/ Nianhua giggling
Revenge is one of the common themes of movie stories, such as "Hamlet", "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Django Unchained"... In these stories, there are Some of the protagonists succeed in revenge and "live happily ever after" with their loved ones. Some revenge is unsuccessful and becomes a tragedy. "Ben Hur" is also a revenge story. The protagonist Ben Hur succeeded in revenge, but he did not "live happily ever after" with his family. He was still sad and helpless, because his mother and sister contracted leprosy and could only live in the valley of leprosy. People cannot be reunited. When Jesus was nailed to the cross and took all the sins for the world, the mother and sister's leprosy miraculously healed and their faces were restored to their former beauty in an instant.
Even Judas, who was wise, brave, strong, and had infinite good fortune and obtained a high status and a large amount of property, could only live in pain and sorrow, and only under the light of faith, the family could live a peaceful and happy life.
Seeing this, the audience should understand that the author took a big detour and made up such a wonderful revenge story. The purpose is not to promote revenge. On the contrary, what he preaches is forgiveness. No matter how others treat you, you should not go to Go to your heart, as Jesus said in the movie: "They don't know what they're doing." Vengeance is endless, forgiveness is liberation.
It is easier to understand the theme of "Ben-Hur" by understanding the original author's creative motivation.
The original author of Ben-Hur is Lou Wallace. Some people are born with multiple talents. Lou Wallace is one such person. He was the youngest general of the American Civil War. He also worked as a lawyer, judge, congressman, governor, inventor, sculptor, and wrote several books. Novels, of which "Ben-Hur" became the best-selling novel in the United States of the 19th century, and was later made into a film many times. Lou Wallace originally wanted to write the story of Jesus and publicize the deeds of Jesus, but in order to attract the general American public to read, he made up a story about the revenge of a Jewish prince.
The so-called theme first is to determine the theme first, and then fill in the characters and plots according to the needs of the theme. The theme first is considered to be against the law of literary and artistic creation. But "Ben-Hur" is a theme-first success story.
The film "Ben-Hur" (1959) is mainly devoted to the story of Judas' revenge. The scenes are grand and exquisite, like classical oil paintings. The story of Jesus is just passing by, but in the end, we have to rely on Jesus to solve the problem, thus highlighting the theme of religious propaganda in the film. The more difficult and tortuous the process of revenge, the more powerful and helpless Ben-Hur is, and the more it can bring out the power of faith and forgiveness.
In the movie, Jesus only has a back view and no frontal shots. This method is very clever, because no face can be more sacred, more solemn, more compassionate and more beautiful than the audience imagined... Although there is no Jesus in the movie. It is positive, but from the reactions of other characters, the audience can imagine: his demeanor and eyes must have magical powers, which can make the fierce soldier lay down his whip, make the distressed slave feel warm, and let the desperate prisoner see hope, Calm down those who are full of hatred, learn to forgive...
I saw a movie a long time ago, I forgot the name, there was a beautiful angel in it, her eyes had magical power. Under her gaze, the wild beasts in the forest were transformed, the sturdy lion turned into a well-behaved cat, the cruel wolf turned into a puppy wagging its tail... lions, grey wolves, black bears, goats, hares... animals They get together and love each other. The sight in that scene was very touching. It was truly compassionate and fraternity without enemies, and there was no way to compete with it. For a while, it was ignored how the animals on the food chain negotiated to solve the problem of lunch.
This side-by-side method is reminiscent of a poem: "When a pilgrim sees Luofu, he puts on his shoulders and beards. When a young man sees Luofu, he takes off his hat and puts on his head. The ploughman forgets his plow, and the hoe forgets his hoe. Get angry, but sit back and watch Luo Fu."
There are several classic scenes in Ben Hur (1959), the most famous of which are horse racing and naval battle, which are of course wonderful, but I like the rowing scene the most, slaves They were chained to the bottom of the bilge, with little chance of survival. In such a depressing and terrifying environment, Judas rowed hard, his strong muscles, and his determined eyes full of hatred. Willingness and strength to yield.
"Ben-Hur" always brings good luck to MGM. In 1925, MGM, which had just been established for a year, spent huge sums of money to shoot the silent film "Ben-Hur", which established its status in the film industry and quickly became a Hollywood's number one studio. In 1959, MGM's remake of "Ben-Hur" was a great success again. "Ben-Hur" won 11 Oscar awards, setting a record in Oscar film history and a record in the US box office. Now MGM is remaking "Ben-Hur" again, which is expected to be released in 2016.
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