For Christmas a few years ago, the author was given the ‘50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition’ of Ben-Hur. It’s one of her favorite movies of all time. Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
My introduction to God didn’t come from my parents or from church. I grew up in a non-religious family where no one talked about God. We didn’t say grace before meals, or prayers before bed. We didn’t go to church on Sunday mornings. We didn’t even have a copy of the Bible in our house.
Other than knowing instinctively that my heart was full of God’s love — my mother says I was born spiritual — I received my first information about God via movies on TV.
I don’t remember the first time I saw Ben-Hur. The 1959 film was routinely shown each Easter. It took several years before I fully understood it. (There were no videos to rewind and watch again.)
Ben-Hur isn’t about Jesus’ life, but his influence permeates the film. I recently learned that the book on which the film is based — Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ — was called “the most influential Christian book of the 19th century” in an essay from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Ben-Hur was the top-selling book in the United States from the time it was published until Gone with the Wind was published in 1936. When the religious epic won 11 Academy Awards, the book surged back to the top of the bestseller lists.
The end of Ben-Hur coincides with Christ’s crucifixion. Judah Ben-Hur recognizes Jesus as the man who, years before, had given him water as he was being dragged in chains to serve Rome rowing endlessly in the belly of a warship. Judah is stunned to hear Christ asking for God’s forgiveness for the men who are savaging him.
As Christ dies, a tempest sweeps across the land with a lightning storm and a terrifying darkness like night. Esther and Judah’s mother and sister have taken refuge in a cave. The women begin crying out in pain, but when the light returns, the women see the deadly leprosy has been healed. The intense musical score reaches a crescendo and the sun rises on a new day, the first day where sin is no longer a death sentence. God’s loving, forgiving, omnipotent presence spreads like the sunlight across the whole world. The end.
You’ll have to set aside a good amount of time to watch Ben-Hur. Even if you skip the overture, intermission, and entr’acte, its running time is 212 minutes.
Other choicesEaster is April 9 this year, and Pastor Andy Hagen of Advent Church likes a little lighter fare in films with that theme. “I have always had a tie for best Easter
movie: Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. Both came out in 1973 when I was a teenager and made the story I knew from Sunday School come alive for me. I remember sneaking out of church to listen to the music in the church parking lot!”
The musicals went a long way toward educating kids growing up in the ’70s about the Lord and they brought new, modern music to the church. I Don’t Know How to Love Him was a Billboard Hot 100 chart hit for both Yvonne Elliman and Helen Reddy and paved the way for Christian pop.
Father Kevin McQuone, the spiritual director and assistant professor of pastoral theology at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, says Mel Gibson’s bloody epic starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus had a long-lasting effect on him.
“The Passion of the Christ is one of the most profound (films) to help me enter into Good Friday. While it is very graphic and hard to watch, I appreciate how it helps me know the greatness of the price that Jesus paid because it reaffirms how much I am loved and how greatly I am valued by God.”
Happy Easter.
Top 5 Easter dramas
In a quick survey of 15 diverse ‘Best Easter Movies’ lists published online, and excluding animated films with bunnies, the top five Easter dramas are:
• The Passion of the Christ (2004)
• Ben-Hur (1959)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
• Risen (2016)
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com.
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