THE Life & Career of Actor

                                                                                    (7/4/1931 - 6/2/1977)

What about that Gladiator?!

By: Brigitte Ivory

                                        Russell Crowe                                        Stephen Boyd

                                            Maximus                                                    Livius

It may have appeared to go unnoticed and for those of you who didn't know: The movie "Gladiator" is actually a remake of the movie " The Fall of the Roman Empire" which starred Stephen Boyd in Russell Crowe's role.

I had no idea myself until a colleague of mine at work mentioned it to me and I decided to buy the DVD.  I was stunned at the similarities as I watched the first half hour of the movie.

The truth according to me is that the character of Livius in  The Fall had a lot more depth and development than the general Maximus. Livius is a kind and gentle soldier full of righteousness and in love at the beginning of the movie. At the end of the movie we find him embittered, disillusioned and hardened, giving up any and all his power to go off and get away from politics. A total turnaround. Livius also mourns for his old friend Commodus and is melancholic about the state of the empire.

Maximus on the other hand is a soldier all the way through the movie and simply pursues his personal vendetta against the emperor, with no love for him from the start. The reluctant soldier and the reluctant hero. A flat character with no real development.

I will bet you this is why Stephen Boyd chose the role of Livius as he was above all a character actor. I think the critics paid too much attention to the script and the love story instead of the character depth of the original movie. Critics have also been very harsh in judging a movie that was made in the sixties as there really cannot be a comparison with a movie made in the milennium era.

The other important features of the film I thought were the fact that The Fall addressed the political turmoil that existed at the time when Marcus Aurelius and Commodus reigned. There was the always ominous supply chain of food and clothing that existed to Rome from the Eastern provinces and also the issue of settlers from conquered countries, what to do with them? They were not always enslaved as the Gladiator movie suggests. The Pax Romana was the dream of making a United States of Europe out of the Roman Empire. These backgrounds were truly missed in the action packed Gladiator drama.

Both movies were of course quite impressive and much has been written about their historic authenticity. I obtained an interesting book called The Ancient World in the Cinema, published by A.S. Barnes & Company dated 1978. It details many assets of the movie, like clothing, characterization of the individuals, weapons, etc.

The book says that Commodus was portrayed too modestly and that he was more insane than portrayed in the movie. The real Commodus has been documented to wear a lionskin over his head carrying a club in imitation of Hercules. He did sleep with his sister Lucilla and then had her put to death after she tried to assassinate him because he was not showing her enough affection.

The writer of the book Jon Solomon commends The Fall for capturing the contrasting periods of Marcus Aurelius an Commodus on film. Not only that, but the film sets created were very close to perfect in authenticity, from the fortress built at the Northern Frontier, to the Roman Forum and Capitoline Hill which was re-built in its entirety. The writer goes on to compliment the authenticity of the interior sets, the costumes and the ceremonial events that take place in the movie.

The problem with the movie was not bad acting, it had a good screenplay but mediocre roles for the actor's to deal with and even worst lines.

It seems The Gladiator concentrated much more on the Commodus era rather than trying to contrast it against the Aurelius period and its legacies.

Of course, Russell Crowe, Richard Harris and Joaquin Phoenix all gave superb performances in the Gladiator while all other aspects of the movie were also superior to those in the Fall.

However, The Gladiator failed to address the downhill slide the empire took due to corruption of government as The Fall did address in just a few seconds in the final moments of the movie when Steve Boyd declines the offer to become Caesar and the title is then sold to the highest bidder.

The Fall also explained the Pax Romana concept which allowed other peoples to obtain Roman citizenship more in depth. The fact that Maximus was from Spain did not in itself explain that.

In both movies, Lucilla is portrayed as kind and righteous whereas in real life she was power hungry, promiscuous and her brother's antagonist from the start. She also did not have good relationship with her father, Marcus Aurelius.

Both generals: Livius and Maximus are fictional characters and Commodus did not meet his end in the arena fighting a gladiator.

To be continued...