Big Screen Rome - Amazon Web Services

technology, in particular the newly developed MGM Camera 65. As the
name implies, the technique uses film that is 65mm wide, producing a
higher quality in visual clarity, with brighter definition and smooth, grainless
texture in the cinematic images. Valued at over $100,000 each, six of
these cameras were shipped from Los Angeles to Rome: an unexpected
expense was incurred when two of the costly cameras were crushed in a
mishap during the filming of the chariot race. The death of producer Sam
Zimbalist of a heart attack during filming in Rome in November 1958 has
often been attributed to the pressures of the massive production and the
studio’s risky investment.
As the film opens, the camera gradually focuses on the fingers of Adam
and God in Michelangelo’s famous fresco in the Sistine Chapel in Rome,
where the hands are stretching out but not quite touching each other.
This opening image signals the main plot of the film: one man’s slow and
difficult reach towards an understanding of God through the forging
of human connections (Elley, 134). Next comes the standard voice-over
situating the film’s chronology, while exaggerating somewhat the extent
of Roman influence in the area of Palestine during the previous century.
The prologue narration by epic film stalwart Finlay Currie, who played
Peter in Quo Vadis and appears in Ben-Hur as the Alexandrian wise man
Balthasar, generically accentuates the oppression of Roman rule, but lays
even more emphasis on the Jewish people’s hope for liberation, manifest
through the promise of a Messiah:
In the year of Our Lord, Judaea for nearly a century had lain under the
mastery of Rome. In the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, an
imperial decree ordered every Judaean each to return to his place of birth to
be counted and taxed. The converging ways of many of them led to the
gates of their capital city, Jerusalem, the troubled heart of their land. The
old city was dominated by the Fortress of Antonia, the seat of Roman
power, and by the great golden Temple, the outward sign of an inward and
imperishable faith. Even while they obeyed the will of Caesar, the people
clung proudly to their ancient heritage, always remembering the promise of
their prophets, that one day there would be born among them a redeemer,
to bring them salvation and perfect freedom.
The opening shots of Ben-Hur show docile groups of people, including
the family of Joseph of Nazareth, being herded together by brusque
Roman officials. This early scene representing the traditional biblical tale
of the Roman census illustrates inter-ethnic antagonisms between the
occupying Romans and the local Palestinian people, tensions that will
74 BEN-HUR (1959)