Ben-hur (1926)
Fri., Jan. 23, 1998
What Titanic is to the modern ultra-budget movie spectacle, Ben-Hur was to the silent film era. Made for a then-record $4 million, this 1926 release is an extravagant action epic. Its chariot races and sea-battle footage are immortal classics, and Ramon Navarro and Francis X. Bushman deliver the performances of their careers. But what makes this particular screening truly exceptional is that the silent film will be shown with live musical accompaniment by members of the Austin Symphony Orchestra performing the reconstructed 1926 score conducted by Gillian Anderson, a specialist in orchestral film restoration. (During most of the silent period, films were rarely shown silent; bigger cities had orchestras in their best houses and even the smallest theatre had a piano.) Additionally, the archive print includes several sequences shot in an early two-color Technicolor process.
Silent movies are magical. Sound movies walk right in, pretending to be just like real life; they are set in our world. By nature, silent films are unreal; they glide through your imagination. Absolutely compelling, the silence works for them, they are set in a world without sound (watch how often they use this with clanging noises and explosive messes not waking nor alerting characters). It is not really our world, it is their world. My memories of Ben-Hur are of loving it, of a grand sea battle and a magnificent chariot race. They are of the texture of the silent that allowed this story from the past to seem more real, as though it was being told to me as a dream. This is a truly rare opportunity to experience classic cinema in a genuinely historical context.
For info, call 472-5470; for tickets call 469-SHOW. (NR, 141 min.) @Paramount; Sat, 8pm
