No. 100: Ben Hur

I made it. I found 3 1/2 consecutive hours to get this project started, and, we're off to a grand start, with the 1959 epic film (no, really...it's an epic) "Ben Hur."
Let me begin by making a shameful confession. This is the first time, as far as I can remember (and I'm pretty sure I'd remember) watching this entire film at once.
I went in with a certain amount of fear and trepidation after getting Disc 1 and Disc 2 and thinking that frankly, if you can't fit it on one disc, it's just too dang long.
Other than the fact that my leg is cramping from being in one position for almost four hours, the film did make me re-think my initial assessment.
For one thing, the film made me miss the true epics. It reminded me that there are films that truly are epic, unlike most of the epic fails that have been churned out in the last few years.
It starts out showcasing a bit of the grandeur of the Roman Empire at its zenith, right at the birth of Christ. We then jump to the beginning of the command of Messala in Jerusalem. He and his old friend Judah Ben-Hur are overjoyed to be reunited, until they realize that as adults, Messala being a patriotic Roman and Judah being a loyal Jew means they can't be friends.
After Messala falsely accuses Judah of a crime and imprisons not only him, but his mother and sister, Ben-Hur vows vengeance.
By several miracles, he winds up not only surviving his slavery, but coming back to Jerusalem as a free man - with one thought in mind: find his family, and kill Messala.
I wish I could watch this the way it was meant to be seen, on a huge screen with the right film, etc. Still, on my old TV, it's impressive. The sets, the scenery, the costumes, the characters. It starts out a little slow, a little hard to relate to because it's so stylized and so different from how we relate to characters in modern films. But, it doesn't take long before it draws you in. I wanted to know what was going to happen. I felt invested. Was it hard to see what was coming next? No, not especially. It's still fun to watch it happen, though.
Most notable is, of course, the famed chariot race. Many smarter than I have expounded upon it, so let me just say, it is intense. There's no music. There's no dialogue. There's no extreme close-ups of the hero's or the villain's nose hairs or furrowed brows or sweaty palms to try to generate a response. You just watch this race take place and hope that someone makes it out alive. It doesn't matter that the stunts aren't as "sophisticated" as today's - when a driver got dumped out of his chariot and trampled, I cringed. Each time a driver went down, I leaned forward to make sure the ambulance crew got in and out with the injured person in time. It's a true action sequence. It's fantastic.
I also love the character of Esther. Unlike many female characters in films like these, she's neither a flailing damsel in distress nor a femme fatale. Esther is beautiful, chaste, composed, and incredibly strong, brave and faithful. Despite her constant goodness, she too recognizes her need to be redeemed - and embraces it.
But ultimately, this is a story about Jesus, not Judah Ben-Hur. Oh, sure, Jesus is only in a few scenes and we never actually see his face - but he determines the entire direction of the film. It is Jesus who brings Judah back to Jerusalem. Judah and his entire family are changed by Jesus and his gruesome death and life-giving words. William Wyler could have chose to make the film more directly about Jesus, but instead he gives us a character with which to relate, who is flawed and angry and, at times, a little selfish and stupid.
More than 50 years after its release, "Ben Hur" is still heralded as one of the best and "most inspirational" films of all time. It may be long, but maybe that's one of the things that makes it inspirational. Any film that can hold my attention for 3 1/2 hours deserves all the acclaim it can receive.

Next up: "Toy Story"