Ben-Hur (1959)
Haya Harareet: Esther
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Quotes
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Esther : It was Judah Ben-Hur I loved. What has become of him? You seem to be now the very thing you set out to destroy. Giving evil for evil. Hatred is turning you to stone. It's as though you had become Messala.
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[last lines]
Judah Ben-Hur : Almost at the moment He died, I heard Him say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Esther : Even then.
Judah Ben-Hur : Even then. And I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand.
[Miriam and Tirzah appear at the top of the stairs; Judah goes up to them, sees that they have been miraculously healed; they embrace each other]
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Judah Ben-Hur : If you were not a bride, I would kiss you goodbye.
Esther : If I were not a bride, there would be no goodbyes to be said.
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Esther : Oh, Judah, rest. Sleep. For a few hours of the night, let your mind be at peace.
Judah Ben-Hur : [bitterly] Peace! Love and peace. Do you think I don't long for them as you do? Where do you see them?
Esther : If you had heard this man from Nazareth...
Judah Ben-Hur : Balthasar's word.
Esther : He is more than Balthasar's word. His voice traveled with such a still purpose... It was more than a voice... a man more than a man! He said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
Judah Ben-Hur : Children of God? In that dead valley where we left them? I tell you every man in Judea is unclean, and will *stay* unclean, until we've scoured off our bodies the crust and filth of being at the mercy of tyranny. No other life is possible except to wash this land clean!
Esther : In blood?
Judah Ben-Hur : Yes, in blood!
Esther : I know there is a law in life, that blood gets more blood as dog begets dog. Death generates death, as the vulture breeds the vulture! But the voice I heard today on the hill said, "Love your enemy. Do good to those who despitefully use you."
Judah Ben-Hur : So all who are born in this land hereafter can suffer as we have done!
Esther : As you make us do now! Are we to bear nothing together? Even love?
Judah Ben-Hur : I can hardly draw breath without feeling you in my heart. Yet I know that everything I do from this moment will be as great a pain to you as you have ever suffered. It is better not to love me!
Esther : It was Judah Ben-Hur I loved. What has become of him? You seem to be now the very thing you set out to destroy, giving evil for evil! Hatred is turning you to stone. It is as though you had become Messala!
[Judah looks at Esther, shocked]
Esther : [sadly] I've lost you, Judah.
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Miriam : [speaking of Christ] As though he were carrying that cross the pain of the world.
[she whispers]
Miriam : So fearful.
Tirzah : And yet why is it... I'm not afraid anymore?
[thunder rumbles]
Esther : The shadow of a storm.
[they go inside a nearby cave; the sky goes dark outside]
Esther : A strange darkness, but still day.
[a violent storm begins]
Miriam : His life is over.
[lightning cracks]
Tirzah : He's here. It's tearing... I feel the pain!
Miriam : I feel it too.
[They seem to faint]
Esther : [concerned] Miriam?
[Miriam presses Esther's hand]
Esther : I thought that... Miriam! Do you see your hand?
[They look; Tirzah sits up, healed]
Esther : Tirzah! Miriam!
[They touch each other's faces, feel their hands, embrace as they realize they've been healed]
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[Christ passes, bearing the cross]
Esther : How can this be?
Judah Ben-Hur : [shocked] I *know* this man!
[Jesus stumbles and is whipped by the centurions]
Miriam : [pleading] Won't someone help him?
[Jesus is whipped again]
Tirzah : Pity on him!
Miriam : [wonderingly] In his pain... there's a look of peace.
Judah Ben-Hur : Watch over them, Esther.
[he goes after Jesus]
Miriam : We must go back.
Esther : [sadly] I brought you here to this... when I hoped...
Miriam : [looking after Christ] You haven't failed, Esther.
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[Judah confronts Esther and Malluch in the Valley of the Lepers]
Judah Ben-Hur : [angrily, to Esther] Why did you tell me they were dead?
Esther : It was what they wanted. Judah, I must not betray this faith. Will you do this for them?
Judah Ben-Hur : Not to see them?
Esther : [seeing Miriam and Tirzah approach] They are coming... Judah! Judah, love them in the way they most need to be loved: not to look at them! Judah, let it be as though you had never come here. Please, Judah!
[Judah hides behind a boulder as Esther goes to meet Miriam]
Miriam : Is Judah well? Is he happy?
[Judah's face twists in anguish]
Esther : Yes. He is well. Your mind can be at rest for him. He is well, Miriam.
Miriam : [taking the basket of food] God be with you.
[Miriam and Tirzah go back into their cave]
Esther : [going back to Judah] They are gone. We can go back.
Judah Ben-Hur : [bitterly] Go back... to what?
Esther : Judah, they have one blessing left: to think you remember them as they were. Live your own life. Forget what is here.
Judah Ben-Hur : Forget? It's as if they were alive in a grave!
Esther : But what can you do?
Judah Ben-Hur : Undo what you've done! How could you have suffered them to come here? I must see them!
Esther : No Judah, please! Judah!
[Judah starts toward the cave but is stopped by Malluch]
Esther : Oh, think, Judah, *think*! It will tear them apart if they see you!
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[Judah, Esther, Miriam and Tirzah enter the city to find it deserted except for a blind beggar]
Judah Ben-Hur : [to Blind Man] Why are the streets deserted?
Blind Man : They have gone to the trial. Alms for the blind?
Judah Ben-Hur : Trial? Whose trial?
Blind Man : The young rabbi from Nazareth. They are wanting his death.
Esther : It cannot be true!
Blind Man : [holding out his cup] Alms?
Judah Ben-Hur : What has he done?
Blind Man : Nothing I know of. For the blind? For the blind? Help for the blind?
[Judah drops a coin in his cup]
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Esther : The stone that fell from this roof so long ago is still falling.
