Epic Bravery and Reign of Vengeance
‘Gladiator’ masterfully provides a story of Maximus Decimus Meridius, who was not only a skilled and loyal Roman General but also a loving family man whose life is betrayed by the new tyrant, Emperor Commodus. Sold into slavery, Maximus becomes a gladiator in the extremely violent arena to avenge his family’s death and seize a chance of reclaiming lost dignity.
Generally, the tone of the movie is vengeful, justifiably so: the main themes are vengeance, justice and redemption. This serious setting serves well in combination with the spectacular fight scenes, illuminating the destructive facet of reckless desire for authority and might.
Russell Crowe can be considered accurate portraying Maximus, with his silent loyalty and concentrated vengeful fury in a stately manner. Joaquin Phoenix outstands as the scheming Commodus which he portrays with a measure of complexity and subtlety, the beautiful Connie Nielsen, the late Oliver Reed and Richard Harris deliver fine performances.
Ridley Scott once again proves that he is a master director, who exhibits admirable control of historical epic that is as visually stunning as it is thrilling and moving, historically accurate as it is fictional.
Hans Zimmer’s music helps to enhance the movie since the great sounding enhances the portion of feelings plus the movie has a colorful sound track that matches the non-stop tempo and the emotionally loaded episodes.
The astuteness of the cinematographies of John Mathieson is in depicting Rome – noble, majestic and royal aesthetics of the empire are contrasted with the raw, almost vulgar savagery of the arena; England – initial episodes resemble to luxurious spirit of the Roman Empire, later arena scenes come closer to brutalities of gladiators fights.
The aspect of production maintain s the aesthetic of orchestrating old Rome with the particular facets ranging from the props to the fulgid Colosseum surrounding it.
Thus, special effects overextend the sense of the epoch and the epic but do not diminish the true-to-life feel. The fights and the duels are fluently staged thus giving the audience real and enthralling spectaculars.
‘Editing’ is well done in that there are no loose ends and the story unfolds cohesively with an appropriate build up of tension and passions till the Very End of The Film.
Gladiator does not let one get bored due to fluctuations between quiet character emotions and a chaos of sword combat.
Meaningful words dominate dialogues; they are pointed and philosophical which complements the movie’s themes of honor, dishonor, and heritage.
While, at times, it may be criticized for historical inaccuracy, it really does spin an amazing yarn, far beyond these nitpicking issues. While some difficult to handle because of the length, others will prefer this narrative depth which the length is justified by.
It may be used to characterize Gladiator as the emotionally stirring epic of its age, its visual splendor and compelling performances are unforgettable. It proves the old adage that one can make any tale moving: it is inspiring and cleansing in the best tradition of film drama.
