Julius caesar movie posters tv#

Principal photography, which began in January 1999 and wrapped up in May of that year, was known to have a set of problems due to the script being unfinished. Mannix's 1958 book Those About to Die (formerly titled The Way of the Gladiator), the film's script, initially written by Franzoni, was acquired by DreamWorks and Ridley Scott signed on to direct the film. Reduced to slavery, Maximus becomes a gladiator and rises through the ranks of the arena to avenge the murders of his family and his emperor. Crowe portrays Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne. It stars Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Tomas Arana, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed (in his final role), Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, Richard Harris, and Tommy Flanagan. DreamWorks Pictures distributed the film in North America while Universal Pictures released it internationally through United International Pictures. A solid version then that is worth a look.Gladiator is a 2000 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson. The performances are mostly good – none classic but mostly very good. The modern setting fits the material really well and the delivery makes the most of it even if the change from stage play to television doesn't work in all regards. Overall this is not the best version of the play that you'll see but it does work pretty well. Support is mostly good with solid turns from Andoh and Kissoon to name but two. Fearon is strong as Mark Antony – in particular I thought he did a great job with his speech at Ceasar's funeral. Nri's Cassius is better and is more convincing within his own skin. Paterson Joseph is not brilliant but he is better than I expected after all this is the man that Theo Robertson described as having 'less range than a water pistol', but yet here he delivers some complexity to his character and makes for a pretty good Brutus even if he never quite gets away from the feel of someone 'acting' rather than 'being'. The cast are all of Afro-Caribbean descent but this quickly becomes a non-issue as a 'thing' because it doesn't matter in terms of enjoying the story. This doesn't happen too often though and mostly the performances are good. It works when it comes to having a more intimate proximity or a more appropriate set but it must be said that the performances occasionally do not seem to recognise that the viewers are now within a few inches of their faces rather than in a large room. The mixing of stage and locations is successful in some ways but not in others. The cut-throat violence of betrayal and cruelty works in the setting and the passion of the characters is complimented by the sweat on their skin, befitting the setting. This version does it justice and it fits pretty well within the modern setting. It terms of the material, I did enjoy seeing this story again – I'm sure it will sound odd to those who are regular viewers of Shakespeare, but I cannot remember the last time I saw a version of Julius Caesar and I had forgotten how engaging the tale is and also how good the dialogue is.

Julius caesar movie posters tv#

Although some of it is filmed as it is delivered on a stage, the TV version sees it spread across other sets to make it more of a televisual experience. The plot is familiar to many, but in this version the political thriller is moved to a modern African dictatorship with an all black cast. The last thing like this I watched was David Tenant in a TV version of his Hamlet, but that was months after it finished whereas this version is currently on tour in the UK. With The Hollow Crown currently screening, the BBC are in the middle of a bit of a Shakespeare festival, which explains the otherwise odd decision to screen this version of Julius Caesar.