Ben-Hur: 1959

There's something about ancient Rome that bores me. Of all of Shakespeare's plays, Julius Caesar is the most boring to me. Seeing Roman ruins in England was somewhat interesting but hot enough to hold my attention for long. So starting Ben-Hur, I was bored within the first 30 minutes. Actually, the film is currently running right now on my TV as I write this post. This is the moment when I really wish my library had had Gigi, the 1958 winner, on the shelf when I went in today to get my next film. Instead, I thought I'd skip ahead to 1959 and get this one over with.

I think the most intimidating part of this film for me right now is the run time: 211 minutes. I keep thinking about how much longer I have to watch this. I'm checking the clock more often than I ever checked it in high school chemistry class.

That being said, I don't necessarily think Ben-Hur is a bad film. When I searched Ben-Hur on IMDB, I found out that a new one is in production to be released in 2016. Considering the rising popularity of Biblical stories, it makes sense that a remake is underway. I wonder if it will be as long and as epic as this one.

The film starts with the question of loyalty. Judah (Charlton Heston) must decide if he should be loyal to his people, the Jewish living under Roman rule, or his boyhood friend Messala, a Roman soldier. Judah sides with his people, clearly being the virtuous and noble one, while Messala views this as a betrayal, and at the first opportunity to punish Judah, Messala does, sending him to a prison camp falsely accused of attacking the governor. Overall, the film seems to be more about Jesus, as the opening scene was the story of the birth of Jesus, but Jesus is not an essential character. Instead, perhaps the film is more about faith, keeping faith alive in the most dire of situations. At least, that's what I'm getting at this point (although the whole Judah as slave reminds me of the opening scene in Les Miserables:

Les Miserables

Ben-Hur Rowing Scene

I have to be honest...I'm not sure I'll be able to finish this one. For one, it's just not interesting to me at all. For another, I keep thinking the Roman's helmets have brooms on them, which is really distracting.

Ben-Hur (Heston) with Roman commander

UPDATE: I finished the film (I'll admit to skipping some scenes...watching only parts and then moving on to the next chapter on the DVD). Judah's story is interesting, but to put it simply, it didn't need to be nearly four hours long. His story could be told in a few hours.