Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt, 48 BC. Roman general Julius Caesar arrives with his army and, while walking alone, incognito meets Cleopatra sitting near the Sphinx of Giza during the night. They become friends, and she is later surprised to find out about his identity. Caesar wants to intervene in the dispute of succession by proclaiming both Cleopatra and her 14-year old brother Ptolemy XIII as joint rulers. Achillas and his army attack the royal palace, but Caesar's forces prevail. When Cleopatra orders the murder of Pothinus, Ptolemy XIII's regent, this triggers an angry mob attacking the palace. Caesar's army again prevails, thanks to reinforcements, and then leaves Egypt with his ship, much to the dismay of Cleopatra.
One of the better movies about the Ptolemaic Queen, with a budget of 5.2 million $, Gabriel Pascal's lavish and exotic spectacle "Caesar and Cleopatra" was at the time of its premiere the most expensive film of its time, even more expensive than the epic "Gone with the Wind" (whose budget was 3.9 million $), and both share the main actress, Vivien Leigh, who is energetic here as Hellenistic Queen Cleopatra. By limiting the story only to the first year of the encounter between Caesar and Cleopatra, and refusing to be historically accurate (bizarrely, Caesar here never falls in love with Cleopatra and even finds her arrogant), the movie feels skewed, meandering at times, whereas the ponderous and theatrical dialogues feel somehow too artificial. Nontheless, the opening sequence is brilliant, albeit entirely fictional—Caesar and Cleopatra meet at the "paws" of the Sphinx of Giza during the night, she doesn't know who he is, and thus mischiviously describes the statue as the "kitten of the Sphinx", whereas the set design gives for aesthetic, esoteric images. When Caesar accompanies Cleopatra to the empty palace throne and recommends she holds a "brave" pose, dressed in queen's clothes, while she awaits for Caesar, she is surprised when the Roman soldiers enter the room and give a salute to Caesar, realizing he was with her the entire time. The reconstruction of the city of Alexandria, with the palace, houses and pillars, is impressive, whereas certain dialogues have sharpness—for instance, Pothinus shows up and says: "I came to warn you of a danger, and to make you an offer", so Caesar replies: "Never mind the danger, make the offer!", while the Roman soldier intervenes: "Never mind the offer, what's the danger?!" Apollodorus also says at one point: "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares it his duty." More care should have been given to the chemistry between the two title protagonists, yet the movie has more than enough virtues to warrant a more often mention among the film critics and film lexicons.
Grade:++
No comments:
Post a Comment