MovieChat Forums > Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ (1927) Discussion > What I Liked and Disliked

What I Liked and Disliked

posted 16 years ago by SusanJL
2 replies | jump to latest

Liked:
1.Keeping Christ off-screen, because the Bible does not mention what Jesus looked like, except this passage: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." Isaiah 53:2 NIV
2.The costumes, sets, cinematography - magnificent. Each scene could have stills made and used to illustrate a book beautifully.

Disliked: Even a brief glance at scripture quickly reveals so many factual errors. Just a few:
1.The shepherds learned of Christ's birth through angels, not a star.
2. The star appeared to the Magi later; when they saw Jesus he was 2 yrs old or so, and living in a house in Bethlehem with Mary & Joseph.
3. The film doesn't mention Christ's resurrection, leaving one with the impression that he was just a good example, a martyr who remains dead, alive only because "He lives in men's hearts". Scripture says Jesus was resurrected 3 days after his death, stayed on earth 40 days, was seen of multitudes of disciples over that time period. He ascended to heaven after that and is alive today and will return as King not only of the Jews but the whole world. That is the day the fictional Ben-Hur knew was prophesied and was looking forward to - and that day is rapidly approaching!

[–] angmc43 16 years ago

1. Lew Wallace's novel does have the 'angels talk to the shepherds' scene. Let's just consider the omission as something that occurred behind-the-scenes (Like Herod).
2. Pretty much all the Christ films used the 'Magi at the manger' tradition. It isn't a solitary mistake of this film.
3. The original novel and both film versions of BEN-HUR all ignore the resurrection. In the case of the novel, it fast-forwards from the crucifixion to the reign of Nero.
It's not the film's fault. It's the source.

[–] ljspin 16 years ago

Angmc43,

I must say that you answered the questions admirably. I would only like to add one comment.
As you say, the novel does omit the Resurrection. It ends with Judah and Esther, married with children by this time, living in Rome among the leading Christians of the city. I don't think it's a fault of Lew Wallace that he did not write about the Resurrection. He was writing for a Christian audience. They knew what happened, and so the omission did not affect his readers: They KNEW what had happened and could accept the leap in time. The poster of the original comment should keep in mind that the movie THE ROBE does not show the Resurrection, and yet we in the audience know exactly why Marcellus and Diana are martyred at the end, and why they go to their deaths willingly.
A little bit of trivia: BEN-HUR is the only novel to have been blessed by a pope.

Spin