culture clash

Kiana 2022-04-19 09:01:27

Whenever I see "Ben-Hur", the most impressive thing is that the film won 11 awards at the Academy Awards that year, creating the highest number of awards in film history. The film unfolds the plot based on the love-hate relationship between Ben-Hur, a Jew, and the Roman commander Marcella. But there is another thread that runs through the film as an important thread, and that is religion. Through the conflict between the two people, it actually shows the collision and fusion of Roman culture and Christian culture.
The struggle between Ben-Hur and Marcella represents the contest between two cultures. The former represents the trendy Christian culture, while the latter is the defender of the original ancient Roman culture. The process of slow rise. The latter's death shows that the old-fashioned is always going to disappear.
The protagonist Ben Xu has strong national self-esteem, self-confidence, and pride. His love for his homeland and compatriots, especially his unforgettable love for his mother and sister, has become the spiritual pillar for him to overcome all difficulties and survive tenaciously. There is also a Christian color throughout the film, and on many occasions the Christian doctrine of "love the enemy" and "love those who hate you" is directly promoted. The protagonist also believes in Christ at the end, which is a symbol of the rise of Christian culture. However, the social and political reality of the time expressed in the whole film is full of conquests, killings and bloodshed, which seems to represent the backward Roman culture. The two are clearly incompatible and sharply contradictory.
When talking about the artistry of the film, director William Wheeler said that the filming of the film was a "defensive assault" on television. Compared with television, it fully demonstrated the grandeur of the film's scenes, the multitude of characters, The advantages of strong lens movement and wide picture. I don’t want to discuss the conflict between the film and TV media here. What I want to say is that the grand scene in the film, the multitude of characters, the intensity of the camera movement, and the breadth of the picture, etc. The unique art form of the film itself plays a role in expressing the theme effect. The grand scene has a great effect on the prominence of the theme. What the film wants to express is the collision of two cultures, and the grand scene can enhance this momentum. The atmosphere created by the lens and the picture fully expresses the collision and fusion of the two cultures at that time.
The success of "Ben-Hur" seems to have some kind of accidental factor. The unprecedented screening revenue of the film has become the pride of MGM, and it has also given life to hundreds of theaters that are struggling to survive in the "crisis of bankruptcy". All of this is inseparable from the film's deep thematic support.

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Extended Reading
  • Marcel 2022-03-24 09:01:24

    Watching "The Celluloid Closet" today and found Gore Vidal personally confirming Ben-Hur and Messala's relationship. The movie is long, but not verbose

  • Yasmeen 2022-04-24 07:01:03

    Epic blockbuster! The horse racing in the arena is really a kind of Benxu scene~!

Ben-Hur quotes

  • [last lines]

    Judah Ben-Hur: Almost at the moment He died, I heard Him say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

    Esther: Even then.

    Judah Ben-Hur: Even then. And I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand.

    [Miriam and Tirzah appear at the top of the stairs; Judah goes up to them, sees that they have been miraculously healed; they embrace each other]

  • Esther: Oh, Judah, rest. Sleep. For a few hours of the night, let your mind be at peace.

    Judah Ben-Hur: [bitterly] Peace! Love and peace. Do you think I don't long for them as you do? Where do you see them?

    Esther: If you had heard this man from Nazareth...

    Judah Ben-Hur: Balthasar's word.

    Esther: He is more than Balthasar's word. His voice traveled with such a still purpose... It was more than a voice... a man more than a man! He said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

    Judah Ben-Hur: Children of God? In that dead valley where we left them? I tell you every man in Judea is unclean, and will *stay* unclean, until we've scoured off our bodies the crust and filth of being at the mercy of tyranny. No other life is possible except to wash this land clean!

    Esther: In blood?

    Judah Ben-Hur: Yes, in blood!

    Esther: I know there is a law in life, that blood gets more blood as dog begets dog. Death generates death, as the vulture breeds the vulture! But the voice I heard today on the hill said, "Love your enemy. Do good to those who despitefully use you."

    Judah Ben-Hur: So all who are born in this land hereafter can suffer as we have done!

    Esther: As you make us do now! Are we to bear nothing together? Even love?

    Judah Ben-Hur: I can hardly draw breath without feeling you in my heart. Yet I know that everything I do from this moment will be as great a pain to you as you have ever suffered. It is better not to love me!

    Esther: It was Judah Ben-Hur I loved. What has become of him? You seem to be now the very thing you set out to destroy, giving evil for evil! Hatred is turning you to stone. It is as though you had become Messala!

    [Judah looks at Esther, shocked]

    Esther: [sadly] I've lost you, Judah.