutely essential stop, but a sneaky-fun viewing experience that unfortunately was damned from the beginning. Go ahead and try it out if you have a few hours to waste on another one of those grand depictions of history.

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