Richards' gives both the 1926 and 1959 a brief analysis on the production of the film, and it's success in the theater. I felt that there were many parts of the movie that Richards should have gone more in depth with. This includes the new use of technicolor, shots and angles, and symbolism. The advancement in editing and overlaying colors onto film were quite significant but there was little recognition of this technological feat. In the previous films that were mentioned in the chapter, Richards went in depth on shots and colors used. When talking about Cabiria, he spent time talking about the different important long shots and how they kept the audience engaged with the film. For another movie he wrote about what the different color overlay meant in each scene. This type of analysis would be useful on Ben Hur film and should have been included. Richards talked about one symbolic moment in the film where Pilates palace crumbles in the earthquake and with it Rome's power. This statement made me wonder what other symbolic meaning could be behind other events.
I found the comparison between the Ben Hur movies very interesting. Richards brings up how characters were cut and background information thrown out of the 1959 version. I felt that Richards could have included more information on how it changed the movie overall message.
You are right, Richards could have said more about the actual meaning of the different color tints or full-color scenes.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the overall message, the 1959 film focuses on the same parallel story as the silent movie. For that reason, the film's message is pretty much the same. The parts of the story that the later movie omits, e.g. the Iras subplot, only distract from that main theme. So leaving them out doesn't change the overall focus on a Ben Hur who, thanks to Jesus, learns to give up hatred in favor of love.