ellauri150.html on line 461: Ben-Hurista ei meinannut ensin löytyä kuin filmikäsikirjoitus. Synopsis: Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish merchant prince in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor Pontius Pilate, his old friend Messiah arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a roof tile falls down from Judah's house and injures the governor. Although Messiah knows they are not guilty as such, he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. What the fuck, their house was a menace! Good old Hammurabi would have had their heads off. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge. Genre: Adventure, Drama, History.
ellauri150.html on line 465: During a naval battle against Greek rebels in the Ionian Sea, Ben-Hur´s galley is boarded but collides with another ship and is destroyed as Ben-Hur manages to cling to a floating mast. He is washed ashore and is found by Sheik Ilderim, who recognizes him as an escaped slave.
ellauri150.html on line 467: Sheik Ilderim bribes Pontius Pilate into allowing Ben-Hur to compete in a horse and carriage race (ravit) by proposing a high wager. Esther tries to convince Messiah not to race Ben-Hur, but he is adamant that he will win. On the day of the race, Ben-Hur follows Ilderim's instructions to hold back from the race until the final laps. Using dirty tactics, Messiah manages to knock out the other competing charioteers. Following a brutal and grueling race, Ben-Hur wins the race. Messiah survives but is badly wounded and loses a leg. Ben-Hur's victory emboldens the Jewish spectators and yields dividends for Ilderim.
ellauri150.html on line 469: Despite his victory, Ben-Hur is despondent about his family and his former friend One-Leg Messiah. Later, Esther witnesses the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Ben-Hur and Esther witness a bruised and beaten Jesus being forced to carry his cross through the streets. Mirroring his first encounter with Jesus, Ben-Hur tries to offer Jesus water but is beaten to it by a Roman soldier. Following Jesus' crucifixion, a rainstorm occurs, thanx to Esther. Naomi and Tirzah are miraculously healed by rainwater containing the pee of Esther, and Sheik Ilderim pays a king's ransom to set them free. Despite his anger, Ben-Hur finds the strength in his heart to forgive One-Leg Messiah and is reconciled with him and his family. Together, Två-Ben-Hur, his mother, sister, Esther, and One-Leg Messiah accompany Sheik Ilderim's Ford Caravan as they leave Jerusalem on to new adventures. Luckily, One-Leg Messias had avoided the fate of Moby "No Dick" Ahasverus.
ellauri150.html on line 471: Karl Tunberg (March 11, 1907 − April 3, 1992) was an American screenwriter and occasional film producer. His screenplays for Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941) and Ben-Hur (1959) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, respectively. more…
ellauri150.html on line 476: The film's final onscreen writing credits created controversy when, in October 1959, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) awarded Tunberg sole screenplay credit, despite the objections of the film's director, William Wyler, who, in the film's commemorative booklet and elsewhere, claimed that Christopher Fry was more responsible than any other writer for the final screenplay. In response to Wyler's public outcries against their ruling, the WGA took out trade paper ads on November 20, 1959 in which they issued a statement reading, in part, "the unanimous decision of the three judges was that the sole screenplay credit was awarded to Karl Tunberg...The record shows the following: 1. Karl Tunberg is the only writer who has ever written a complete screenplay on Ben-Hur; 2. Karl Tunberg continued to contribute materials throughout the actual filming, and this material is incorporated in the final picture; and 3. Karl Tunberg alone did the necessary rewriting during the four months of retakes and added scenes. Mr. Christopher Fry himself was fully informed of the proceedings of the Guild. He has made it absolutely clear that he did not want to protest the decision of the Guild."
ellauri150.html on line 482: Over the 57 years that have followed, a few things have contributed to granting the film untouchable status, the foremost being the fact that it won 11 Academy Awards, still the most Oscars any film has ever won. (That total was later matched by Titanic and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.) But while the Oscars, the prestige, and the fact that the plot of the film deals directly (if obliquely) with the life and death of Jesus Christ, all contribute to a certain image of Ben-Hur, there have always been alternate views of the film. One of the most famous came from the mouth of one of its own screenwriters.
ellauri150.html on line 484: Based on an 1880 novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the film was directed by Hollywood great William Wyler, and screenwriter Gore Vidal was one of many who took a pass at the screenplay. In The Celluloid Closet, Vidal states in no uncertain terms that he scripted the film as a confrontation between ex-lovers Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd). Further, Vidal claims that, after consultation with Wyler and Boyd (but not Heston, who would have objected), he wrote one particular scene, where the estranged Ben-Hur and Messala meet again, with heavy gay subtext.
ellauri150.html on line 488: What the f---!? Based on a 1880 novel after all!? Whose novel? Fuck you screenwriters! Taking all the glory! “I said,’ Well, I’ll never use the "g" word,'” Vidal says. “‘There’ll be nothing overt. But it will be perfectly clear that Messiah is in love with Ben-Hur.”
ellauri150.html on line 490: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace, published by Harper and Brothers on November 12, 1880, and considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century". It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions. Ben-Hur remained at the top of the US all-time bestseller list until the 1936 publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. The 1959 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur is considered one of the greatest films ever made and was seen by tens of millions, going on to win a record 11 Academy Awards in 1960, after which the book's sales increased and it surpassed Gone with the Wind. It was blessed by Pope Leo XIII, the first novel ever to receive such an honour. The success of the novel and its stage and film adaptations also helped it to become a popular cultural icon that was used to promote catholicism plus numerous commercial products.
ellauri150.html on line 492: The story recounts the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince from Jerusalem, who is enslaved by the Romans at the beginning of the first century and becomes a charioteer and a Christian. Running in parallel with Judah's narrative is the unfolding story of Jesus, from the same region and around the same age. The novel reflects themes of betrayal, conviction, and redemption, with a revenge plot that leads to a story of gay love and compassion.
ellauri150.html on line 500: Despite his later fame and fortune as the writer of Ben-Hur, Wallace continued to lament, "Shiloh and its slanders! Will the world ever acquit me of them? If I were guilty I would not feel them as keenly."
ellauri150.html on line 510: When the party—Balthasar, Simonides, Ben-Hur, Esther, and the two faithful Galileans—reached the place of crucifixion, Ben-Hur was in advance leading them.
ellauri150.html on line 537: Esther bat Simonides was a Judean freedwoman and the wife of Prince Judah Ben-Hur during the 1st century AD. She played a major role in her husband's conversion to Christianity after teaching him of Jesus' message, having personally witnessed his Sermon on the Mount.
ellauri150.html on line 539: Esther "Bat" Simonides was born in Jerusalem, Judea, the daughter of the Hellenized Jewish slave Simonides. She was raised in the household of Prince Ithamar Ben-Hur, and she loved Judah Ben-Hur as a child. By 26 AD, she had grown into a woman, and, while she still loved Judah, she was betrothed to the freedman and merchant David ben Matthias from Antioch. That same year, Judah and his family were imprisoned after being wrongfully imprisoned for an alleged assassination attempt on Valerius Gratus, and Simonides was arrested and tortured on the orders of the Roman tribune Messala. Simonides was arrested when the Romans were certain that he was not hiding anything, and he and Esther lived in hiding at the Ben-Hur family's derelict and looted estate, where they were joined by Simonides' fellow former prisoner Malluch.
ellauri150.html on line 541: In 30 AD, Judah returned from being a galley slave, and Esther told him that she was no longer betrothed, causing the two to fall in love again. When Judah's mother Miriam and sister Tirzah were sent to the Valley of Lepers by their jailers, Esther brought them food, and, when Judah asked about his family's fate, Esther was told by Miriam to inform him that they were dead, as Miriam did not want her son to see them in agony. When a dying Messala told Judah of his family's real fates, Judah headed to the Valley and angrily confronted Esther, who forced him to hide from his family rather than violate their wishes. On the way out of the Valley, Esther stopped to listen to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and she became a convinced Christian; she had an argument with Judah about his lust for vengeance and his lack of interest in Jesus' message of peace and love. However, when the two found that Tirzah was dying, they brought Miriam and Tirzah to Jerusalem to search for Jesus and hope for a cure. They were too late to reach him before he was crucified, but a sudden rainstorm miraculously healed the lepers' wounds and cured them. Ben-Hur, who was now convinced of Jesus' message, embraced Esther and his family, having decided to give up his quest for revenge.
ellauri150.html on line 545: "Didst thou hear?" said Ben-Hur to him. "The kingdom cannot be of this world. Yon witness (the good felon on the left hand cross) saith the King is but going to his kingdom; and, in effect, I heard the same in my dream. Okay! I get it! We must wait all the way to the end!"
ellauri150.html on line 547: "Hush!" said Simonides, more imperiously than ever before in speech to Ben-Hur. "Hush, I pray thee! If the Nazarene should answer—" Kazotaan ensin tämä tilanne.
ellauri150.html on line 551: Where got the man his confidence except from Truth? Only three hours upon the cross, and he was dying? Eeli Eeli laama sabakhtani? Too late, too late! "It is finished! It is finished!" O reader, the man died! Reader, I married him! Ben-Hur went back to his friends, saying, simply, "It is over; he is dead."
ellauri150.html on line 553: When the sunlight broke upon the crucifixion, the mother of the Nazarene, the disciple, and the faithful women of Galilee, the centurion and his soldiers, and Ben-Hur and his party, were all who remained upon the hill. Balthasar was funnily prostrate and still. The good man was dead! The 3 Christmas Elves excellently illustrated the three virtues in combination—Faith, Love, and Good Works. (Or should it be Hope? Works are good för nothing.)
ellauri150.html on line 582: Ben-Hur, when he was told of the visit, knew certainly what he had long surmised—that on the day of the crucifixion Iras had deserted her father for Messala. Nevertheless, he set out immediately and hunted for him vainly; they never saw him more, or heard of him The blue bay, with all its laughing under the sun, has yet its dark secrets. Had it a tongue, it might tell us of the Messiah.
ellauri150.html on line 588: If any of my readers, visiting Rome, will make a subway trip on Rome he will see what became of the fortune of Ben-Hur, and give him thanks.
ellauri150.html on line 600: Plot summary for the 1959 film Ben Hur directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur and Stephen Boyd as Messala.
ellauri150.html on line 606: When we return, it's Anno Domini XXVI - A.D. 26. Messala, a Roman who grew up in Judea but spent most of his life in more traditional Roman enclaves, is accepting an important position in Jerusalem under the new governor of Judea; it's a hard job, since the Jews don't want the Romans there, but he feels up to it. He is visited by his childhood friend, and our hero, Judah Ben-Hur, a very important and influential Jew. They try to pick up the friendship where it left off, but there's one big problem: they no longer have anything in common besides their shared past. They are in denial about this for a while, and Judah agrees to try to get people to accept the Romans.
ellauri150.html on line 610: We meet Ben-Hur's mother and sister. We also meet his right-hand slave, Simonides, who is his business administrator and is in town for his yearly report—he's based in Antioch. He's very good at managing Judah's assets, and very loyal. Simonides' daughter Esther is with him; she is about to enter an arranged marriage, but needs Ben-Hur's approval. Ben-Hur gives it, and even throws in her freedom as a wedding present, but - having seen her as a grown woman for the first time - he sorta wants her for himself.
ellauri150.html on line 612: Messala comes over for dinner. Judah and Messala go out back to meet privately. Judah gives Messala a white horse. Messala asks Judah for his progress in pacifying the Jews; on learning that it isn't 100% successful, he wants to know who's refusing. Messala makes clear that he wants names. Judah, while protesting that he's nonviolent himself, doesn't think that the Jews resisting Roman rule are doing anything wrong, and so he doesn't provide them. Messala begs for cooperation, but in doing so makes clear that he considers the Roman Emperor a god; not only doesn't Judah believe that, but he's personally against the occupation. They leave as enemies, and Judah Ben-Hur is left to explain why Messala isn't staying for dinner.
ellauri150.html on line 618: On learning that he is to go to Tyrus with neither a trial nor info about what's going to happen to his mother and sister, we learn that Ben-Hur's pacifism didn't survive the imprisonment. Since he hurts or kills only people who aren't of Nominal Importance, this is supposed to be tolerated. Judah demands info of Messala, and naturally doesn't get it. He protests his innocence of wanting to kill the governor; Messala knows that this is, at least, a plausible theory, but doesn't let it show. He says that Ben-Hur gave him exactly what he needed; the Jews will know that, if he can send his childhood friend to certain death at the galleys, he can do it to anyone. Judah starts to beg Messala, and gets this reply: "You beg me? Didn't I beg you for help?"
ellauri150.html on line 620: Ben-Hur swears vengeance when he gets back. Messala is puzzled, since the galleys are supposed to be a one-way trip.
ellauri150.html on line 622: Simonides tries to defend Ben-Hur. This gets him and his daughter seized.
ellauri150.html on line 623: The Romans taking prisoners to the galleys are not overly concerned about anyone surviving, especially not people who knocked out their governor. At a well some distance north of Jerusalem, soldiers get watered first, then horses, and then slaves—and not Ben-Hur. He asks God for help... and in response, a young man, whose face is always turned from the camera, comes and gives him water. The audience understands that this is Jesus Himself, come to answer Ben-Hur's prayer. The Roman in charge starts to tell Him not to give Ben-Hur water, but on seeing His face, the Roman changes his mind. Ben-Hur drinks deep until it's time to move it.
ellauri150.html on line 625: More than three years later, we see Ben-Hur working one of many oars. He is going by "41" (or is that XLI?), his seat number, and he is full of hate. A Roman consul, Quintus Arrius, has boarded the ship, and it goes to war almost immediately. The consul wants Ben-Hur for a charioteer, and doesn't understand why Ben-Hur has any other hopes of life after the galleys; if they succeed in battle, he'll keep rowing, and if they don't, he'll die chained to the oar. Ben-Hur makes clear that he believes God will help him, also that he dislikes the idea of dying chained to the oar; this has a delayed effect; at the time, "back to your oar," but the consul orders him unchained after all the galley slaves had been chained.
ellauri150.html on line 627: There is a firefight with real fire. Things are burning all over the place. The ship gets rammed; for some reason, instead of trying to get the ship out of the way, those slaves who are chained try to remove the chains. Since the enemy ship appears to be holding up their ship, it almost works out. Ben-Hur is unlocking slaves, and major fighting is going on on deck. Then Quintus is shoved overboard. Ben-Hur goes to save him, shoving a torch into the face of a mercenary along the way.
ellauri150.html on line 629: Ben-Hur saves the consul and gets him on a raft of debris. Then he has to knock out the consul to prevent the fella from committing suicide, and chains the mercenary to him. After the consul wakes, still wanting to die, he reminds him that staying alive is the motivation he gives his slaves... Quintus wanted to commit suicide because he thought he'd lost overall. He hadn't, as it turns out he's hailed as a hero, and so there is a triumphant return to Rome. Ben-Hur gets to see the Emperor and then lives with Quintus learning to drive a chariot in races with Arrius' prized horses. Quintus actually tried to get him cleared of wanting to kill that Judean governor, but didn't pull it off...
ellauri150.html on line 631: Quintus cherishes Judah as a son (his own one died), and finally adopts him legally, naming him Young Arrius. Ben-Hur loves Quintus as well, is grateful but heads back to Judea almost immediately, not even waiting for the scheduled boat to take Pontius Pilate to Judea. There is no time to waste; four years have already passed.
ellauri150.html on line 641: Ben-Hur's mother and sister drop by the old place and come as close to meeting up with Esther as they dare. Esther tells them Judah hasn't changed, which is at best a half-truth. They make Esther promise not to tell Judah they have leprosy; they want him to remember them as they were. Esther promises by her love of Judah (and yes, it is there). She sees him (he passed by without noticing the lepers) and "confesses" that his mother and sister are dead...
ellauri150.html on line 645: After the intermission, Ben-Hur has taken the charioteer job now. and Ilderim visits the bathhouse where the young Roman nobles luxuriate, half-naked.note Messala is there talking about his unbeatable team of horses. Ilderim says his team is even better, and offers a wager with LOTS of money involved. He eventually succeeds...
ellauri150.html on line 647: ... And it's time for the big setpiece, the Chariot Race! The first rule of the Chariot Race is: there are no rules. A demolition derby is entirely standard procedure. That's how Messala gets to have a chariot tricked out with blades on the wheels-- vroom! But does that shake Ben-Hur? No! He will have his vengeance. As the race starts, the two of them are neck-and-neck. Messala tries to destroy Ben-Hur's chariot, but in a cruel twist, his own chariot falls apart. Messala is dragged by his horses and viciously trampled by another team. As Messala's broken body is carried to the surgeon, Ben-Hur receives the victor's laurel crown.
ellauri150.html on line 649: Ben-Hur seeks out Messala in the dark pit of the surgeon's bay. Messala refuses to be carried out to a proper hospital: even if it kills him, he'll see Ben-Hur one last time. The two onetime friends meet. Messala taunts Ben-Hur with the knowledge that Miriam and Tirzah are alive— but as lepers. Having had his last revenge, Messala dies. Ben-Hur goes to seek out his family, even in their horrific state. Esther meets him at the leper's cave. The family reunites as Jesus' crucifixion takes place. At Jesus' death, by a miracle, Miriam and Tirzah are healed of their leprosy. Judah renounces hatred and dedicates himself to his family— which will include Esther as his wife. All live happily ever after, except for Messala.
ellauri150.html on line 668: Leo was the first person in the world to be captured on color film. Maybe that is why he gave his blessings on Ben-Hur. The blessings worked, it too came out on color film. Here's some more messages from him.
ellauri184.html on line 265: Thanks in large part to Jesus-movies and swords-and-sandals cinematic epics (e.g., Ben-Hur, Masada, Spartacus, Life of Brian), there is a widespread perception that distinctively Woman soldiers infested Palestine during the life of Jesus – often signaled in such films by highbwow Bwitish accents in contrast with the unpretentious American dialect spoken by Jews. As deeply engrained as this image is in the popular consciousness, it is not entirely accurate. There were several different types of soldiers in the Woman East during the New Testament period and the differences between these soldiers were significant; the languages they spoke, the government they worked for, their relationship to the civilians they encountered, their pay, and many other specifics differed considerably.
ellauri341.html on line 438: Haya Harareet ( hepreaksi : חיה הררית ) (20. syyskuuta 1931 – 3. helmikuuta 2021) oli israelilainen näyttelijä ja käsikirjoittaja. Yksi hänen tärkeimmistä elokuvarooleistaan oli Estherin, Ben Hurin rakkausinnostuksen esittäminen Hollywoodissa vuonna 1959 tehdyssä kristinuskonnollisessa elokuvassa Ben-Hur, jonka miespääosan esitti joxeenkin leuaton Charlton Heston.
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