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Wallace and Wyler: Representations of Christ in 'Ben-Hur'

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Wallace and Wyler: Representations of Christ in 'Ben-Hur' Wallace and Wyler: Representations of Christ in 'Ben-Hur' 118 trl u I I rrc'c trntl ll,tv{ur Mines ( 1950) and Quo Vadis (1951) was assigned as producer of this 'big projec!', with the added burden of knowing that if he failed, the studio : would likely go bankrupt. Hb approached William Wyler who had directed Dodsworth (1936), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). and Tie Heiress (1949). Wyler hadalso worked as an assistant on the 1925 chariot race film ing, and thought the present script by Karl Tu-nberg as too primitive and elementary, but on Zimbalist's request he read the novel, Rob Nixon in .Wyler Leonarcl Maltin Classic Movie Cuidi IZOOS) writes that became intrigued by the characters in the book and by the theme of the Jewish people fighting for their Iives and freedom. In 1956. the young Israeli state had begun a pre-emptive strike against Egypt that was'curtailed by condemnation from the U.S.,, lending extra resonance to the theme, He was , also attracted to the notion that the enmity between the hero and villain had giown out of their close childhood friendship'. l Ben Hur (1959) had the largest budget with $15.175 million, as well as the largest setsbuilt of any film produced at the time. Many of the sequences used in this version were modelled very closely on those in the 1925 release. Ben-Hur held the record for the most Academy Awards for a single film with eleven awards until it was tied by TitaniclieeZ;. Witt, an equal number of awards going to Lord of the Rings. .Return of the King (2003). At the time of its release, Ben Hur(1959) was the third longest film ever released with a running time of 3 hours, 37 minutes, in addition to a l5minute intermission, behind Gone with theWind (1939) at 3 hours; 42 minutes, and The Ten Commandments (1956) at 3 hours, 39 minutes. The Plot As rightly subtitled, a Tate of the Christ,'both the first part of rhe novel and the movie opens with the birth of Christ showcasing the Nativity sequence and the coming of the Magi. , In the second part, the slory's hero, Judah Ben Hur who is a Jew, runs into his childhood friend Messala, a Roman. Judah is the heir of a very great and wealthy house, the house of Hur, in Jerusalem. Messala is a promising rnilitary man who trained in Rome as a soldier. then returned to Jerusalem as the leader ofthe Roman occupation forces. Messala asks Judah to help,him identiry the leaders of the Jewish resistance, but Judah refuses to betray his people, and instead asks Messala to withdraw the Roman ..€ 119 -l'lll: VERI:]r\i.'lO VIStiAl.: AI:Sl'l'll,al'1C SIlMIOT lCS OF CI.,ASSICS AS MOVIES Iegions. Messala offers an ultinratum - be witlr hirn in helping to elirrrinate rebellion or against hinr. "lf"that is the choice, then I'm against you,".ludah affirms. Offended at Judah Ben Hur's refusal, Messala breaks off their fi'i err dsh i p abru pt 11,. During a parade, a tile gets displaced frorn the roof of Judah Ben Hur's house and stril<es the new Roman ruler. Though he knows that it was by pure acciclent. a heartless Messala frarnes Judah, his rnotlter and sister, withoutatrial, to mal<e an exarlrple ofthe family to advance his own position in the nevv governmellt. Ben I-{ur is sentenced into exile to the slave galleys, and while rowing in the bell1, of the military ship,he vows thathewill live, return to JerLtsalenr and free lr is nrother and sister. Slaves in such ships rarely live,C for nrore than a year. .luclah had lreen rowing for three years rvlren, irr tlre heatof a naval battle. his shipwas sunk. He saves the conlmander o1'the ship, and as a rervard.is given his freedom and is adopted as son by the cornrlander, rvho was pne of tlre high ranking officers in the Roman military, and a very por,verful arrd lvealthy man Judah Ben Hur returns to Jerusalem with all the wealth and power of his new identity, and confronts the astonished Messala, who assumed he had been dead for years. Ben Hur demanded that Messala find and release from prison. his nrother and sister. Messala finds them in prison, but they. are discovered to have leprosy,, and are taken away to the lepercolony outside Jerusalern to live out a pitiful existence. Ben Hur is told that they are dead. I"lis hate for Messala grows, and in a chariot race in which Messala and Judah Ben HuI are the printary figures, Messala is killed. With his dying breath, V1essala,, out of spite, tells Judah the truth about his mother and s ister. Judah's hate now no longer has an objectto focus on. He generalizes his hatred and becomes a bittershellof his formerself. Finally, in desperation he goes to the leper colony to get his mother and sister to take them to Jesu;, this great preacher who has been performing miracles. When they get to Jerusalem where they think they will find Him, they see Jesus being led away and crucified, and they lose all hope. However, in the earthquake and storm that rocked'the city just as .lesus died, Judah's rnother and sister are healed of the lepr,osy, &rd Judah's heart, along with his mother's and sister's, is turned to.lesus. Their faith" tfueir health and their lives are restored. 120 LtrbIIuca uruI l4/ylar Representations of Christ: Creation of Adarn, Light/Darliness, Life James Burgess in Ben Htr: An Analltsis o,f Accuracysays that 'the story was written and is used often to reinforce a concept of religion and reflect the life of one of history's nlost larnolls individuals, Jesus Christ. That the story of this man is interwoven with the fate of Ben Hur and his influence is undeniable'. An interesting point about the movie is that the face of Jesus Christ is never shown. Christ is seen only frorn the back or in long shotb. The Leoncrrd lv{altin Classic Movie Gttide (2005) tells us that in interviews, Wyler explained that he decided to do this so that audience woLrld experience Christ's presence only from the reaction of the other actors. As a depictiog of Christ, the movie detaits little, other than His birth, His influence and His death. But, at the same time, it is replete with references to Christ- through representation His presence is more felt than seen. Creation of Adam: The Prelude After the first part of the film, showcasing the nativity scene and the coming ofthe Magi, the film's credits are presented over reproductions of tlre Creation of Adam. The camera keeps zooming till only the forearms are visible. The Creation ofAdam is a fresco painting by Michelangelo, which forms part oftheSistine Chapel's ceiling,painted r. f S f t-t SlZ. It illustrares the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which Cod lrreathes life into Adam, the first man 121 122 llrullocc und l,V1;le r Opposites. In Western culture as well as in Confucianism, the contrast symbolizes the moral 'dichotomy of good and evil. Messala of Rome-fwo white, two black; victors of the Circensian as exhibited in the Circus Maximus last year. Messala, driver. Cqlors, scarlet and gold', and Sheik Ilderim's horses driven by Ben Hur as 'Afour of llderim, sheik of the Desert, All bays; first race. Ben-Hur, a Jew, driver. Color, white' (355). ' However, in the film, Wyler beautifully illustrates the never-ending fight between good and evil by using the colours of black and white opposing eacliother in a race: all four of lvlessala's horse.s are black, whereas Ben Hur's horses are white. Messala's nature is evil, and is reflected in his heartless and cunning actions. He turns his childhood friend into a slave for not betraying the Jewish cause; he falsely imprisons his childhood sweetheart Tirzal,tand her mother in order to find favour with the Roman government; he uses his position and influence as a Roman officer to manipulate the races to win. The fihn also showi him using a Greek Chariot- with blades that tear irrto the wheels of rival chariots, and also whipping his horses, and even his opponerrts in order to stay in front of the race. Judah Ben-Hur's nature is honest. He refuses to beiray his people; his only airn is to find out his imprisorted mother and sister. He treats tris horses with kindness, and only uses his skill and the swiftness of his steeds to race 123 l. VIRBAI- TO VISI,At-: "l-[{ti AIjSTI II1't'lC] SL.MIOTICS OF CI-ASSICS AS MOVIf:S , The clitnactic ending to the race occurs when the chariots of Messala and Ben Hur, in lratefulrivalryr torvard each otlteq rlrn neckand neck. Messala tries to destroy Ben Hur's ctrariot by moving close with the blades, but as the wheels locl< and he toses one of his own wheels, and his chariot splinters. Losing control, he is dragged by his own'horses, then tranrpled, and run over by other teams othorses. Ben l{ur goes on to win the race. To put it in simple words- the white was the victorwhile the black was defeated. , [n religion and rnythology tlre black-and-white dualisrn is 'often used to represent evil arrd good. TIre Genesis narrative has God 'separate light from:darl<ness'or"l the f-irst day of'creation.'And God said, "Let there be light," and there was liglrt.
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