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Overview
Julius Caesar is a British period drama film first released in 1970,
directed by Stuart Burge.
The film stars Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, John Gielgud, Richard Johnson and Robert Vaughn.
Our overall rating for this film is: good.
Synopsis
On his return to Rome after crushing his enemy Pompey in a civil war,
the emperor Julius Caesar is greeted as a hero by the populace.
One man who is not happy over Caesar’s return is the senator Cassius,
who fears that the emperor will use his latest victory to strengthen
his position and weaken the senate. Cassius persuades Brutus,
Caesar’s most faithful ally, that the emperor must be slain for the
good of Rome. Once the deed has been done, Mark Anthony extols
Caesar’s virtues and turns the people of Rome against the men who
killed him. Brutus and his fellow conspirators flee with their
armies, aware that what Mark Anthony seeks is nothing less than bloody
retribution on the battlefield...
Film Review
This version of Shakespeare’s play Julius
Caesar is generally considered vastly inferior to the one that
was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1953 (featuring a young Marlon
Brando in the role of Mark Anthony) but is visually more daring and is
let down only by some major casting errors. The film was directed
by Stuart Burge, who had previously helmed a well-regarded adaptation
of Othello, with a blacked-up
Laurence Olivier in the title role. It is faithful to
Shakespeare’s original text, with only a few minor trims and
alterations, and, whilst it feels stagy in its first half, it has
greater visual impact when the location shifts to the countryside
outside Rome for the impressively staged battle sequences. The
sets and costumes are authentic and give the film a lavish but not
showy look, enhancing rather than detracting from Shakespeare’s play.The star-studded cast is a somewhat hit-and-miss affair, including actors who could hardly be improved on and some who should never, on the strength of their performances in this film, be let anywhere near Shakespeare again. In the former category are John Gielgud and Richard Johnson, who are superlative as Caesar and Cassius respectively, the only portrayals that can honestly be termed compelling. Diana Rigg, Jill Bennett and Robert Vaughn are welcome additions to the mix, even if they are only on screen for a few minutes. At the other end of the spectrum we have Charlton Heston struggling (and failing) to make us give a damn about Mark Anthony and Jason Robards who looks like he is acting in his sleep. Fortunately, there are enough actors who can recite Shakespeare with making it sound like a shopping list to counteract the soporific qualities of Robards’ performance, but Heston’s mannered posturing and inability to inject any vitality into his part is enough to put most people of Shakespeare for life. © Alex Sullivan 2011 Write a review for this film... User Comments
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Related links
More British DramaRecent DVD releases |
Credits
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