Spartacus (1960)
3/4
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Unistov, Tony Curtis
Rated PG-13 for Graphic Violence (I guess)
Stanley Kubrick is widely considered one of the top directors in film history. It's not hard to see why. Nearly every movie of his is considered a classic, and the two that I've seen ("Eyes Wide Shut" and "The Shining") are very, very good. "Spartacus" is good, and I do recommend it, but it is not the classic that many believe it is.
The film details the life of the slave turned rebel Spartacus (Douglas). After being sold to fight as a gladiator and being forced to fight to the death for the amusement of a nasty senator named Crassus (Olivier) and a few of his piggish friends, and has lost his love, Varinia (Simmons) to Crassus, Spartacus has had enough. He revolts, and the rest of the slaves there escape with him. They inspire a number of other slaves to join the rebellion, and soon their numbers grow astronomically. Originally a laughable unfortunate event to the senate, it quickly becomes a threat to Rome itself. Meanwhile, two senators seek to use this conflict for their own ends. Crassus wants the conflict to explode so he can ride in and destroy it, thus become heroic and popular enough to become a dictator, while Gracchus (Laughton) wants to let them go free to prevent any more instability in Rome (due to the fact that Rome is already at war with someone else).
Unusual for a Kubrick movie, I found the performances to be lacking in many respects, especially the lead. Kirk Douglas is a legendary actor, having starred in this, "Paths of Glory" (also directed by Kubrick), and "The Bold and the Beautiful." But he underplays the role, which means that in an epic like this he threatens to get drowned out by everything else that's going on. Compare this to what Mel Gibson did in "Braveheart." Jean Simmons is good, although the germination of their relationship forms with a few sparing words and some exchanging of looks. Not exactly the stuff to get the heart soaring. Laurence Olivier is perfectly nasty as the vicious Crassus, although he could have used a little more energy. Charles Laughton makes Gracchus into a man who is not as evil and duplicitous as he seems. Peter Unistov (in an Oscar-winning performance) is quite good as Spartacus' former trainer, who seeks to profit from the conflict in any way that he can. The best performance goes to Tony Curtis, as the soft spoken singer who becomes one of Spartacus' right hand men.
At over 3 hours, "Spartacus" is a long movie. Although most epics are, "Spartacus" suffers from poor pacing. Some scenes, in fact most, are great, while others tend to drag. The script is also problematic. Not only is the romance aspect underdeveloped (although Douglas and Simmons have chemistry with each other), the subplot with Gracchus and Crassus is sloppily written. Interestingly enough, Kubrick didn't like the script either. He was not given control of it and found it to be full of stupid moralizing. That can be seen in some scenes where the dialogue exchanges are kind of hammy. Kubrick does the best that he can, but even a filmmaker of his limitless talent would struggle with a script like this (after this film, Kubrick resolved to take control of all aspects of his films).
Also worth mentioning is the fact that Kubrick was not the original director. David Lean turned the offer down, and Anthony Mann was fired when he didn't get along with Douglas. Kubrick was then hired, but he is known for his intensive preparation for his films, which he obviously did not have time for on this project. To his credit, the film always looks great (and with Kubrick's films, that's always a given).
Would this have been a better film if Kubrick had gotten to write and direct the film he wanted. Probably, although no one can say for sure. Still, this is a movie worth seeing.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Unistov, Tony Curtis
Rated PG-13 for Graphic Violence (I guess)
Stanley Kubrick is widely considered one of the top directors in film history. It's not hard to see why. Nearly every movie of his is considered a classic, and the two that I've seen ("Eyes Wide Shut" and "The Shining") are very, very good. "Spartacus" is good, and I do recommend it, but it is not the classic that many believe it is.
The film details the life of the slave turned rebel Spartacus (Douglas). After being sold to fight as a gladiator and being forced to fight to the death for the amusement of a nasty senator named Crassus (Olivier) and a few of his piggish friends, and has lost his love, Varinia (Simmons) to Crassus, Spartacus has had enough. He revolts, and the rest of the slaves there escape with him. They inspire a number of other slaves to join the rebellion, and soon their numbers grow astronomically. Originally a laughable unfortunate event to the senate, it quickly becomes a threat to Rome itself. Meanwhile, two senators seek to use this conflict for their own ends. Crassus wants the conflict to explode so he can ride in and destroy it, thus become heroic and popular enough to become a dictator, while Gracchus (Laughton) wants to let them go free to prevent any more instability in Rome (due to the fact that Rome is already at war with someone else).
Unusual for a Kubrick movie, I found the performances to be lacking in many respects, especially the lead. Kirk Douglas is a legendary actor, having starred in this, "Paths of Glory" (also directed by Kubrick), and "The Bold and the Beautiful." But he underplays the role, which means that in an epic like this he threatens to get drowned out by everything else that's going on. Compare this to what Mel Gibson did in "Braveheart." Jean Simmons is good, although the germination of their relationship forms with a few sparing words and some exchanging of looks. Not exactly the stuff to get the heart soaring. Laurence Olivier is perfectly nasty as the vicious Crassus, although he could have used a little more energy. Charles Laughton makes Gracchus into a man who is not as evil and duplicitous as he seems. Peter Unistov (in an Oscar-winning performance) is quite good as Spartacus' former trainer, who seeks to profit from the conflict in any way that he can. The best performance goes to Tony Curtis, as the soft spoken singer who becomes one of Spartacus' right hand men.
At over 3 hours, "Spartacus" is a long movie. Although most epics are, "Spartacus" suffers from poor pacing. Some scenes, in fact most, are great, while others tend to drag. The script is also problematic. Not only is the romance aspect underdeveloped (although Douglas and Simmons have chemistry with each other), the subplot with Gracchus and Crassus is sloppily written. Interestingly enough, Kubrick didn't like the script either. He was not given control of it and found it to be full of stupid moralizing. That can be seen in some scenes where the dialogue exchanges are kind of hammy. Kubrick does the best that he can, but even a filmmaker of his limitless talent would struggle with a script like this (after this film, Kubrick resolved to take control of all aspects of his films).
Also worth mentioning is the fact that Kubrick was not the original director. David Lean turned the offer down, and Anthony Mann was fired when he didn't get along with Douglas. Kubrick was then hired, but he is known for his intensive preparation for his films, which he obviously did not have time for on this project. To his credit, the film always looks great (and with Kubrick's films, that's always a given).
Would this have been a better film if Kubrick had gotten to write and direct the film he wanted. Probably, although no one can say for sure. Still, this is a movie worth seeing.
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