The Jesus bit is the whole point of Ben-Hur... teh film tries to parallel the lives of the two, Judah Ben-Hur and Jesus... that's why their paths cross when they do... it is only when Judah recognises Christ as the man who gave him water when he was a slave that he gains redemption and "heals himself" of the hatred that has been the driving force of his life for so long... after this encounter he realises that there is another way, and is given the chance to start again, with the healing of his family from leprosy... at the beginning, Jesus offers Judah the water of life, but it si only when Judah offers that life back to Christ that his real life can begin... without the Christ thread the film would deteriorate into yet another Hollywood revenge tragedy...
yeah i suppose that helps put the happy ending in perspective.
and it it did say at the start credits 'a story of the christ'
fini>nah Gladiator is almost exactly made from Spartacus............take a look at that one
i havent seen Spartacus but i still think gladiator and ben-hur have clear parallels.
- cheated man
- tragedy befalls family
- follows his struggle
- becomes a gladiator
- gets revenge
etc
KMC Community Forums
Mar 15th, 2004 10:53 PM
