Cleopatra

Cleopatra; historical drama, USA / UK / Switzerland, 1963; D: Jospeh L. Mankiewicz, S: Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Pamela Brown, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Cesare Danova, Martin Landau

48 BC. Roman general Julius Caesar arrives at Egypt's Alexandria ostensibly to search for his rival Pompey, but has ulterior imperialist motives. Ptolemy XIII rules the country, but Caesar is much more interested in his rival sister, Cleopatra. After the fight between Romans and Ptolemy's forces accidentaly put the library on fire, Cleopatra grows to hate Caesar, but still starts an affair with him in order to secure the throne for herself thanks to his support. She gives birth to his son and goes to Rome when Caesar is declared dictator. After Caesar gets murdered in a conspiracy in 44 BC, she returns to Alexandria. Proconsul Mark Antony is fighting in Parthia, but stops to meet Cleopatra at Tarsus and starts a relationship with her, yet gets forced to marry someone else. Cleopatra asks him to cede Roman territories in the Middle East to Ptolemaic Egypt, if he wants an economic collaboration, and he accepts, but this causes a civil war with Octavian's army. Losing the battle against Roman forces, Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide.

Despite the fact that it won several awards, monumental drama "Cleopatra" wasn't that successful since its budget, a then astronomical sum of 36 million $, managed to attract only 34 million $ gross at the US box office, and 48 million $ until '70, which signaled the end of big budget historical epics so popular up until then, such as "Ben-Hur", which cost only half as much. Despite flaws, "Cleopatra" is probably the best movie about the Ptolemaic queen: just like a mass of monumental spectacles from that time, it also seems more like a spectacle for set and costume design and much less like a spectacle for style, though the characters feel real and alive. The director Joseph L. Mankiewicz manages to luckily make the story less theatrical than expected thanks to sharp, natural sounding dialogues and easy to understand human relationships (a great sequence where Caesar listens to his two assistants giving him a briefing of Cleopatra, with one saying that it is easier to mention her lovers by number than by name; Cleopatra using her erotic talents to gain the upper hand and secure herself power, exploiting the most powerful men) and went at great lengths to attempt historical authenticity. 

Rex Harrison is excellent in his energetic role as Caesar and clearly dominates every scene he is in, whereas Mankiewicz actually had previous experience with the subject, since he already directed the similar film "Julius Caesar" ten years ago. However, Mankiewicz was always better in dialogues and drama than in visual style, a department where he lacks, and a more keen sense for visual aethetics is required for such spectacles with lavish colors and epic set designs, which feel rather underused and conventional in "Cleopatra". The screenwriters strive to display little known facts about their historical characters, like when it is displayed that Caesar suffered from epilepsy. When Caesar arrives at Alexandria, he decides to go through a mass of people at the market blocking his way not with the sword but with money, buying their goods. The second half is also interesting (Cleopatra insists on meeting Antony on Egyptian soil, so her ship arrives at Tarsus, and thus Antony steps on the Egyptian ship and her "land"), though it feels weaker due to Caesar's absence. Although it lasts for over four hours, the movie treats the title heroine more as if she is a supporting character, since Elizabeth Taylor's charms come to full expression only intermittently, and seems narrowed down, focusing more on Caesar and Antony, whereas the battle sequences are underwhelming and unexciting, which can be forgiven keeping in mind that the producers shortened some 120 minutes from Mankiewicz's original cut. Overall, "Cleopatra" needed more inspiration and spark, such as in the sequence where Caesar's assassination is shown through Cleopatra's vision during her visit to a prophet.

Grade:++