I was stunned, thinking this was just another one of those 50s-60s Robe/Quo Vadis echo, but I was amazed at how original and timeless it is! Fleischer's direction was well above hired hand material, you can tell he was into it. Quinn really responded to Barabbas' journey, and the gladiator scenes remain above cliche. Definitely a must see and a perfect film to watch during Lent.
shareTotally agree. This is one of my favorite movies. Such an original story, and so well done. Anthony Quinn deserved an Oscar.
shareBen Hur combined with Gladiator and a touch of The Robe. Perhaps a touch overlong, but a very good film with some good spectacle. Perhaps the cast lists don't quite match those headed by Heston & Hawkins, Crowe and Burton, but Quinn does very well indeed. The sulphur mines section was excellent and I imagine that even acting in those (simulated) conditions would have been demanding. I didn't recognise two of my favourite actors in their make-up, Harry Andrews and Arthur Kennedy.
shareIt's a good movie because it the character has resonance. Barabbas is a man who goes through a series of traumas in his life, but is always moved and haunted by each and every one of them. The first, the one that awakes him is the death of Jesus who takes his place in death. The next is the death of his wife, whom he ignored and mistreated the entire time. The scene where he finds her stoned, is brief but a sad fleeting moment. Then of course there's the death of his friend in the mine shaft, which leads to his ultimate destiny, a persecuted martyr.
It's an understated sword and sandals film too. I loved how authentic the sets felt, like a real ancient village. In the days of CGI you just don't see many atmospheric period pieces anymore.
Fleischer's use of filming the Crucifixion scene during an actual eclipse is one of the film's brilliant touches. They had just one chance for it and got the effective coverage of the scene and in the process created the most authentic view of what the Gospels describe as darkness covering the Earth at that moment. Kudos also to Nascimbene's score for enhancing the mood as well.
Quinn's Barabbas is a fascinating, complex figure, much more interesting than the other depictions of Barabbas as would-be Zealot (the Gospels in fact only state that Barabbas was being held on a charge of murder and does not so identify him with the movement).
Benedict XVI made an interesting observation that Barabbas was a kind of Messianic figure in his own right, given that the name the name Barabbas, "Bar" + "abbas," means "son of the father," a juxtaposition to Jesus as Son of the Father. (Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, Part II p. 197)
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