WHEN WORDS CAN'T SPEAK, MOTION PICTURES SPEAK
Movies are an integral part of everyone's life. Some watch them with their mouths agape. Some cry during movies. Some like romantic ones. Some like ones portraying bravery and fortifying courage.
Some movies have showcased ancient Rome, Primarily Cleopatra and Ben-hur, and of course the movie adaptation of Julius Caesar from the Shakespearean Play. Some movies like When in Rome add to the Aesthetic appeal of Rome. Some movies are showcased in Rome because they revolve around Rome.
Lets have a look at some of the movies that added to Rome's grandeur.
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1. Ben-Hur: It's a beautifully written revenge story where Ben-Hur takes revenge on his friend Messala, for wrongly imprisoning him after coming into power. He spends 3 years as a galley prisoner, gets released and gets trained to become a gladiator of charioteers, by the Roman consul Quintus Arrius . He rescues Arrius in the encouter with the Macedonians. Arrius successfully petitions Emperor Tiberius to free Ben-Hur, and adopts him as his son. Ben-Hur learns Roman ways and becomes a champion charioteer, Back home his realizes that his home was falling apart.The Roman women knew that his mother and sister contracted leprosy in prison and so they expelled them elsewhere and he was falsely told that they died. It is then that he changes his mind and decides to seek vengeance on Messala by competing against him in the chariot race. In the Chariot war Messal is Fatally injured and before dying he reveals that he can fid his family in the "valley of lepers". Ben-Hur goes to the nearby leper colony and meets his mother and sister there, Ben-Hur gives up the Roman Patrimony for his family. The movie ends with Ben-Hur witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus, and Miriam and Tirzah are miraculously healed during the rainstorm following the crucifixion.
2.Cleopatra: Cleopatra is a tragic love story where Pompey the Roman king First seeks alliance with Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra. Caesar Objecs this and from then on begins Cleopatraa’s wish to rule the world with Caesar. Soon their son Caesarion is born, Caesar accepts him publicly, which becomes the talk of Rome and the Senate.
The senate is preparing to vote on whether to bestow upon Caesar additional powers or no. the Senate is preparing to vote on whether to award Caesar additional powers. Lepidus receives Africa, Octavian Spain and Gaul, while Antony will take control of the eastern provinces. While planning a campaign against Parthia, Antony realizes he needs money and supplies, and can get it only from Egypt.. Soon after a lavish party, Anthony realises that he loves Cleopatra. In the war, Octavian defeats the Anthony-E. Antony's soldiers have lost faith in him and abandon him during the night; Rufio (Martin Landau), the last man loyal to Antony, kills himself Egyptian fleet. . Cleopatra assumes he is dead and orders the Egyptian forces home. When Antony returns to the palace, Apollodorus, convinces him that she is dead. She sends her servant Charmian to give Octavian a letter In which she asks to be buried with Antony. Octavian realizes that she is going to kill herself and he and his guards burst into Cleopatra's chamber and find her dead
There are beautiful movies that are set in Rome, due to their exotic locales. let’s have a look at few them.
Roman Holiday, William Wyler, 1953
Insulated from the commotion of Roman life, Via Margutta is a cobbled street near the Spanish Steps, draped in ivy and lined nowadays with art galleries, restaurants and boutiques. It was home to Federico Fellini and Truman Capote. And at number 51, Crown Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) began her fleeting love affair with an American foreign correspondent, Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) in the enchanting, if improbable, comedy that shot Hepburn to fame and forever welded Vespas to Rome in the popular imagination. "You have my permission to withdraw..." slurs Hepburn, unaware she has previously been sedated, as she lets her skirt slip to the floor. "Why, thank you very much," replies the gentlemanly Peck and leaves her to sleep alone. It is not only the face of Rome that has changed since.
• Via Margutta
Roma, Federico Fellini, 1972
"The world must follow the church and not vice-versa," whispers an onlooker at Fellini's fantastical Vatican fashion show. Among those who take to the catwalk are roller-skating prelates in red, satin robes and severe-looking nuns wearing headdresses with giant wings. There are neon-flashing mitres and bicycling curates. The tableau, set to Nino Rota's often eerie organ music, is juxtaposed to a later scene in which the parade is of loud-mouthed, bare-breasted prostitutes in a wartime brothel daring the men to pick them for the night. Fellini's movie is effectively plotless, but the power of its images and the peculiarity of the scenes he offers make it compulsively watchable. Again the whole thenme is asset in Rome.
L'Eclisse, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962
The sterile backdrop for Antonioni's L'Eclisse is the EUR. The Esposizione Universale Roma it is where Mussolini planned to hold an international celebration of 20 years of fascism – plans thwarted by the second world war. Its classically-inspired architecture and broad streets offer a vision of how Romemight have developed had the Fascists remained in power. Antonioni's heroine Vittoria (Monica Vitti) arranges to meet her lover, the young stockbroker Piero (Alain Delon), at sunset by a building site in EUR. In the final scene, the streets are empty and hauntingly silent. A man steps from a bus reading a newspaper with the headline "Peace is Weak". As the sun goes down, neither lover has arrived.
The Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica, 1948
Vittorio De Sica's Neo-realist masterpiece follows unemployed Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) as they hunt for his stolen bicycle in a depressed, post-war Rome. In line with the canons of neo-realism, De Sica shot only on location and employed solely non-professional actors (Maggiorani had been a factory worker). Award-winning and hugely influential, the film was made on a budget of just $133,000. The search takes viewers from the desolate outskirts of the city to the bicycle market which still exists at Porta Portese. It is here that the disconcertingly stern Bruno trips and falls in the pouring rain, unheeded by his father, who is obsessed by the search for his precious – and finally elusive - bicycle.
Three Coins in the Fountain, Jean Negulesco, 1954
This extravagant film is also covered in Rome, Cheesy film, maybe, but the reason for a great song. Every day, an estimated total of €3,000 in coins are tossed over shoulders towards the sea god Neptune as he stands, flanked by tritons, dominating the giant, action-packed Trevi Fountain. Legend would have it that, by throwing a coin into Rome's most extravagant Baroque structure, visitors are assured of returning to the city. In Jean Negulesco's film, three American girls hungry for romance each throw in a coin while making a wish. Frank Sinatra sang the film's honeyed soundtrack which has since been endlessly reinterpreted in jazz and other versions: "Three hearts in a fountain / Each heart longing for its home / There they lie in the fountain / Somewhere in the heart of Rome."
Accattone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1961
Ask any young Italian today where the trendiest part of Rome is, and they will tell you it's Pigneto. It is to Rome what Dalston currently is to London. And, long before it became fashionable, the Bar Necci in Pigneto was where the idle pimp Accatone hung out with his demi-mondaine friends in Pasolini's first and arguably grimmest film. Opened in 1924, the bar was burnt down in 2009 only to be completely rebuilt in a few weeks. For anyone familiar with the world-weary cynicism of the Italian capital, one of Accattone's more memorable moments is when its eponymous hero meets Stella, the naive peasant girl he turns into a whore. "You seem so nice, so young, so good and kind," he says. "I don't know how to put this. Are you from Rome?"
Habemus Papum, 2011, Nanni Moretti
When a French cardinal refuses to accept his election as pope, it is decided that the answer is to take him to see a psychiatrist. The confused, but still astute cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli) seizes the opportunity to escape into the ordinary life of Rome. Via Cola di Rienzo is a high street just north of the Vatican that is almost unknown to tourists, but much frequented by Romans from the historic centre and the surrounding Prati district. It is there that Moretti's confused prelate, unrecognised as the pope-elect, is reminded of a commonplace humanity that is so often missing from his church's deeply pessimistic vision of the contemporary world.
The Belly of an Architect, Peter Greenaway, 1987
"Are you a modern architect Mr Kracklite?", the hero of Greenaway's visual feast is asked. "No more modern than I should be," comes the reply. The Belly of an Architect divides opinion like few other movies. But none has celebrated Rome's architecture with greater relish. The opening dinner party scene is set in Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon, the most majestic and best-preserved of Rome's ancient temples, frames the guests as the ambitious Kracklite, aligned in the centre of the shot, announces his latest project. The guests toast and cheer. But on the table is a cake in the shape of a dome where a pound note burns among the candles: a symbol of Kracklite's impending decline in the city of immortal architecture?
Well what are you waiting for? Hurry up, and go download the movies on torrent and watch them. They are worth a patient analysis. Patience, Patience…After all Rome was not built in a day
10 Things You May Not Know About Roman Gladiators
Well Gladiator is not just the name of a movie. Beloved by the masses and sometimes scorned by the elites, Roman gladiators were the working class heroes of antiquity. For more than 650 years, people flocked to arenas across the empire to watch these armed and highly trained warriors engage in a blood-soaked spectacle equal parts sport, theater and cold-blooded murder. Get the facts on the enigmatic men-at-arms behind Ancient Rome’s most notorious form of entertainment.
1. They weren’t always slaves.
2. Gladiatorial bouts were originally part of funeral ceremonies.
3. They didn’t always fight to the death.
4. The famous “thumbs down” gesture probably didn’t mean death.
5. They were organized into different classes and types.
6. They only rarely fought against animals.
7. Women also fought as gladiators.
8. Some gladiators organized themselves into trade unions.
9. Several Roman emperors participated in staged gladiatorial bouts.
10. Gladiators often became celebrities and sex symbols.
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Well what did these movies leave behind to Italy? Apart from adding to the revenue they showcased the capital city's aestheic, societal and other aspects that constitute a full fledged city. Not just that, they showed Rome as a great empire and Worthy enough of commanding respect all over the earth.
Movies are an integral part of everyone's life. Some watch them with their mouths agape. Some cry during movies. Some like romantic ones. Some like ones portraying bravery and fortifying courage.
Some movies have showcased ancient Rome, Primarily Cleopatra and Ben-hur, and of course the movie adaptation of Julius Caesar from the Shakespearean Play. Some movies like When in Rome add to the Aesthetic appeal of Rome. Some movies are showcased in Rome because they revolve around Rome.
Lets have a look at some of the movies that added to Rome's grandeur.
1. Ben-Hur: It's a beautifully written revenge story where Ben-Hur takes revenge on his friend Messala, for wrongly imprisoning him after coming into power. He spends 3 years as a galley prisoner, gets released and gets trained to become a gladiator of charioteers, by the Roman consul Quintus Arrius . He rescues Arrius in the encouter with the Macedonians. Arrius successfully petitions Emperor Tiberius to free Ben-Hur, and adopts him as his son. Ben-Hur learns Roman ways and becomes a champion charioteer, Back home his realizes that his home was falling apart.The Roman women knew that his mother and sister contracted leprosy in prison and so they expelled them elsewhere and he was falsely told that they died. It is then that he changes his mind and decides to seek vengeance on Messala by competing against him in the chariot race. In the Chariot war Messal is Fatally injured and before dying he reveals that he can fid his family in the "valley of lepers". Ben-Hur goes to the nearby leper colony and meets his mother and sister there, Ben-Hur gives up the Roman Patrimony for his family. The movie ends with Ben-Hur witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus, and Miriam and Tirzah are miraculously healed during the rainstorm following the crucifixion.
2.Cleopatra: Cleopatra is a tragic love story where Pompey the Roman king First seeks alliance with Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra. Caesar Objecs this and from then on begins Cleopatraa’s wish to rule the world with Caesar. Soon their son Caesarion is born, Caesar accepts him publicly, which becomes the talk of Rome and the Senate.
The senate is preparing to vote on whether to bestow upon Caesar additional powers or no. the Senate is preparing to vote on whether to award Caesar additional powers. Lepidus receives Africa, Octavian Spain and Gaul, while Antony will take control of the eastern provinces. While planning a campaign against Parthia, Antony realizes he needs money and supplies, and can get it only from Egypt.. Soon after a lavish party, Anthony realises that he loves Cleopatra. In the war, Octavian defeats the Anthony-E. Antony's soldiers have lost faith in him and abandon him during the night; Rufio (Martin Landau), the last man loyal to Antony, kills himself Egyptian fleet. . Cleopatra assumes he is dead and orders the Egyptian forces home. When Antony returns to the palace, Apollodorus, convinces him that she is dead. She sends her servant Charmian to give Octavian a letter In which she asks to be buried with Antony. Octavian realizes that she is going to kill herself and he and his guards burst into Cleopatra's chamber and find her dead
There are beautiful movies that are set in Rome, due to their exotic locales. let’s have a look at few them.
Roman Holiday, William Wyler, 1953
• Via Margutta
Roma, Federico Fellini, 1972
"The world must follow the church and not vice-versa," whispers an onlooker at Fellini's fantastical Vatican fashion show. Among those who take to the catwalk are roller-skating prelates in red, satin robes and severe-looking nuns wearing headdresses with giant wings. There are neon-flashing mitres and bicycling curates. The tableau, set to Nino Rota's often eerie organ music, is juxtaposed to a later scene in which the parade is of loud-mouthed, bare-breasted prostitutes in a wartime brothel daring the men to pick them for the night. Fellini's movie is effectively plotless, but the power of its images and the peculiarity of the scenes he offers make it compulsively watchable. Again the whole thenme is asset in Rome.
L'Eclisse, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962
The sterile backdrop for Antonioni's L'Eclisse is the EUR. The Esposizione Universale Roma it is where Mussolini planned to hold an international celebration of 20 years of fascism – plans thwarted by the second world war. Its classically-inspired architecture and broad streets offer a vision of how Romemight have developed had the Fascists remained in power. Antonioni's heroine Vittoria (Monica Vitti) arranges to meet her lover, the young stockbroker Piero (Alain Delon), at sunset by a building site in EUR. In the final scene, the streets are empty and hauntingly silent. A man steps from a bus reading a newspaper with the headline "Peace is Weak". As the sun goes down, neither lover has arrived.
The Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica, 1948
Vittorio De Sica's Neo-realist masterpiece follows unemployed Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) as they hunt for his stolen bicycle in a depressed, post-war Rome. In line with the canons of neo-realism, De Sica shot only on location and employed solely non-professional actors (Maggiorani had been a factory worker). Award-winning and hugely influential, the film was made on a budget of just $133,000. The search takes viewers from the desolate outskirts of the city to the bicycle market which still exists at Porta Portese. It is here that the disconcertingly stern Bruno trips and falls in the pouring rain, unheeded by his father, who is obsessed by the search for his precious – and finally elusive - bicycle.
Three Coins in the Fountain, Jean Negulesco, 1954
This extravagant film is also covered in Rome, Cheesy film, maybe, but the reason for a great song. Every day, an estimated total of €3,000 in coins are tossed over shoulders towards the sea god Neptune as he stands, flanked by tritons, dominating the giant, action-packed Trevi Fountain. Legend would have it that, by throwing a coin into Rome's most extravagant Baroque structure, visitors are assured of returning to the city. In Jean Negulesco's film, three American girls hungry for romance each throw in a coin while making a wish. Frank Sinatra sang the film's honeyed soundtrack which has since been endlessly reinterpreted in jazz and other versions: "Three hearts in a fountain / Each heart longing for its home / There they lie in the fountain / Somewhere in the heart of Rome."
Accattone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1961
Ask any young Italian today where the trendiest part of Rome is, and they will tell you it's Pigneto. It is to Rome what Dalston currently is to London. And, long before it became fashionable, the Bar Necci in Pigneto was where the idle pimp Accatone hung out with his demi-mondaine friends in Pasolini's first and arguably grimmest film. Opened in 1924, the bar was burnt down in 2009 only to be completely rebuilt in a few weeks. For anyone familiar with the world-weary cynicism of the Italian capital, one of Accattone's more memorable moments is when its eponymous hero meets Stella, the naive peasant girl he turns into a whore. "You seem so nice, so young, so good and kind," he says. "I don't know how to put this. Are you from Rome?"
Habemus Papum, 2011, Nanni Moretti
When a French cardinal refuses to accept his election as pope, it is decided that the answer is to take him to see a psychiatrist. The confused, but still astute cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli) seizes the opportunity to escape into the ordinary life of Rome. Via Cola di Rienzo is a high street just north of the Vatican that is almost unknown to tourists, but much frequented by Romans from the historic centre and the surrounding Prati district. It is there that Moretti's confused prelate, unrecognised as the pope-elect, is reminded of a commonplace humanity that is so often missing from his church's deeply pessimistic vision of the contemporary world.
The Belly of an Architect, Peter Greenaway, 1987
"Are you a modern architect Mr Kracklite?", the hero of Greenaway's visual feast is asked. "No more modern than I should be," comes the reply. The Belly of an Architect divides opinion like few other movies. But none has celebrated Rome's architecture with greater relish. The opening dinner party scene is set in Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon, the most majestic and best-preserved of Rome's ancient temples, frames the guests as the ambitious Kracklite, aligned in the centre of the shot, announces his latest project. The guests toast and cheer. But on the table is a cake in the shape of a dome where a pound note burns among the candles: a symbol of Kracklite's impending decline in the city of immortal architecture?
Well what are you waiting for? Hurry up, and go download the movies on torrent and watch them. They are worth a patient analysis. Patience, Patience…After all Rome was not built in a day
10 Things You May Not Know About Roman Gladiators
Well Gladiator is not just the name of a movie. Beloved by the masses and sometimes scorned by the elites, Roman gladiators were the working class heroes of antiquity. For more than 650 years, people flocked to arenas across the empire to watch these armed and highly trained warriors engage in a blood-soaked spectacle equal parts sport, theater and cold-blooded murder. Get the facts on the enigmatic men-at-arms behind Ancient Rome’s most notorious form of entertainment.
1. They weren’t always slaves.
2. Gladiatorial bouts were originally part of funeral ceremonies.
3. They didn’t always fight to the death.
4. The famous “thumbs down” gesture probably didn’t mean death.
5. They were organized into different classes and types.
6. They only rarely fought against animals.
7. Women also fought as gladiators.
8. Some gladiators organized themselves into trade unions.
9. Several Roman emperors participated in staged gladiatorial bouts.
10. Gladiators often became celebrities and sex symbols.
This is a great topic that you have written on Radhika. I got quite excited while reading through the article. For someone who's not much of a movie buff, I had a big grin across my face as I realised that I had seen Ben-Hur and Roman Holiday. In fact, Roman Holiday has been one of my all time favourites. Trust me, I can't have a count on the number of times I have seen it. I loved Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck throughout the movie. They did great justice to their roles, playing the princess and the reporter respectively. My favourite scene through the move, I must say, was when Audrey woke up in the morning to find herself in a strange room dressed in a man's clothes. Her expression was indeed something to mark.
ReplyDeleteThere was this one scene in the movie where Joe (Gregory Peck) pretends that his hand was bitten off in the mouth of the stone idol was improvised by Peck, and thus Audrey Hepburn's reaction is for real. It is a cute scene when you know that it was unrehearsed. And so, this becomes fact #31 on *THE NERDY 101 FACTS ABOUT ITALY*.
There was this other piece of information I came across about the filming of this movie which comes in for fact #32. When filming one of the ending scenes in the film where Princess Ann tries to say goodbye to Joe, Audrey Hepburn had difficulty producing tears, as the script and scene called for. William Wyler, the Director, reportedly got very angry at Audrey, complaining at the number of wasted takes; Hepburn promptly burst into tears at Wyler's frustration and thus, the scene was filmed. I don't think I can watch these two scenes ever again without bursting out into a fit of laughter.
I am amazed that Italy has actually got a lot more into itself than one can think of. Thanks a lot Radhika for sharing these wonderful movies. I am surely going to watch them soon.
its's an amazing commentary Radhika. I liked the story of Ben hur, the ability of standing for one's country and fighting til the end for one's honor. Cleopatra was a tragic love story too and I liked the concept of them sacrificing their life for one another.
ReplyDeleteits's an amazing commentary Radhika. I liked the story of Ben hur, the ability of standing for one's country and fighting til the end for one's honor. Cleopatra was a tragic love story too and I liked the concept of them sacrificing their life for one another.
ReplyDeleteBravo radhika such a wonderful article..that too about movies...i am a movie freak..it was quite interesting to know about bencher, cleopatra stories etc...it shows that you have taken so much efforts in finding information and sharing with us..and also the piece of information you gave about roman gladiator was vey useful and exquisite.also, and you also mentioned about books like the bicycle thieves,the three coins in fountain which is really has lovely stories which is worth reading..amazing effort radhika ..thank u once again
ReplyDeleteGreat article Radhika! Most of us are movie buffs and this article truly does give us all a treat to read! I loved all the movies that you've mentioned in article and would truthfully love to watch them all,....with subtitles of course!
ReplyDeletePersonally I find it very interesting that in the fifties and sixties a lot of movies form all over the world were shot in Italy. Did you know that this was majorly because of the cheap labor!
yes shreya you are right they were shot in Rome and Italy because the labour was cheapand the locales were beautiful thanks people
ReplyDeleteyes shreya you are right they were shot in Rome and Italy because the labour was cheapand the locales were beautiful thanks people
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't be right from my side if I don't agree with Raghavi on the fact about the Roman Gladiators. Radhika, i forgot to mention in my previous comment, I actually did not know those ten facts about the gladiators. I am really glad that you have mentioned about them in your article. It just enhanced your article.
ReplyDelete