Admittedly, the headline on this post may be a tad misleading. The shortest version of Ben-Hur to date is a 16-minute one-reeler produced in 1907, before feature-length films had really become a thing. And there are also at least two animated versions of this story (made in 1988 and 2003) that are an hour in length, give or take.1
But as far as feature-length live-action adaptations go, the shortest version of Ben-Hur to date is the silent film produced in 1925, which has a running time of 143 minutes. The 1959 version with Charlton Heston runs 222 minutes (including eight minutes of overture and entr’acte music). And the 2010 miniseries runs about 180 minutes.
And it sounds like this year’s version might be shorter than all three of them.
Director Timur Bekmambetov talked to Den of Geek about the differences between his film and earlier versions of the story (as well as earlier films of his own), and said:
I think this story directs the movie, not the movie. The story tells us about the tone and the style of the movie, and for this, it was very important to be as relatable and as grounded as possible for today’s audience. It’s why it’s very different from what I’ve done before. There is not one slow-motion shot in the movie. There are no tricky visual effect shots and flashy cuts. It’s almost a handheld movie that’s shot by a DOP who is named Oliver Wood, and he’s shot many great movies like The Bourne Identity, and he is a very interesting cinematographer who is embracing the style.
It’s not about being beautifully beautiful or stagey images, it’s like a drama. And it’s not a four-hour story. It’s two hours, and I think it will make a difference, because it has a very contemporary rhythm of the storytelling, and the dialogues written by John Ridley and it sounds very relatable and smart.
This may or may not be one reason why the Quintus Arrius subplot was dropped.
At any rate, “two hours” is obviously a very round figure, and it’s possible that the film will be a bit longer than that, maybe even longer than the 1925 film. We shall see.
Elsewhere in the interview, Bekmambetov talked about the relationship between Judah Ben-Hur and his nemesis Messala, who — according to the movie’s official plot synopsis — is also Judah’s “adopted brother” in this version of the story:
No, they’re not [blood brothers]. But the whole movie they love each other, and they are just forced by circumstances. There is no good brother and bad brother like there was in the 1959 version. We love them both, we understand them both.
Bekmambetov also talked about his approach to the chariot race, in which he repeated a number of comments he has made before but also told this interesting story:
My costume designer Varvara Avdyushko, she made authentic, historically correct costumes. And it was very strange when we discussed with her that they had leather stripes around their chests, and we were very curious about why they needed these stripes. It looks cool, but how do stripes help you? But she did it, she did these leather stripes, and when the accident happened, and our driver was under the chariot, these stripes saved his life!
Bekmambetov also addressed how Ben-Hur can be relevant to the 21st century:
I think it’s a very contemporary story, because we live in a world with the same problems as the Roman Empire had two thousand years ago. You have terrorism and brother killing brother, and the crisis of the values we live in, and we’re looking for new ideas. And the world is on the edge, either we will find these new values or whatever, or we’ll kill each other.
And I do believe that we’ll find it; we’ve already found it, because when people are uploading new kinds of videos on YouTube everyday for free, they’re not looking for money. They’re looking to be found; they want to share. They’re looking for likes and they want people to recognize them. It’s very different from what we’ve had. I cannot imagine this 10 years ago, because 10 years ago, everyone was trying to sell something.
Re: that last point, I dunno, I see a lot of ads on YouTube, but anyhoo.
Bekmambetov also spoke to The Wrap and told them why Judah Ben-Hur needs to cut his hair before the big chariot race: “It’s very uncomfortable to be in the chariot with long hair, because to win the race, you have to be able to see around you.”
Judah doesn’t seem to cut his hair until after his practice driving, though. Hmmm.
In any case, all our questions will be answered when the film comes out August 12.
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1. The 1988 version is 48 minutes long, the 2003 version is 71 minutes long. You can watch them below, though the only versions of the 2003 film that I could find were dubbed into foreign languages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yy1XSPasRQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVymPJLX5xI
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