You watch this and then shudder to think: What if men ran the world?!
Enough said?
Maximus wanted nothing more than to return to his farm, to his home and to his family. But that’s not what is glorified here is it?
One thing never changes: the scheming among those who jostle for power. And the expendable pawns in their games. And the seeming futility embedded in all idealism.
Here is a narrative packed with cynicism. Right up to the Hollywood ending. And as we wind down from the Super Bowl here in America we realize just how little really has changed. Bread and circuses. Though the “warriors” on the gridiron are surely more…civilized?
IMDb
[b]Like modern day athletes, ancient Roman gladiators did product endorsements. The producers considered including this in the script but discarded the idea as unbelievable.
On visiting the real Colosseum, Ridley Scott remarked to production designer Arthur Max that it was “too small,” so they designed an outsized “Rome of the imagination” which was inspired by English and French romantic painters, as well as Nazi architect Albert Speer.
The script had called for a battle scene between Maximus and a rhinoceros. Since it was too difficult to train and CGI could not make it realistic enough, the rhinoceros was omitted.
Joaquin Phoenix got so involved in the scene where Commodus murders his father that he actually fainted afterward.[/b]
Fact and fiction:
wiki
[b]The film is loosely based on historical events. In making the film Ridley Scott wanted to portray the Roman culture more accurately than in any previous film; to that end he hired several historians as advisors. Nevertheless, some deviations from historical fact were made to increase interest, some to maintain narrative continuity, and some for practical or safety reasons. Due to previous Hollywood movies’ affecting the public perception of what ancient Rome was like, some historical facts were “too unbelievable” to include (according to Scott). At least one historical advisor resigned due to the changes made, and another asked not to be mentioned in the credits (though it was stated in the director’s commentary that he constantly asked, “where is the proof that certain things were exactly like they say?”). Historian Allen Ward of the University of Connecticut believed that historical accuracy would not have made Gladiator less interesting or exciting and stated: “creative artists need to be granted some poetic license, but that should not be a permit for the wholesale disregard of facts in historical fiction”.
Marcus Aurelius died of plague at Vindobona; he was not murdered by his son Commodus. So, while in the movie, Commodus strangles his father Marcus Aurelius, in historic truth Marcus Aurelius allowed his immoral son to become emperor, knowing of his moral faults. Thus, the great philosopher emperor ended the beneficent tradition of previous Adoptive Emperors. The character of Maximus is fictional, although in some respects he resembles the historical figures Narcissus (the character’s name in the first draft of the screenplay and Commodus’ real-life murderer), Spartacus (who led a significant slave revolt), Cincinnatus (a farmer who became dictator, saved Rome from invasion, then resigned his six-month appointment after 15 day and Marcus Nonius Macrinus (a trusted general, Consul of AD 154, and friend of Marcus Aurelius. Although Commodus engaged in show combat in the Colosseum, he was strangled by the wrestler Narcissus in his bath, not killed in the arena, and reigned for several years, unlike the brief period shown in the film.[/b]
GLADIATOR
Directed by Ridley Scott
[b]Maximus [watching the negotiator riding headless towards the army]: They say, “No.”
…
Quintus: People should know when they are conquered.
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Maximus: At my signal, unleash hell.
…
Commodus: Have I missed it? Have I missed the battle?
Marcus Aurelius: You have missed the war.
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Marcus Aurelius: So much for the glory of Rome.
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Marcus Aurelius: If only you had been born a man. What a Caesar you would have made.[/b]
A sop to the feminists, perhaps.
[b]Marcus Aurelius: Enough of politics. Let us pretend that you are a loving daughter and I am a good father.
…
Maximus: Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe that they fought and died for nothing.
Marcus Aurelius: And what would you believe?
Maximus: They fought for you and for Rome.
Marcus Aurelius: And what is Rome, Maximus?..There was a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile.[/b]
Bullshit like this always prevails in Hollywood.
[b]Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home?
Maximus: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.
…
Maximus: You don’t find it hard to do your duty?
…
Cicero: Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to.
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Commodus: You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: Wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness, courage, perhaps not on the battlefield, but…there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family and to you. But none of my virtues were on your list. Even then it was as if you didn’t want me for your son.
Marcus Aurelius: Oh, Commodus. You go too far.
Commodus: I search the faces of the gods…for ways to please you, to make you proud. One kind word, one full hug…where you pressed me to your chest and held me tight. Would have been like the sun on my heart for a thousand years. What is it in me that you hate so much?
Marcus Aurelius: Shh, Commodus.
Commodus: All I’ve ever wanted was to live up to you, Caesar. Father.
Marcus Aurelius [gets down on his knees]: Commodus. Your faults as a son is my failure as a father. Come.
[Gives Commodus a hug]
Commodus [Commodus hugs Marcus and cries]: Father. I would have butchered the whole world…if you would only love me!
[Commodus begins to asphyxiate Marcus while they hug, Marcus grunts]
…
Juba: Don’t die; they will feed you to the lions. They are worth man than we are.
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Proximo: Can any of them fight? I’ve got a match coming up.
Slave Trader: Some are good for fighting, others for dying. You need both, I think.
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Gracchus: Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.
Falco: You really think people are going to be seduced by that?
Gracchus: I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they’ll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they’ll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it’s the sand of the coliseum. He’ll bring them death - and they will love him for it.
…
Proximo: Some of you are thinking that you won’t fight. Others, that you can’t fight. They all say that, until they’re out there. Thrust a sword into another man’s flesh, and they will applaud and love you for that. You may even begin to love them for that.
…
Gracchus: But the Senate IS the people, sire. Chosen from AMONG the people. To speak FOR the people.
Commodus: I doubt if any of the people eat so well as you, Gracchus. Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius.
…
Gracchus: I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. He will conjure magic for them and they will be distracted. He will take away their freedom, and still they will roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble floor of the Senate; it is the sand of the Colosseum. He will give them death, and they will love him for it.
…
Maximus: I am required to kill, so I kill. That is enough.
Proximo: That’s enough for the provinces, but not enough for Rome.
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Maximus: My name is Gladiator.
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Lucilla: Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome.
Maximus: The gods have spared me? I am at their mercy with the power only to amuse a mob.
Lucilla: That is power. The mob is Rome and while Commodus controls them, he controls everything.
…
Comodus: They tell me your son squealed like a girl when they nailed him to the cross and your wife, moaned like a whore when they ravaged her again, and again, and again.
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Proximo: I know that you are a man of your word, General. I know that you would die for honor, for Rome, for the memory of your ancestors. But as for me? I’m an entertainer.
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Lucilla: My brother hates all the world and you most of all.
Maximus: Because your father chose me.
Lucilla: No. Because my father loved you.
…
Commodus: If you’re very good, tomorrow night I’ll tell you the story of emperor Claudius who was betrayed by those closest to him, by his own blood. They whispered in dark corners and went out late at night and conspired and conspired but the emperor Claudius knew they were up to something. He knew they were busy little bees. And one night he sat down with one of them and he looked at her and he said, “Tell me what you’ve been doing busy little bee or I shall strike down those dearest to you. You shall watch as I bathe in their blood.” And the emperor was heartbroken. The little bee had wounded him more deeply than anyone else could ever have done. And what do you think happened then, Lucius?
Lucius Verus: I don’t know, uncle.
Commodus: The little bee told him everything.
…
Commodus: Lucius will stay with me now and if his mother so much as looks at me in a manner that displeases me, he will die. If she decides to be noble and takes her own life, he will die. And as for you…
(he turns to Lucilla)
…you will love me as I loved you. You will provide me with an heir of pure blood so that Commodus and his progeny will rule for a thousand years. Am I not merciful?..AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!
…
Commodus: Do you think I am afraid?
Maximus: I think you’ve been afraid all your life.
…
Maximus: I knew a man who once said, ‘Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.’[/b]