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First 'Moving Picture' draws record crowds
Technology and the Sciences continue to advance in the country and the world benefitting a few people but a recent development has drawn crowds across the country. Ben-Hur, the first moving picture filmed and produced in Brasil has seen record ticket sales in cinema halls, many of them improvised theatres from the smallest villages to the largest cities. The Church, who has protested some theatre productions in the past for 'immorality' has been encouraging parishioners to attend and even bought tickets for groups.
"We have never seen such sales, even the best theatre production could not compete with this!", said Dado Fonseca, a theatre owner. The picture is based on the book: Ben-Hur: Um Conto de Cristo (Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ) written by
Isa Assunção Horn in 1975.
Ben-Hur is a wealthy Jew and boyhood friend of the powerful Roman
Tribune,
Messala. When an accident leads to Ben-Hur's arrest, Messala, who has become corrupt and arrogant, makes sure Ben-Hur and his family are jailed and separated.
Ben-Hur is sentenced to slave labor in a Roman war
galley. Along the way, he unknowingly encounters
Jesus, the carpenter's son who offers him water. Once aboard ship, his attitude of defiance and strength impresses a Roman admiral,
Quintus Arrius, who allows him to remain unchained. This actually works in the Admiral's favor because when his ship is attacked and sunk by pirates, Ben-Hur saves him from drowning.
Arrius then treats Ben-Hur as a son, and over the years the young man grows strong and becomes a victorious
chariot racer. This eventually leads to a climactic showdown with Messala in a chariot race, in which Ben-Hur is the victor.
Ben-Hur is eventually reunited with his mother and sister, who are suffering from
leprosy but are miraculously cured by Jesus.
[4]
Director: Jaime Weber
Ben-Hur: Leo Guido Kahler
Massala: Luitger Giovanni Crespo
Mary: Carola Hiltrude Nazario
Esther: Alícia Kriemhild Oursler
OOC: Names have been changed