There are not many good swords-and-sandals epics as studios now focus on profits and projects that is more audience-driven such as superhero movies or sequels. Plus, the swords-and-sandals genre is pretty much wearing thin as there has not been a good and solid movie in quite a while. Heck, I cannot remember when was the last time I saw a good swords-and-sandals movie. So, I throwback to a masterful epic in which the genre was more traditional in its heyday in the 1950s, sort of the prime age of cinema in which directors such as William Wyler tackle such an epic spectacle that no one has seen on-screen before and I will get to one best sequence later on.
After hearing great things from my mother when I was a child regarding this movie, I saw the movie for the first time and sat threw almost four hours (yeah, you can read: FOUR HOURS, but it is well worth it.) and I was spellbound as to how organized and grand of an epic scale of storytelling Wyler conjured with the help of his writers, cinematographer, actors, stuntmen and production staff. It is a taut and magnificent movie of epic proportions that intertwine both the tale of Christ and the personal story of a man who has on a quest home after being sold to slavery. If you want to see a different movie other than The Ten Commandments, which also stars Charlton Heston, on Easter, I highly recommend watching this movie.
The Roman citizen, Messala (Stephen Boyd) has returned to Jerusalem as a tribune and commander of the Roman garrison. He believes in the glory of the Roman empire and imperial power. He believes in following the rules that triumph rules over everything. He is met by a wealthy prince and merchant, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who is devoted of his faith and believes that the Jewish people have the right to freedom. Messala visits Ben-Hur's home where he lives with his mother, Miriam (Martha Scott) and his sister, Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell).
Messala wants Judah to join him with the Roman Empire but since he is devoted to his religious beliefs and his people, an arguments is ensued between them and their friendship has become dissolved. A little later, Judah's loyal slave, Simonides (Sam Jaffe) wants to offer Judah's permission for his daughter, Esther (Haya Harareet), to marry another man but she loves Judah.
During a parade celebrating the new governor of Judea, tiles fall from the roof of Judah's house nearly killing the governor and Judah is sent to the galleys and his mother and daughter is imprisoned even if Messla knows that it was an accident. After three years as a galley slave, Judah is sent to the flagship in which he is assigned to the Roman Consul, Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins). After destroying a fleet of Macedonian pirates, Judah and Quintus are cast away into the ocean and they become friends after Quintus accepts that Judah saved his life. Blessed with the gratitude and gifts from Quintus and the Roman consul, Judah decides to go back to Jerusalem on his quest back home and to his mother and sister.
Again, it is a nearly 4-hour epic but it is a man's journey regarding struggle, faith, peace, friendship and perseverance and sometimes juxtaposing with Jesus' story which is shown as a brief subplot but it definitely is relevant to Ben-Hur's story. Now this may be a spoiler but SPOILER ALERT. Ok, when Judah returns to Jerusalem sometime in the middle of the film, he finds the house empty and roughed up but with his loyal slave and his daughter, Esther, in the house. It is a miracle that Judah has returned from Esther's point of view and also Messala's point of view as he arrives as the titular son of Quintus Arius as he presents a dagger as a gift and orders him to find his mother and sister. It is an awesome scene.
When a prison guard finds out deep into the prison levels that Tirzah and Miriam are infected with lepers, they cast them out. Esther finds them at their house but urges her not to tell Judah. Instead, Esther tells Judah that they are dead and swears revenge against Mesala by training for a chariot race against him as he initially declined Sheik Ilderim's (Hugh Griffith) offer. It seems that Judah is characterized as a faithful person but he is titled as a faithful adversary especially when he competes against Mesala and others in a chariot race.
Now, we get to the masterful chariot sequence. Holy cow! It is a beautifully staged and choreographed sequences that obviously took so much preparation and work to present for us, the viewers, to gaze upon and be heavily involved with. There were a few moments I thought that we were in the chariot race from a few camera angles. Obviously, it is a great racing sequence but from a personal standpoint and from both Ben-Hur's and Mesala's eyes, the experience is somehow emotionally heartbreaking to watch because they have been friends for many years. Mesala wants to kill him but Ben-Hur wants to simply defeat him and that is how Roman power takes away Mesala's personality and wraps him in defeat and because of it, Judah is more furious than ever because even though he has answers, he is still wrapped up in anger because of his friend's death as he says, "I see no enemy.".
I was very impressed by two small aspects to the grand scale of the production: William Wyler's balance between the religious aspect and the character-driven story and Charlton Heston's performance. Heston sells his performance with great conviction as he says dialogue with sullen pauses in-between, emotion and genteel ferocity in both the charismatic scenes regarding the action and the quiet scenes with him and Esther in the romantic scenes. But towards the climax, as we see his angle of Jesus' crucifixion, Judah's eyes weep with emotion as he has lost faith but as rain drops, something miraculous happens and I know, that it has been almost 60 years since it came out, but watch the movie.
Balance-wise, the story is magnificently told to juxtapose Jesus' story and Ben-Hur's story as the movie may seem that it is the same story. Again, there are two scenes in which they both meet as slave and provider and it is sensationally moving. But, when you're watching it, why can't we not see Jesus' face in the movie? It is because it is told from Ben-Hur's point of view, so even though we crave to see his face, Jesus' story is not the main plot. However, this movie is a revelation from beginning to end and it is one of those movies that belongs in a grand catalogue of epic films.
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