[Kim Seong-kon] Watching 2016 remake of ‘Ben-Hur’

I watched the 1959 version of “Ben-Hur” in 1962 when the classic American movie was released in Korea. At the time, I was an eighth grader who hopelessly fell in love with Hollywood movies. Charlton Heston, who starred in “Ben-Hur,” was my idol and John Wayne in “Stagecoach” was another.

Living in a bleak landscape of postwar Korean society, I found solace and comfort in colorful American movies that introduced me to a whole new world. While watching Hollywood movies in a theater, I was able to forget the grim reality momentarily and indulge in fantasy instead. When I watched “Ben-Hur” I was thrilled and overwhelmed by its enormous scale and splendid spectacles which I could not find in Korean movies.

During the Chuseok recess, I watched the 2016 remake of “Ben-Hur” in a theater near my house, thanks to the complimentary ticket sent by one of my former students from Seoul National University. While the 1959 version was faithful to the novel written by Lew Wallace in 1880, the 2016 remake altered a few parts and gave the film a new perspective. Because of the alterations, the 2016 version has been called “a reimagining and reinterpretation of the novel.”

In the remake, for example, Messala, a Roman citizen who is the best friend of the protagonist Judah, appears as an adopted son of the Jewish Ben-Hur family. Another change is that in the 1959 version, loose tiles accidentally fall from the roof of the Ben-Hur mansion during the new Roman governor’s parade and the horse, spooked by the falling tiles, throws the governor to the ground. In the 2016 version, a young Zealot rebel, whom Judah has treated and sheltered, shoots an arrow to assassinate the Roman governor.

The endings are different, too. In the 1959 version, Messala dies during the chariot race so Judah’s vengeance is done at last. In the 2016 version, Messala lives after his seemingly fatal injuries at the chariot race and reconciles with Judah. 

Although the 2016 remake was not critically acclaimed like the original, I still liked it for some reason. First of all, in that film I saw a striking resemblance between Judea during the Roman occupation in AD 26 and South Korea under the military dictatorship in the mid-twentieth century.

During the Roman reign, the Zealots, radical Jewish rebels who were brainwashed with uncompromisingly extreme ideology of hatred, sabotaged and terrorized the Roman garrisons. Judah treats and shelters a wounded young Zealot, and yet the rebel does not hesitate to put Judah’s family in jeopardy by attempting to assassinate the Roman governor from the roof of the Ben-Hur mansion.

In the eyes of the ideologically-charged extremists, ideology comes first and all others are minor and thus casualties are unavoidable for grand cause or greater good. In addition, everything, including religion and arts, must serve the political ideology they subscribe to. The same thing happened in Korea during the military dictatorship.

In the movie Judah is a Jewish prince in Jerusalem and Messala a Roman commander. Although they are good friends, their political ideologies are different. Judah believes in the Jewish God and his people’s freedom, whereas Messala is devoted to the imperial power of the Roman Empire and believes in Roman gods.

Eventually they clash and issue an ultimatum to each other. Although he knows Judah has nothing to do with the assassination attempt, Messala accuses Judah of treason and sends him to a Roman galley as a slave rower, and throws his mother and sister in prison where they become lepers. Judah vows vengeance.

After five years of slavery, Judah finally escapes and returns to his home. There, he confronts Messala and challenges him in a chariot race and successfully defeats him. However, after encountering Jesus and witnessing his crucifixion, Judah realizes the hollowness of vengeance. He forgives Messala and embraces him as a friend. Finally, the family feud comes to an end. The hatred and ancient grudges between a colonizer and the colonized, between an imperialist and a colonial subject, or between a pagan and a Jew, are over forever.

Regrettably, however, the feud between the two mutually exclusive groups seems to continue in today’s Korean society. Indeed, we still are divided into two ideologically different factions that antagonize each other: radicals and conservatives, or Left and Right.

Like Messala and Judah, we were bosom friends. Unfortunately, however, we have become archenemies and abominate each other, obsessed with grudges and vengeance. Like the Jewish Zealots, we also have extremists who think of the United States as a modern day Rome that colonizes and oppresses us.

Armed with ultra-nationalism, these extremists blindly hate not only Westerners, whom they generalize as Americans, but also anybody who defends or sides with the West or the States. Incidentally, the participants in the chariot race scene were racially diverse, just like the States.

While watching “Ben-Hur” in 2016, I silently wished, “I wish my two children will one day live in a nation where there will be no factional brawls. I wish our ideologically divided people will one day hug each other affectionately and reconcile like Judah and Messala.” I briefly dreamed the impossible dream, a dream that was too good to be true.      .

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. — Ed.