The classic movie review

THE CLASSIC MOVIE REVIEW

by Trevor Brown (M.A.)

Hello and welcome to a new feature for TlME EUROPE in this column I shall be writing a review of classic films - new and old, colour or black and white. What is so special about these.films that make them worthy of the term 'classic'? Is it the critical acclaim they receive? Is it their popularity? Are they judged on their success? Or is it a mixture of all these qualities and more?

In this and subsequent issues I shall be looking at all these factors in regards to films that you may have seen and some you may not even have heard of. Not all the films I shall be looking at were made in English either. Every country has its 'classics', from the big budget Hollywood films we all hear about, through countries with cultures and economies as diverse as Japan, China, Russia and other European states. For every big American Blockbuster film there are many small scale, low budget, inventive and stimulating productions that we may never hear of if we happen to live in a different part of the world. And in some ways that is the purpose of this column, to address the great films that exist outside of the mainstream, as well as those that were made within it.

For my first review I have decided to focus upon a film that was a huge worldwide hit 9 years ago, Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott).

Gladiator

Released in the west in the summer of 2000, Gladiator was considered to be a modern historical film that reminded many of the big Hollywood epics of the 1950s. It was, perhaps unfairly, compared to other films about the Roman Empire that had their narratives based on historical fact. At the time of its release, Gladiator drew comparisons with other 'true stories' such as Spartacus (1960, Stanley Kubrick) and Ben Hur (1959, William Wyler). However those two films were made at a time when the big Hollywood studios still had creative control over their productions. Since then the Hollywood studio system has floundered, especially since the 1960s when, partly as a result of competition with television, film studios couldn't financially cope with production costs. This led to a significant change around in the way that films were made, and the big studios started to bring in co-production companies which would eventually include some television broadcasters (who would contribute to the budget in exchange for broadcast rights).

In many ways Gladiator is representative of this change and yet it remains a very traditional Hollywood movie as well. For those who haven't seen the film, Gladiator is loosely based on a true story of a Roman general called Maximus (played by the Australian actor Russell Crowe) who is entrusted to take power of the Roman armies by the dying emperor, Marcus Aurelius (played by Irish actor Richard Harris) because he does not trust his son, Commodus (American actor Joaquin Phoenix), to look after the Roman empire.

After the death of Aurelius, Commodus orders the assassination of Maximus but instead the general escapes death only to end up as a slave performing gladiatorial combat in a far off land under the tutelage of a former champion gladiator called Proximo (played by English actor Oliver Reed). Without meaning to give any more of the plot away, the story is one of revenge as Maximus fights his way to become a champion gladiator, ends up performing back in Rome in front of Commodus and intends to expose the lies the self appointed emperor has told his people in order to gain power. Commodus is not only a coward as well as deeply unpleasant, but has become quite jealous of the popularity of the Gladiator. This is particularly obvious towards the end of the film, in the climactic showdown.

As I have previously mentioned, a film of this magnitude had not been made by Hollywood for 40 years. In many ways it reinvented the genre of the historical epic and has led to a host of films made in a similar style. We shall see one of these historical epics quite soon with the release of Troy, another true story based on an ancient legend and starring Hollywood heart throb Brad Pitt. Other films based on ancient Roman legends are also in the process of being made and star big Hollywood actors such as Leonardo Di Caprio and Colin Farrell. Expect to see these at your local cinema within the next year!

However, there is some debate as to whether or not Gladiator is a true Hollywood film. The film has a strange identity, for the director Ridley Scott, himself is an Englishman and it was a co-production with his own production company 'Scott Free'. The film also starts with a battle in 'Germania', yet the scene was actually filmed in the forests of Surrey in southern England. Other locations used in the film included Morocco, Malta and Italy, yet most of the post-production and special effects were done in England. Also, most of the supporting actors are European. Yet despite none of the filming taking place in the United States, the film was backed by two American distributors, Universal Studios and Dreamworks, two separate companies that joined forces to share the profits of a film that has surprisingly little American relevance.

The production itself was not without incident. Oliver Reed (Proximo) died of a massive heart attack on the island of Malta in May 1999, whilst shooting his scenes. Yet through a combination of computer and camera trickery the filmmakers were able to make the most of that tragic event. The film opened to rave reviews in the Summer of 2000 and quickly went to number 1 in most of the countries it was released in, soon making back its $107 million budget. Despite being quite bloodthirsty and violent (in Britain nobody under the age of 15 was allowed to see it) the film won over fans old and new and led to renewed interest in epic storytelling. The film also won five Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony on the 25th of March 2001 (including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe).

Gladiator was a turning point in that it meant audiences didn't just want to see mindless action movies or teenage orientated romantic comedies in cinemas during the summer. It showed that adult audiences wanted to be treated as intelligent and sophisticated, yet also wanted to be entertained. In many ways Gladiator accomplished this by being made outside of Hollywood and when this happened the others took notice.

Is it any coincidence that many subsequent summer releases have learned from this? Spiderman (2002, Sam Raimi) and Hulk (2003, Ang Lee), whilst both being children's blockbuster films, also treated their subject matter in a sophisticated and adult way that perhaps was a sign of Hollywood treating its audiences with intelligence and maturity. But maybe the most significant factor of Gladiator was that it showed that adults still enjoyed going to the cinema and would pay to see films that would appeal to them, an audience that perhaps Hollywood had overlooked in its quest for the big money that the summer releases can bring in.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-21