Review of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) by Duncan W — 05 Jan 2010

Despite having seen the Charlton heston version countles times. it wasn't until this Christmas that I finally got round to watching this version. its very good and butifully shot with stunning visuals all round.

the chariot sequence is equally as amazing as it's later counterpart. what really struck me about this version was it's interpretation of christ. he appears more frequently but never truly "appears" at all always hidden his face never seen.

I found this incredibly powerful as it meant the portrayal of christ belonged to you the individual and not oh look its robert powell etc.. a very clever touch I thought. judah ben hur also seemed a lot younger in his portrayla here and that added a wonderful vunerability to his early fate.