In the nearly ninety-year history of the Academy Awards, three films have won the most awards. 1959's "Ben-Hur", 1998's "Titanic" and 2003's "The Lord of the Rings 3". All three films won eleven awards. Among them, "Ben-Hur" won the most awards and dominated for nearly 40 years, establishing its status as a classic in film history. In 2016, Hollywood launched a new version of "Ben-Hur", but unfortunately, the box office and word of mouth suffered from Waterloo. "Ben-Hur" will be shown in mainland China on October 10, and the fineness of the film will be observed by fans and friends in person. Here's a revisit of the 1959 edition of Ben-Hur to see what kind of story the film tells... The
movie is based on Lou Wallace's novel of the same name. The novel has been hailed as the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century. Therefore, we need to talk about this film from two aspects. The bright line tells the story of the Jewish prince Ben Hur who was demoted to a slave by the invaders and rose up to resist until he took revenge. The Dark Thread tells the story of the spiritual transformation that Jesus Christ brought to the world from birth to death. If you don't know anything about Christianity, there's something missing and untouchable about talking about the true core of the film.
The beginning of the film is a long period of stills, and so is the end. This painting is Michelangelo's masterpiece "The Creation of Adam". In the famous painting, the invisible hand of God infuses Adam with his soul. In the movie, the words of Jesus give Ben-Hur the belief that he is born again.
The opening of the film is based on the events recorded in the "Bible ~ Gospel". In the Roman Empire census, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, appeared. The star of the East wrapped in a blue halo shines somewhere, and Jesus was born in the manger. Joseph was busy carpentry, and a friend asked why your son didn't help you? Jesus' answer was: I'm going to be busy with my Father's work. The background of the film appearance time: The beginning of the 26th year of the Jesus era. This is the time background explained in the film. The appearance of the Jesus family seems to have nothing to do with the clear line of the film. In fact, it is the beginning to point out the true Christian belief behind the film. The film arranges the role of Ben Hur to appear at the same time as Jesus. , the contact between the two at a certain node can more intuitively express how the thought depicted by Jesus Christ has brought to the world. Rather than looking for the truth of Jesus in the scriptures, it is more powerful to place the story in that real time.
After explaining the historical background of the story, Ben Hur, the representative of the film's bright line, appeared. When Jerusalem was ruled by the Roman Empire, the trust commander Mesera and the Jewish nobleman Ben Hur were young friends. But now the situation has changed and the difference in values has put the two on opposite sides. When portraying the character of Mesera, the satisfaction of his position on the stage and the indignant tone of the guard's report when Ben-Hur came to meet all made the relationship between the two feel uneasy. "Then treat him like a prince!" Mesera said to the guards. The conversation changed, "Don't forget, this used to be his land." These two lines perfectly express the character of this character. As a child, Ben-Hur was a Jewish nobleman, and Messera was a playmate. Years later, Messera returned to his homeland as a general of the invaders. Messera's true feelings for Ben-Hur are played in these two sentences. On the one hand, it is disdain for Ben-Hur and even Jews, and on the other hand, he wants to use Ben-Hur to cover up his unwillingness. In contrast, Ben-Hur still has a sincere friendship with Mesera in his childhood, and he does not hesitate to give his beloved horse when they meet again. friend. On the other hand, Messera's gift to Sister Ben-Hur was just a handy trophy.
Messera used Ben-Hur's failure to make Ben-Hur see his true intentions, and Ben-Hur roared: When Rome falls, the world will be full of free cheers! This deafening dialogue could easily make viewers think this is an inspirational revenge movie. In fact, just watching it as such a theme, the look and feel is also good. It's just that what the novel or movie really wants to express needs to be dig deeper.
An unintentional mistake made Mesera find an opportunity to break up the Ben-Hur family, and the mother and daughter were imprisoned and Ben-Hur became slaves. When Ben-Hur was being transported, Jesus appeared, with a back view. Throughout the film, the image of Jesus appears in the front, or the back or the hair covers the face, but the camera will give the onlookers a shot to express the image of Jesus, which is really clever. Messera did not allow the soldiers to drink water for Ben-Hur during the escort. When Ben-Hur was extremely short of water and was about to die, a pair of gentle and loving hands appeared and handed the source of life to Ben-Hur. The soldiers were so angry that they picked up the whip and tried to beat Jesus. When he saw the glory of Jesus, he seemed to be shocked by the purest love, and he dared not look directly and retreat. Ben-Hur raised his head, and the surprise in his eyes seemed to be different from what he usually saw in front of him. This kind of footage showing the image of Jesus from the side has appeared several times in movies.
There is a passage in the Gospel of John: Jesus answered, "Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. If anyone drinks the water that I will give him, he will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become in him. The fountain springs up to eternal life."
After reading this verse, I think of Ben-Hur's complaint when he was full of hatred at the end of the movie: "I should have poured water into the sand, but I'm still thirsty after drinking it." So I can feel it. What is the state of mind expressed by the character Ben Hur at different times? In the desert, lack of water is a lack of physical instinct. In Ben-Hur's view, the water given by Jesus is only to meet the temporary needs of the flesh. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the words of Jesus are the real source of life, and the words of Jesus are the real salvation to Ben-Hur in the soul! "Water" expresses two levels in the open and in the dark. These are the different pursuits and results of the earthly and the heavenly.
After many twists and turns, Ben-Hur returned to his hometown to look for his family and met an Arab horse racing chief. Because he is convinced that his family is dead, he seeks revenge on Messera through horse racing. The circus has become a rare classic scene in film history. Aside from the religious theme, just from the perspective of visual effects, this scene is enough to be remembered in history. In 1959, without the blessing of computer special effects, a ten-minute horse race scene took 15,000 actors and took three months to shoot. The real picture texture shown is by no means comparable to current computer rendering. In terms of dealing with horse racing, Messera is completely different from Ben-Hur.
Messera controls with a whip, violence and power over what she has. Ben-Hur and Jockey communicate emotionally and get along with each other like friends. This kind of expression processing implies that Ben-Hur's psychological changes in love and hate, forgiveness and revenge under the inspiration of Jesus in the ending.
When Ben-Hur learned that his family did not die, but were exiled by the Roman Empire to fend for themselves in the Valley of Leprosy, it was extremely painful. The revenge against Messera could not calm the anger in his heart, and he decided to break away from the Roman Empire represented by his adoptive father. Edlin didn't want Ben-Hur to sink into hateful thoughts. She told Ben-Hur the words of Jesus that she heard, "Forgive them, love your enemies," and "Love is greater than hate." But Ben-Hur was unmoved.
The "Sermon on the Mount" recorded in the Gospels appeared in the movie, but it just filmed many people spontaneously going up the mountain to listen to Jesus' teachings, but did not fully show the process of Jesus' words. Ben-Hur, who was full of grief and indignation, walked past, and Edlin stayed...
Ben-Hur meets his mother and sister, who is terminally ill and at the end of her life. Ben-Hur and Edlin take them to find Jesus for help. But when I entered the city, I saw the process of Jesus being crucified.
In the scene of Jesus' reappearance, combined with the records of "Bible ~ Gospel", this section is the essence of the movie. The death of Jesus is one of the most important events in Christian thought. After reading the Gospels, the understanding of this passage will be more accurate.
The blind man who asked for directions at the city gate threw aside the coins in the begging bowl after learning that they were lepers. If you think of the patients Jesus healed in the Bible, you can understand the difference between God and the world's understanding of "love". The "love" of the world is limited to self-love, but Christ's love is universal.
Jesus, who was carrying the cross, staggered, and Ben Hur recognized that He was the one who fed himself water in the desert. Ben Hur's mother said, "You see him in so much pain, yet his expression is so calm". The people shouted "Hail to the King of the Jews"! None of them fully understood Jesus at the time. Why did Jesus die so peacefully? Did Jesus really want to be the king of the Jews?
Ben-Hur asked Bataisha, "Jesus did so much just to die?" Bataisha said, "Death is the beginning"...
Jesus was crucified. Mother and daughter shelter from the rain in a cave. Thunder and lightning flashes, torrential rain. The daughter felt torn, and "tear" is one of the scenes in the Bible depicting the death of Jesus. Mother said, "It seems that he was on the cross, bearing the pain of the whole world." The daughter replied, "Strange, I don't feel scared anymore"... The rain fell from the sky at a rapid rate, and the blood of Jesus was intertwined with the river water. The mother and daughter regained their healthy bodies in an instant, the rain washed away the filth of the world, and the blood of Jesus washed away the uncleanness of the hearts of the world!
Ben-Hur stayed until Jesus died, and when he returned home, he was overwhelmed with emotion when he told Edlin about Jesus' dying words. Jesus said "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do"! After hearing this, Ben-Hur was greatly shocked, "I feel that the words of Jesus took the sword from my hand." So far, Ben-Hur has completely understood what the truth of Jesus is. So far, Ben Xucai has completely experienced the perplexities and answers that a person encounters in his spiritual life. Now Ben-Hur should be able to answer the question he asked Batesha "Jesus did so much just to die"? No, it was the death of Jesus that brought everyone back to life. This is the truth of Christ Jesus!
The film ends with the singing of "Hallelujah" with a cross in the back and a shepherd in the foreground. The three fits that best represent the Christian faith are more indicative of the film's religious significance. Distancing the film by faith and a simple script finds that the true heart of the story is the Jesus it tells. Although Jesus did not show his face from beginning to end, not even a single line of dialogue. But in America, a country rooted in the Christian faith, it's easy to see why. For ordinary movie fans of non-Christian beliefs, they can only think from the perspective of movie narrative. Of course, as a purely commercial movie, "Ben-Hur" is also exciting enough. But what I hope to see more is that the audience can have more understanding and perception of Christianity after watching the movie. After all, Jesus was crucified not only for Christians, but for all mankind.
The new version of "Ben-Hur" is about to be released, and I don't know how it compares with the old version. Then I will go to the theater to watch it and then decide.
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