{"id":50331,"date":"2016-07-26T14:06:24","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=50331"},"modified":"2016-12-10T22:38:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-11T06:38:13","slug":"watch-the-first-five-clips-from-the-new-ben-hur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/07\/watch-the-first-five-clips-from-the-new-ben-hur.html","title":{"rendered":"Watch: The first five clips from the new Ben-Hur<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"benhur2016-clip-gestas\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first five clips from the new version of Ben-Hur<\/a><\/i> are now available via WingClips<\/a>, a website that provides movie clips that pastors can use to illustrate their sermons etc. As you might expect, these clips focus on the religious themes of the film, rather than the action-packed spectacle that the trailers have tended to emphasize.<\/p>\n

Four of these clips were posted to the ShareBenHur.com website a couple weeks ago but were not embeddable on any other sites at the time. I wrote some notes<\/a> about those four clips back then and have copied-and-pasted them below, along with some new thoughts on the fifth clip (which is actually listed as Clip 2 below).<\/p>\n

Clip 1 \u2014 \u2018Jesus the Carpenter\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

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Summary:<\/i> Judah and Esther are in the marketplace when the Romans reveal that they are about to crucify a Zealot. \u201cDamn the Zealots,\u201d says Judah. \u201cAll they want is freedom,\u201d says Esther. \u201cAnd at what cost?\u201d asks Judah. \u201cIf they have their way they\u2019ll bring all of Rome down on us. Then where will our freedom be?\u201d At this point, a nearby carpenter pipes up and says, \u201cThere is freedom elsewhere. Love your enemies.\u201d Judah scoffs, \u201cThat\u2019s very progressive.\u201d The carpenter continues, \u201cGod is Love. He made us to share that love. . . . Hate and fear are lies. They turn us against each other. Those are the lies that make us slaves. He has a path planned for you.\u201d Judah replies, \u201cIf he has a path planned for me, how am I better off than a slave?\u201d Jesus looks at Esther (who was born into slavery) and says, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you ask her<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Comment:<\/i><\/b> Based on this clip, the Judah of this film comes across as a privileged and even complacent member of society who scorns the upstarts who would disturb his way of life, which is a significant shift from the Judah of the 1959 film, who advocated non-violence as a man of principle. Meanwhile, the Esther of this film sympathizes with the Zealots, whereas I believe she was pretty solidly on the side of non-violence in the 1959 film too. It is also hinted here that Judah, as a slave owner, may be prompted to rethink his relationship with slavery, whereas the 1959 film never challenged the way Judah spoke warmly about \u201cinheriting\u201d Esther\u2019s father. Judah\u2019s remark that Jesus\u2019 teachings are \u201cvery progressive\u201d sounds a bit modern to my ears, and reminds me of how Jesus told Peter they were going to \u201cchange the world\u201d in The Bible<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Clip 2 \u2014 \u2018Jesus Helps Judah\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

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Summary:<\/i> Judah has fallen to the ground while being marched through the city by the Romans. Esther says tearfully, \u201cSomeone help us.\u201d Jesus steps out of the crowd and takes a cup of water from a Roman soldier and offers it to Judah. \u201cThank you,\u201d says Judah. \u201cYou\u2019d do the same,\u201d replies Jesus, who then helps Judah get back on his feet. Judah is marched away, as Esther cries out, \u201cWhere are you taking him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Comment:<\/i><\/b> In all previous versions of the story, Jesus meets Judah for the first time in Nazareth, and gives him a drink of water there. But in this version, the drink-of-water scene seems to be taking place in Jerusalem and, as we know from the clip before this one, Jesus and Judah have already met at least once before. Most earlier versions<\/a> of this scene emphasized the mystical nature of Jesus and his effect on other people, but this clip is filmed less formally and written more ambiguously: yes, the Roman lets Jesus take the cup, but Jesus\u2019 suggestion that Judah would do what he<\/i> is doing undercuts the sense that there is anything unique<\/i> about Jesus here \u2014 and it seems at odds with the earlier clip, in which Judah didn\u2019t exactly come across as the sort of person who would stick his neck out for any of the Romans\u2019 victims.<\/p>\n

Clip 3 \u2014 \u2018Jesus Protects the Leper\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

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Summary:<\/i> Pilate, Messala and some other Romans are riding their horses down the street when they see some Jews throwing stones at a leper, trying to kill him. Jesus rushes out of the crowd and embraces the leper, and some of the stones hit him, too, as he shields the leper. \u201cLove your neighbour as we love ourselves,\u201d says Jesus. The stones stop flying. Jesus stands up, holding the leper, and tells the crowd, \u201cHate, anger, fear \u2014 those are lies they use to turn you against each other. When you set aside the hate they force you to carry, that\u2019s when you know love is our true nature.\u201d Pilate tells Messala Jesus is more dangerous than all the Zealots combined.<\/p>\n

Comment:<\/i><\/b> The biblical Jesus healed lepers on at least two<\/a> occasions<\/a>, but didn\u2019t use the healings as an opportunity to teach others; in fact, on one of those occasions, he explicitly told the leper not to tell anyone about the healing, except for the priests who were supposed to oversee the ritual of cleansing required by the Law of Moses (Mark 1:44, Matthew 8:4, Luke 5:14). It is also striking to see the Jesus of this film physically attacked (albeit by stones that were intended for someone else) long before his crucifixion; most films, including most earlier versions of Ben-Hur<\/i>, have imagined that there was something rather imposing about Jesus that caused people to back down when he confronted them. (Note, incidentally, that there is no indication in this clip that Jesus actually heals<\/i> the leper being stoned; the clip\u2019s primary focus is on social<\/i> restoration rather than on physical<\/i> or biological<\/i> restoration.)<\/p>\n

Clip 4 \u2014 \u2018Judah and Esther\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

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Summary:<\/i> Esther tells Judah that twenty people are being crucified in retaliation for Judah\u2019s recent effort to kill Messala. (Said effort was glimpsed in the movie\u2019s first trailer<\/a>.) Judah says Rome is responsible for those deaths, not him. Esther mentions that her father was killed, too, and Judah says he won\u2019t let Messala go unpunished. Esther replies, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing here for you any more,\u201d and walks away.<\/p>\n

Comment.<\/i><\/b> It\u2019s interesting to see how Judah blamed the Zealots for the actions of the Romans against the Jews in the earlier clip, but now that he\u2019s consumed with revenge he blames Rome rather than himself for the deaths of these other people. Esther\u2019s father was crucified in the 2010 miniseries as Judah was being led away to the galleys, but he was only tortured and crippled in the 1959 film. In the original novel, Esther\u2019s father lived much longer and helped Judah to support the early church while Nero was persecuting the Christians in Rome, over 30 years after the crucifixion of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Clip 5 \u2014 \u2018Jesus\u2019 Crucifixion\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

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Summary:<\/i> Jesus is being led down the street, forced to carry his crossbeam. He falls to the pavement, and Judah brings him a cup of water. A Roman soldier whips Judah, and Judah grabs a stone to throw at him \u2014 but Jesus takes Judah\u2019s hand and says, \u201cMy life, I give it of my own free will.\u201d Judah goes to Golgotha and sees Jesus crucified between the two rebels there. One of the rebels<\/a> asks Jesus to remember him in his kingdom, and Jesus says, \u201cToday, you will be with me in Paradise.\u201d Jesus looks at Judah and says, \u201cFather, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.\u201d Judah has flashbacks to happier times with Messala, and then remembers how Messala\u2019s battered body was carried after the chariot race. Jesus says, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d and dark clouds appear as his head falls against his chest, lifeless. A soldier stabs Jesus\u2019 side with a spear. Judah falls to his knees and drops the stone that was in his hand.<\/p>\n

Comment:<\/i><\/b> Is that the same stone? Has Judah been carrying it all this time, as Jesus carried his cross, was crucified, and spent hours suffering up there? (Note: Judah originally picked the stone up with his right hand, and he drops it from his left hand.) The example Jesus set by forgiving the people who killed him is, of course, meant to be followed by all who believe in him. But there\u2019s something about the juxtaposition of his words with Judah\u2019s flashback that reminds me of the 2010 miniseries, where Jesus walked right up to Judah<\/a> while he was in chains and told him to forgive the Romans, \u201cfor they know not what they do.\u201d Can the saying be generalized to that extent? Are all<\/i> sins rooted in ignorance? What if the offenders do<\/i> know what they are doing?<\/p>\n

So, those are our first clips from the film. Ben-Hur<\/i> comes to theatres August 19.<\/p>\n

Check out earlier trailers and other videos here:<\/p>\n