Two days before you get your drink on, raise a cup to dear departed Caesar. By the way, it’s been 56 years since Joe Mankiewicz’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play and nine years since the facts of Marcus Aurelius’s reign were twisted for drama’s sake (in a film I quite like, regardless). When are we going to get another great Roman epic, or better yet, THE great Roman epic? A solid revisiting of the Bard’s material would be good enough, I guess, though I never saw the Jeremy Sisto TV thing.
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4 responses to “Happy Ides of March”
Goddam …Marlon Brando rocked as Anthony in that 1953 film? Have seen many stage versions of the play “Julius Caesar” and no one has ever, EVER come close to touching what Brando did as Anthony — beyond his “Friends, Romans, countryman speech” look deeper for the little moments — one being standing over the ruins of his friend Caesar and making clear his intentions…astounding acting, and one of the greatest Shakesepeare adaptations to film. He silenced his critics forever with this performance, those morons who actually believed his Stanley Kowalski was merely Brando being himself…
An adaptation of the book “I,Claudius” has been floating around Hollywood for some time. I think Bill Monahan was once set to write the screenplay for Leo DiCaprio or Colin Farrell. I believe director Jim Sheridan was once attached. But do we really need another Great Roman Epic movie? Not so sure…
I want an epic Robert Kennedy biopic, Matt Damon’s The Venetian about Marco Polo , and Tripoli to be made asap.
I love such period pieces too. But isn’t Rome the ultimate ancient epic? (even if it is a series)
This year we will see Alejandro Amenabar’s AGORA, about Roman Empire in Egypt. I think it will be epic enough. Rachel Weisz as Hypatia.