Ben-Hur 1959 vs 2016 Semiotics

Ben-Hur (1959) was arguably one of the most impactful and well performing movies of the 20th century. It had the largest budget at the time, $15.175 million, won numerous awards including 11 Academy Awards, and broke many records during its production process. With the movie being a classic and it doing so well why would anyone what to step up and remake it? Well Timur Bekmambetov decided that exactly what he wanted to do but he claimed that the new movie would be a completely different take on the old story. And while some might disagree with his statement I’m here to see how true he was to his word. 

In this analysis I am going to be looking at two key differences between Ben-Hur (1959) and Ben-Hur (2016). The first key difference I’ll be looking at Messala’s death in 1959 and Messala’s survival in 2016. In the older movie Judah Ben-Hur and Messala are involved in a chariot race to the death near the end of the movie. Judah is out to seek revenge Messala because he betrayed him, his mother, and sister and he believes that Messala killed his family. Judah’s motives in the first movie are all centered around revenge and he ends up killing Messala during the race. Messala’s last words let Judah know that his family is alive to spite him and this begins his search for them. In the 2016 movie this goes differently. The chariots race concludes with Messala being extremely wounded and he loses a leg, but he survives. After his mother and sister are headed of their leprosy during the rainstorm after Christ’s death and eventually Messala forgives Judah and he accompanies Judah and his family as they leave Jerusalem in a caravan. The main theme of this movie in contrast to the older one is the theme of forgiveness versus revenge. 

The second key difference that I’ll be looking at is Ben-Hur and Esther’s relationship. In the 1959 movies Esther, the family slave’s daughter, and Judah fall in love but Esther has an arranged marriage already set for her by her father. Judah and Esther are forced apart when Judah is forced out of Rome and becomes a slave. Near the end of the movie they are able to reconnect and Judah finds out Esther’s marriage fell through and that she still loves him. In the 2016 movie Esther is the family slave and when Judah finds out that her father wants to marry her off Judah proclaims his love for her and takes her as his wife. This change affects Judah’s character as in the first movie he does not have a wife and so he doesn’t have this to keep him going. In the newer movie he has her to keep him going and I think this also contributes to his forgiveness because he knows love.