15 November 2008

Need...water...

I finally watched Ben Hur. I watched it in two increments, starting last night, and finishing tonight. Here is a little breakdown of what I thought-

SAPPINESS/ROMANCE- Judah is re-introduced to a faithful family friend's daughter, Esther, whom he hasn't seen in years. Man and woman are immediately smitten with one another, even though Esther is engaged to be married to a dude named David. That night, Judah and Esther meet and have a chat. Judah proclaims that if she weren't a bride, he would kiss her goodbye (she was leaving the next day to go to Antioch, I believe). She replies, (oh, sappiness) that if she weren't a bride, there would be no goodbyes to be said. I groaned aloud. I'll totally ruin the movie for you (ha ha) and go ahead and say that they do eventually get together.

GROSS/EEEW- In the warship in which Judah was a slave/rower, many times the Roman soldiers would chain the rowers to the ship in the event of a battle, so that in case of a loss the slaves could not escape. Of course, it also makes for a horrific death if the ship happen to sink. Soon after the soldiers had chained said slaves, the slaves could look through the portholes (I guess?) and see the enemy warship headed to ram into the side of the ship. They all screamed and tried frantically to free themselves from the shackles which bound their ankles to the chains. The camera decided to pan into a nice shot of one man trying to pry the shackle from his ankle, rubbing it back and forth forcefully, tearing skin and showing raw flesh underneath. That was Eew #1.
Eew #2 came when a ship beam (I guess?) came down on a slave's arm after the enemy had rammed into the ship, and the beam severed the arm from about the elbow down. So it showed him waving his bloody, boney stump around. Yay. Without going into more gory details, I'll just say that in that scene alone, there were 5 bloody/severed limbs.
Eew #3 took place a little further on in the movie in the Chariot Race. I feel like the words "chariot race" should be capitalized.. I don't know why, but I will do it anyway.
There was a man who fell off of his chariot, and he dragged behind his horses for a while, then decided to let go, a good choice I thought. He was, I regret to say, crushed by the oncoming traffic soon after releasing the reins of his galloping horses.
Eew #4 was when Mesala, Judah's best friend-turned-enemy, got thrown off his chariot and hung for a few long seconds underneath the chariot behind him. He rolled underneath, getting trampled pretty badly, and when he finally came out from underneath it I honestly expected him to be in at least 3 pieces, with his head rolling off. But no, he was in one piece, and looked beaten up, but his head was still attached.

Here are notes that I took during the movie, and some things that pressed on my mind throughout-

Judah's sister is annoying
Heston reminds me of someone, but I can't figure out who
The Emperor looks like weird old woman. This makes me wonder.
When did clapping first originate, and where, and why?
The Sheik looked like he was wearing a sort of blackface...greasepaint I am almost sure. Otherwise he just has a really dirty, oily face.
"What, you think you can treat my horses like animals??" says the Sheik, and oddly enough, I laugh.
When Judah first arrives in Jerusalem and is walking down the street, there is a man walking behind him who looks exactly a Geico Caveman.
The lepers were creepy, which I am sure was the effect the director wished to give
When the Roman heralds blew their trumpets, or horns, the notes that sounded were very elaborate. And their horns didn't even have any finger-things. I don't know too much about instruments.
Why did Judah take his helmet off right before the race?
The Charot Race was intense!
Major tranplings going on
In the crucifixion scene, Jesus made absolutly no sound when the nails were hammered into his feet. Odd. True, he's perfect, but he could definitely feel that.

I really like this movie, it is good. It deserves 100th spot. No lower, no higher. This movie made me thirsty, though. There were so many parts where Charlton Heston looked so tired and parched and I found myself having a hard time swallowing. Not cool.
I don't even know what movie is next, #99. I will have to check, and hopefully won't procrastinate like I know I will and watch it next weekend.Yay!

1 comment:

  1. Bonnie. I'm proud of you for finally watching the movie. It took guts and determination. And, I'm sure it was well worth it, right? I think your brain works faster than your fingers though.
    love to you-
    mama

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