still a gigantic achievement in epic film-making

Rating: 10/10 (11 April 2008)

What distinguishes Ben-Hur as a powerful film in epic scope is not simply that it is shot and stylized and acted and executed in action sequences to iconic effect (though there is that to a degree), but that it's human dimensions stay intimate in scope. I was expecting what I had heard about with Ben-Hur, and got that- the vengeance plot, the chariot race, a story of redemption with Christ as a background figure and major presence- but I wasn't expecting such things revealed like the devastation left on a family by leprosy, and the disintegration of one's morality by the cloud of vengeance on one's mind. Even if you're not much of a Christian (and even as a non-practicing Jew as I am), there are some deep chords that are struck with the material for an audience that is going in not expecting a lot of sermonizing. Only in the final reels, as we see first-hand the 'Christ' as he is sent to die on the cross, does the film get overbearing with the symbolism and heavy weight of the circumstance of this being a "tale of the Christ."
This isn't to say also that with Judah Ben-Hur having the strife in coming to terms with his family being at first, he thinks, dead, and then later as made deformed thanks to the Roman's imprisonment, that this is all the film is. It's also grand spectacle, a film that takes you along on its epic ride with imagery that pierced the public consciousness so strongly that you've seen the scenes as parodies or referenced before you've even seen the film. Surely we have the chariot race to contend with, which has been so influential on modern action sequences and chases that Lucas copied most of the choreography for the pod race in Phantom Menace. And to give credit where it's due, you could show that same sequence in any theater today and it would unquestionably bring down the house, not just for its technical achievement but for the visceral impact (i.e. the downfall of Ben-Hur's rival by his own undoing).
But there's also other great images; possibly my favorite are the scenes with Judah Ben-Hur as #41 among the rowing slaves, all moving at the whim of the drum beat. That in and of itself would make Ben-Hur a must-see. But then there are more emotionally impactive places and settings, like the valley of the lepers, Judah's struggle across the desert (and the tastefully done angle of Jesus' back only), many others that would take too long to mention. It's all so massive a production that it's almost TOO big (according to Charlton Heston the budget, at 14 million then as the most expensive film ever made, would today cost something like 250 million), and it's a credit to William Wyler that he never makes it too dull, even as supporting characters may verge on leaning to overacting. With only calling attention to it at certain moments (and sometimes not at all with a more subtle effect), Wyler is a virtuoso here in corralling all aspects of the production under his firm handle.
And then there's Heston, who gives one of the very best of his (now late) career. He's full of bravura and gusto, and seems like a guy- for those guys who crave action film stars- who can get things done in the right mindset. But he's also excellent at conveying the tragedy of this character, a very good man with high ideals who becomes corrupted by his need to get his respite. Underneath all of that machismo and the swagger that eventually became old hat for Heston, is a strong presence at the helm of Ben-Hur. Stephen Boyd, too, is also very good as the boyhood friend turned rival. In fact, most of the actors here are very good, from Hawkins to Hazareet to Jaffe to O'Donnel and so on, as they all contribute to the epic scope. It's massive and directly concerning the efforts of then Rabbi from Nazareth to bring peace and love to humanity. Despite it being not-too-thinly veiled religious fable (and not without a couple of things noticeable as parody in Life of Brian), Ben-Hur is a great success for its time, surviving today in good, not-too-dated tact.