French-Iranian director Robert Hossein to revive Epic Tale of Ben Hur in 2006
11/15/05It is a life long passion
for great epics that drove Robert Hossein to undertake a career as an actor in
Films in the early 50’s often playing bad guys or passionate lovers. Robert
Hosseinov was born in
Top Left to Right : Charlton Heston( Judas Ben Hur),
Robert Hossein and
Stephane Boyed (Messala) Lewis Wallace’s masterpiece will
be recreated as a
live performance at the Legendary Paris Stade de France where the 1998
World Cup was hosted. ©MGM 1959
He has gained the envied
reputation of a kind of Cecile B. DeMille with successful adaptations of
Shakespeare plays such as Julius Caesar or historical epic bio’s of Jesus
Christ, General Charles De Gaulle or French revolutionary Danton. Hossein also
visited
Hossein’s lifelong passion
for Ben Hur was satisfied when he saw the Hollywood Epic in the late fifties and
since them he has had an obsession to recreate this spectacle for a live
audience and on stage. Now in his mid seventies the famous director has decided
to meet this challenge and has announced that he will be producing a 13 million
euros show in
Left to Right : actor Anthony Delon son of
French Star Alain Delon will be cast as
Ben Hur’s foe Roman Centurion
Messalla. Props from the original 1959 classic Epic
film.
The success of epic sword
and sandals in the past years in Movies such as Gladiator, or Troy have
certainly motivated Hossein who expects 300,000 spectators in a show that will
be repeated only four times in late September 2006.
With a cast of 500 actors
and extras the show will include the famous chariot race, the crucifixion
of Christ as well as the
spectacular naval battles between the Roman fleet and that of the Mediterranean
pirates . As for the actors only the role of the evil Messala (the Roman
childhood friend who sends Ben Hur to the galleys and banishes his family) has been announced : Anthony Delon
son of famous Star Alain Delon.
Ever since its first
publication in 1880 Ben Hur has been adapted with success in two major films and
numerous theater adaptations and is said to be the most read book after the
Bible ...
However the success of
William Whyler’s MGM film adaptation with Charlton Heston and Stephan Boyed has
entered film history for its famous chariot race shot in Cinemascope. Will
Robert Hossein’s live version of this epic classic surpass our
expectations? No one knows that
answer for sure, but one can only admire Robert Hossein’s stamina and
determination to fulfill a childhood dream and passion for an eternal tale of
love and hate, revenge and pardon that are the essential ingredients to a
successful epic story.
About the
Author:
Darius KADIVAR is a freelance journalist born to an Iranian father and French
mother. He works and lives in