Howdy!
After watching a clip in class of Spartacus, I borrowed film from my pal to watch during the week and it’s an epic story of tragedy and triumph, which is really entertaining and compelling. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Spartacus is the story of the rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave who is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his possessors and leads the other slaves in a rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers expand as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they hope to cross the sea and return to their homes. Meanwhile, in Rome, the slave revolt has become a deciding factor in the power struggle between two senators: the republican Gracchus and the militarist Crassus each of whom sees the fortunes of the rebellion as the key to his own rise to power or humiliating defeat. As the two statesmen attempt to hamper and manipulate the rebels for their own benefit, Spartacus and his followers press on towards freedom.
The film belongs to Stanley Kubrick, who handles scenes of intimacy superbly and his attention to detail illustrates the violence, brutality and corruption of both the masters and the slaves. The acting is decent, Kirk Douglas gives a powerful portrait of a complex character that is inspirational yet gentle and kind, who grows over the course of the story. Laurence Olivier was wonderfully subtle and layered performance as Crassus with Charles Laughton as a brilliant counterpart as his no-nonsense rival Gracchus. Tony Curtis is also calm and collective as Antoninus, the slave who becomes Spartacus's right hand man and Peter Ustinov does a fine job as the sleazy Batiatus. Jean Simmons plays Varinia, Spartacus love interest.
The movie is long (think 3 hours 20 mins), but it is worthwhile watching, especially the last decisive battle scene between the slave army and Roman legions. The orchestration of thousands of extras in the battle scenes was magnificently staged. The extras playing the Roman legionnaires marched in formation so precisely and the whole formation moved very gracefully. Compare that to ‘Troy’ or ‘Gladiator’, probably special effects would be used to capture the same scene. Another scene, which is brilliant, is when the victorious Crassus, who wants to know who Spartacus is amongst the walking wounded, but one by one his army stand up and declare "I am Spartacus!" That scene is just stands out for me and shows the commitment of the rebels towards Spartacus.
The ending scene, where Varinia confronts Spartacus as he hangs on the cross is a passionate scene played with raw emotion. Spartacus knows he's lost and even though his wife and son are free, everyone else is no better off than when he started. Maybe even be worse off, but it's this final defeat that ultimately makes Spartacus stand out, it doesn't provide us with miracles; every victory is hard earned. Like ‘Gladiator’, Spartacus is the courage of one man who defies the Roman Empire and it’s a film, which has stood the test of time and will for many years to come.
Cheers
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