Category Archives: Ancient Rome

2011, Ancient Rome, Historical Fiction, Military, Revenge, Shakespeare, War

Coriolanus (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Actor Ralph Fiennes makes his directorial debut with this modern update of Shakespeare’s tale about the arrogant general who is banished by the republic he has protected at all costs, provoking him to ally with former foes and wreck a bloody revenge.

Purists may be displeased with this modern adaptation, but then there is no pleasing those literary Luddites. “Modern” here means current soldier’s uniforms and weapons. However, the text is a subset of the Shakespeare original. Sometimes an obsolete word has been changed to a word that we can understand. Nothing is lost from the essence of the story.

Vocal delivery is crisp for the most part. However, Gerard Butler is just not trained for Shakespeare. His delivery is not as clear as the other actors and he uses a soft Scottish accent, perhaps trying to be seem different as one of the Volces or Volscians.

Vanessa Redgrave, who plays Volumnia (the mother of Coriolanus), was 74 during the filming. Making no effort to disguise her age, she is soft-spoken but forceful.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote Coriolanus in 1607. Coriolanus, the character, has been called perverse as a brave general who so despised the common Roman that when called upon to be a Consul because of his heroic stance in battle, he joined the other side (the Volces). Possibly because of this unusual plot the play has never been as popular as his other plays.

Two hours of film intended for staunch Shakespeare fans.

2011, Ancient Rome, Corny, Military, Suspense, Violent

The Eagle (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Haunted by the disappearance of his father, who vanished with the Roman Ninth Legion on an expedition into the north of Britain, centurion Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) sets out to unravel the mystery and recover the legion’s eagle standard. But in the wilds of Caledonia, the soldier and his British slave (Jamie Bell) encounter fierce native tribes and other dangers. Kevin Macdonald directs this adaptation of Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel.

Corny at times, this B+ film is also nonetheless exciting at times. Concentrate on the story and its intent rather than expect great acting. Is it a clichéd plot when our hero Marcus is an idealistic young man fully invested in the notion of Roman honor while some of his noble superiors are cynics ? Afghanistan recruits versus Blackwater mercenaries ?

Compared physically with Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell seems almost diminutive. After awhile the weight of their characters even out.

And just who is this Jamie Bell ? Surprise! He was “Billy Elliott”. He was also the minister St. John Rivers in Jane Eyre (2011).

Lutorius is played by Denis O’Hare who is one of those actors you see everywhere but whose name is not even on the tip of your tongue. Lately his most notorious role is the vampire king Russell Edgington in that all-important HBO series “True Blood” (What! You are not a True Blood fan ?). Additionally he pops up in “Law and Order” and “The Good Wife”.

Why watch “The Eagle”? Will our hero retrieve the Golden Eagle and restore the honor of his revered father ? Will those nasty blue-painted British savages catch Marcus and Esca his slave? Will Marcus and Esca be best buddies forever and open a fish and chips shop?
It’s just violent fun, that’s all. (Sorry, no sex).

2010, Ancient Rome, Historical Fiction, Military, Revenge, Suspense, Torture, Violent, War

Centurion (2010)

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From NetFlix:

In 2nd-century Britain, Roman fighter Quintas Dias (Michael Fassbender) is the lone survivor of a Pictish attack on a Roman frontier post. Eager for revenge, he joins the Ninth Legion — under General Virilus (Dominic West) — and journeys north on a mission to destroy the Picts. Writer-director Neil Marshall’s rousing sword-and-sandals adventure also stars Olga Kurylenko as the beautiful Pict warrior Etain.

There is a point to this film, something like “ET Go Home”.

Traipsing (or actually running breathlessly to avoid being eaten by wolves or slaughtered by Picts) through beautiful forests, fields, and mountains, the only thing these poor survivors of the Roman Ninth Legion want to do is leave nasty northern Britain and go home.

As usual our wanderers are superb (dare I say, super-hero) fighters who, unfortunately, for the most part eventually die. In fact, the entire film is for the most part just watching their demise, one by one.

For me Olga Kurylenko was just plain silly: lady, get a better makeup artist! Michael Fassbender was Lieutenant Archie Hicox in Inglourious Basterds (2009).

No spoilers allowed: stick around for an ending that surprised me.

For what it is worth, I give you this quote from IMDB:

German archaeologists have found evidence of the Ninth legion on the banks of the River Rhine and carbon dated them long after these events took place suggesting that rather than them being wiped out, the reason that there is no evidence of them being in Scotland after these battles is that they moved to Germany.