The Original Ben Hur

I had a chance today to see the original, silent, film of "Ben Hur", shown at the Sage with live orchestral accompaniment from an augmented Northern Sinfonia.

The film, made in 1925, is one of the classics of the silent era and claims to be the first great epic of the cinema with huge crowd scenes, a naval battle and the famous chariot race.

These 'big' scenes all still look very impressive. The more intimate scenes less so with the acting looking very odd to modern eyes and laughable at times. The whole thing has rather a camp feel to it.

What brought the film to life was having the live accompaniment. Carl Davis composed a new score for the film a few years ago and that is what was used. It is written in a lush romantic style, with noticeable quotes from "Parsifal" and "Salome" and it fits the story and the action very well indeed. The chariot race, with the exciting action matched by mounting excitment in the orchestra, brought a burst of applause from the audience.

The Sinfonia played the score very well and there was a tour de force conducting job from Alan Fearon - never once losing synchronisation between film and music.

I don't think this will turn me into a silent film buff but a most interesting afternoon's entertainment.