BEN-HUR
IN THIS SCENE from Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959), Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), a captive, is parched but not allowed water by the Roman soldiers (go here). He cries out, "God help me," and Jesus appears to give him water. A Roman soldier, unaware who Jesus is, warns him away, but a puzzled look appears in the soldier's face; he sees authority in Jesus beyond his own worldly understanding. Jesus rises up into the frame, now facing the soldier, who faces us. A cut shows the soldier's puzzled look. Defeated, the soldier turns away, now in weak position. The sound, at this moment, of a horse's neigh seems to mock the soldier's stupidity (they're both animals).
Jesus returns to Ben-Hur, who, previously looking down, is now looking up, at Jesus. Then he stands up and faces Jesus as equals ("face to face"). Jesus has restored this man's human dignity.
As Ben-Hur rejoins the other captives, he turns back to look at Jesus. Turning back creates a tension within the composition between the faces following orders and looking ahead and the single face following Jesus in the other direction. Ben-Hur is no longer a captive of Rome, but a free man of Christ.
The blue sky now dominates the frame behind Ben-Hur. The man whose face had been on the ground has been liberated by the Spirit. The blue sky represents Ben-Hur's open future, his spiritual freedom.
Consider also Miklos Rozsa's Oscar-winning score, one of the great epic scores. There are several themes woven into this brief sequence. Noteworthy is the "sostenuto" (slowly bowed) string theme that is scored for Jesus throughout the film and the five-note phrase identified with Ben-Hur, loudly sounded by the brass at the end of the sequence.
A clever device of the film was never to show Jesus' face, just his back, as in the introductory part of this segment, an example of studied framing within the shot. Though Jesus is in weak position (right), the strong vertical of his upright posture and his foreground position within the shot dominates the frame, while the powerful Roman soldiers, seen from his point-of-view and also in weak position, seem like toys (above right). In fact, the soldier on horseback is exactly vertical to Jesus' hand, as in the Spiritual, "He's got the whole world in his hand."
To view this segment, go here.
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