Ben-Hur Arteze: Why do we never see the face of Jesus in the film?

Directed by William Wyler, Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd in 1959, Ben-Hur is the most Oscar-winning film of all time (11 nominations, along with Titanic and The Return of the King).

This biblical and epic peplum broadcast at Arte tonight marked the history of cinema, in particular the famous chariot race sequence, which is often first mentioned when talking about a feature film.

Centered around the character of Judas, a wealthy Judean prince sent to the galleries by his childhood friend the Roman tribune Messala, Ben-Hur also and primarily tells the story of Jesus in the background (hence the film’s subtitle, A tale about Christ).

Throughout the work, the trajectory of the protagonists is closely related to Christ, to the extent that the feature film will begin with his birth and end after the crucifixion.

But, as viewers will notice, the image of Jesus Ben Hur It is radically different from those we are used to watching on the screen, due to the rather striking specificity of the staging: during the film we will never see the face or hear the voice of Christ.

This peculiarity, which nevertheless offered the feature film one of its most beautiful scenes, arose from a British law of the time, which simply forbade the physical or vocal representation of Jesus in the cinema, unless the latter was the main character of the film. . American comedian Claude Hatter, who therefore explained it from behind in Ben-Hur, was not even credited.

But from this rule, which can seriously hinder its staging, the director William Wheeler He knew how to create power. Thus, throughout the entire feature film, the representation of Christ will pass only through the imagination of the audience and, above all, through the acting of other actors.

Evidence of this is the sequence where Ben-Hur crosses the desert, chained to other galley slaves, and collapses on the ground, exhausted and utterly thirsty. At this moment we see only the hand of Christ, who drinks Judas, and his silhouette, which interposes itself between the latter and the Roman officer.

The power of the scene comes exclusively from the fascinated expression Charlton Hestonand the bewildered face of the actor who lends his features to the centurion. Which leaves an indelible memory for the moviegoers and offers Ben-Hur one of his most iconic moments.

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