Biblical Epic Film Ben-Hur

The Roman Empire is Europe’s great creation myth. The great Mediterranean empire has left a great legacy of culture, language, conquest, art, and science in Europe and beyond. But everything decays with time, especially memory. Our archeological and historical understanding of the Roman Empire is limited. These gaps in knowledge, combined with popular misconceptions relating to culture, politics, race, technology, politics, and religion from the period, mean that any “period” piece is bound to be historically inaccurate.

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

By the 1960s the studio system was all but over. Many cinemas were closed down and several of the production back lots sold. Society had changed dramatically particularly with the rise of youth and the youth market, and the old Hollywood product seemed stale to the rising youth audience. Times were changing and the industry had to change with it. The studio system had declined rapidly in the 1950s and by the late 1960s was all but over. The audience had segmented into different social groups with increased leisure options rather than the mass habit audience of the golden age. Many of the films the studios produced to compete with television seemed to many people old fashioned and part of a different world which led to a significant drop in

The Motion Picture Production Code, commonly known as the Hays Code, was adopted in March 1930, though it was not truly enforced until four years later in 1934. This set of rules had tremendously influenced the way Hollywood movies were made for a number of years. This code was based on the ethics and norms if that time. There were three main principals of the Hays Code. The first was no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standard of those who see it. What was meant by this was that sympathy should not be portrayed towards crimes, wrongdoings, evil or sins. The second stated that only a correct standard of living could be presented that are only subject to the requirements of drama and

To understand why the fall of the production code was so prolific to the film industry one must first understand the production code and how it worked. This was a code that regulated what filmmakers could say, what kind of content their films could contain, and introduced an early version of the rating system that we know today. This kind of censorship was as detrimental to this art form as censorship can be. With a media as widespread as film, so many people see it on average that it can largely change a perception of a population or keep

“Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ” is centered on a man named Judah Ben Hur. Judah was a prince and merchant in Jerusalem and was accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Hur had to go through trials and tribulations in order to survive and fight for the ones he loved. This film was intense, historically dramatic, and religious. The director of this film is William Wyler. Wyler centered the movie around a Jewish man, but also on a Christians prospective. Dennis Grunes stated in his article that “William Wyler made some excellent films (These Three, Jezebel, The Letter, The Best Years of Our Lives), but, following the estimable achievement of Friendly Persuasion (1956), which took the top prize at Cannes largely on the strength of blacklisted Michael Wilson’s

1955 marked the year in which Nicholas Ray's film Rebel Without a Cause was released as the latest Hollywood success. With its revolutionary acting and modern style, Rebel Without a Cause proved to be an ideal example of progressive, contemporary cinema. Amidst these factors is the intricate screenplay regarding a rebellious adolescent and his troubled relationships with his family and new found friends. Unfortunately, this was a film that was produced in the mid-1950s, a time when the self-censorship board in the U.S. did not permit certain political and societal issues to be addressed in films. As a result, various controversial matters could only be suggested or implied, opposed to directly dealt with. One such issue that Rebel

During the early years of Hollywood, films had very few regulations on how they can be made. From 1922 till 1930, people were outraged at Hollywood that they have no rules on how they should make films. In response, religious groups were editing movies for their local communities to make them save for their standards. Eventually the government started to talk about enforcing rules that would censor Hollywood movies for the public. To stop that from happening, Hollywood enforced their own rules called the Motion Picture Production Code or the Hays Code.

During first cold war, from late 1940 to mid-1960, most of the Hollywood cinema was influenced by cinemascope spectaculars, family

One of the many industries that were radically changed by World War II was the film industry. This change altered the content and style of films that were produced in Hollywood. A long period of decline was seen after experiencing boom years from 1939 to 1946. Within several years, attendance and box receipts fell. This was partly caused by reasons that were external to the industry. Veterans returning from the war got married, started families, attended college ( Due to the GI Bill), and bought homes in suburban areas. A toll was taken on box office receipts due to these activities. It was preferable for families that had children to listen to the radio rather than going to the

Identify the major segments of the U.S. film going audience targeted by producers in the 1950s. What kinds of films were produced for each of these segments?

In Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ written by Lew Wallace, Chapter 6 describes the Joppa Market in ancient Jerusalem. The author takes time describing the market so the reader can feel like he is at the market buying food, animals, or jewelry. The women at the market, surrounded by their half-naked children running around, were selling earthen jars and some learthen bottles. The women wore long dresses with their head covered. The author then went on describing the man who works on the jewelry as a sharp man cloaked in scarlet and blue top heaving under prodigious white turbans, and fully conscious of the power there is in the lustre of a ribbon and the incisive gleam of gold." The noise of the market was loud because men were yelling

This is Relevant in BLCS, when The Narrator stated: “By now we had seen the three films at the basketball court in Yong Jing. By far, the most popular was a North Korean Melodrama with a Heroine called ‘The Flower girl’.” (Sijie, p35). During the Cultural Revolution, popular western films in the 1960s such as the good, bad and ugly and the sound of music, were all banned. This happened because Western film were banned.

This essay will show how in many cases the reflection of the current social and cultural events has impacted the cinema. Over the history of the industry, many of the more impactful events have been written into screenplays and then into the films of the day. Although “creative license” may have been utilized in the presentations, there is an awfully large volume of events to film productions. American Cultural and Social Tensions Reflected in Films Throughout the development of the motion picture industry the relationship between movies and culture and social tensions, involves a complicated dynamic.

Judah Ben Hur, the protagonist of this movie lives as a rich Jewish prince at the beginning of the movie. When his childhood friend Messala, a tribune of the Roman army visits him, they are thrilled to see one another. However, later Judah discovers that Messala has changed and wants Judah to betray his own people. Judah then refuses to give Messala the names of the Jews who oppose Roman rule. Messala, angered by this, finds an excuse to throw Judah into the galleys, and his mother and sister into prison. Before Judah is taken into custody, he vowed to return and get revenge on Messala. Three years later, Judah is still rowing in one of the Roman army’s boats. When their ship is attacked, Judah, the only unchained prisoner, escapes and also saves the life of a Roman Consul. After Judah and the Consul return to Rome, he finds himself a hero and is later adopted by the Consul.