{"id":43228,"date":"2016-03-29T18:55:04","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T01:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=43228"},"modified":"2016-03-29T18:55:04","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T01:55:04","slug":"timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html","title":{"rendered":"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur<\/i> will use “a very grounded style of filmmaking”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"benhur-brothers\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Timur Bekmambetov is making the rounds right now to promote Hardcore Henry<\/a><\/i>, an action film he produced that comes out April 8, and along the way he has talked a bit about the new Ben-Hur<\/a><\/i>, which he directed and is due to come out August 12.<\/p>\n

Speaking to SlashFilm<\/a>, Bekmambetov said his Ben-Hur<\/i> \u2014 the fifth live-action take on the story since 1907, and the first feature-length big-screen version since the 1959 classic \u2014 will be more \u201cgrounded\u201d than some of the other films he has made:<\/p>\n

The style comes from the script and the tone of the movie. For example, in Ben-Hur, it\u2019s very, very different. The visual concepts are very different, because it was very important, for this project, following John Ridley<\/b>\u2018s (12 Years a Slave) script, to make it as grounded as possible and as real as possible. In the whole movie, there\u2019s not one slow-motion shot [Laughs]. It\u2019s handheld, no huge crane shots, slow-motion, or whatever. It\u2019s a very grounded style of filmmaking, which was important.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s an interesting comment, in light of what we have seen so far. Early on in the first trailer<\/a>, there is a point-of-view shot as Judah Ben-Hur is dragged out of a sinking ship and tossed into the air, and the camera looks down at Judah\u2019s feet\u2026<\/p>\n

\"benhur-feet-pov\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026which many people have compared to the point-of-view shots in Hardcore Henry<\/i>:<\/p>\n

\"hardcorehenry\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So perhaps the two films aren\u2019t entirely<\/i> different, as Bekmambetov suggests?<\/p>\n

Recall, also, how Bekmambetov said last year that his version of the iconic chariot race will be inspired by YouTube videos<\/a> (\u201ca lot of whip pans and zooming\u201d).<\/p>\n

Anyway, moving right along, Bekmambetov also suggested that the \u201cgroundedness\u201d of his film will set it apart from earlier adaptations of Lew Wallace\u2019s novel:<\/p>\n

No matter what, people will compare it [to the 1959 film], and there\u2019s no way you can survive comparisons made to the classical movies. People will not compare us to the movie, but to the dream, the memory [of the movie]. The movie should be very different in order to survive, and that\u2019s why Ben-Hur is very realistic. It\u2019s a realistic, deep drama, not a huge tentpole attraction. It\u2019s just drama.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bekmambetov \u2014 the director of Wanted<\/a><\/i> and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter<\/a><\/i> \u2014 is not exactly known for making \u201cjust drama\u201d, so we\u2019ll see how that pans out.<\/p>\n

One other thing the SlashFilm interview makes plain, which I somehow hadn\u2019t fully registered yet, is that Messala is Judah\u2019s \u201cadopted brother\u201d in this film.<\/p>\n

I had thought that the use of the word \u201cbrother\u201d in the trailer was only figurative, but it seems this is another change that the filmmakers have made to the story \u2014 along with eliminating Judah\u2019s adoption by Quintus Arrius<\/a> after the sea battle and adding a scene<\/a> in which Judah meets Jesus before<\/i> Judah is enslaved by the Romans.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[411,2202,3502,1400],"class_list":["post-43228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-ben-hur","tag-ben-hur-2016","tag-hardcore-henry","tag-timur-bekmambetov"],"yoast_head":"\nTimur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use "a very grounded style of filmmaking"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use "a very grounded style of filmmaking"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-30T01:55:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2016\/03\/benhur-brothers-1024x274.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html\",\"name\":\"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use \\\"a very grounded style of filmmaking\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-30T01:55:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-30T01:55:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use “a very grounded style of filmmaking”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use \"a very grounded style of filmmaking\"","description":"Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use \"a very grounded style of filmmaking\"","og_description":"Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2016-03-30T01:55:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2016\/03\/benhur-brothers-1024x274.png"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html","name":"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use \"a very grounded style of filmmaking\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-30T01:55:04+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-30T01:55:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"Plus: another hint regarding how the new film will make bigger changes to the story than previous films have.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/03\/timur-bekmambetov-says-his-version-of-ben-hur-will-use-a-very-grounded-style-of-filmmaking.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Timur Bekmambetov says his version of Ben-Hur will use “a very grounded style of filmmaking”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}