Ben Hur (2016)

Ben Hur: Directed by Timur Bekmambetov. With Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi. Judah Ben-Hur, a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother, an officer in the Roman army, returns to his homeland after years at sea to seek revenge, but finds redemption.

“Huston conveyed emotion, remorse, rage, resignation and relief with depth and the effortlessness of truth: each won by long years of pain or the grace of an instant. A sort of well, dare I say u0026#39;goodnessu0026#39; seems to emanate from the man. He is blithely naive, callow, filled with talent and care for his fellow man and beasts. A mantle of grace rests upon him….you can feel it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI would give his performance 10 stars. In fact, I do.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film, however…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI do not like the inclusion of contemporary music in historical settings. It grates at the suspension of disbelief required to be lost in the time and place being brought to life. It holds the entire narrative up against a shadow puppet screen and says u0026#39;remember, this isnu0026#39;t real.u0026#39; Thatu0026#39;s not what I want. Contemporary music plays at the close of the film, I recall.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso, the costuming…. they didnu0026#39;t get away with the use of polyester fabrics ~ particularly with metallic elements. They could be seen and were glaring anachronisms, particularly in the womenu0026#39;s clothing and in the beginning scenes. Again, jarring to one wishing to believe he is indeed looking upon the time roughly corresponding with the beginning of our calendar system. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe costuming recovers, however. Hustonu0026#39;s tunics and attire are flawless. But what about Freemanu0026#39;s Tuareg clothing? Was he a Moor? A Tuareg? An Amazight? They might have made it more clear which sort of African he represented.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is worth seeing. It is stirring. It touches the depths of suffering and sorrow and leaves an impression if not a few tears.”