MAXIMUS MERIDIUS
Russell Crowe |
COMMODUS
Joaquin Phoenix |
PROXIMO
Oliver Reed |
LUCILLA
Connie Nielsen |
GRACCHUS
Derek Jacobi |
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The opening scenes of the film introduce
us to Maximus Decimus Meridius
(Russel Crowe), as a competent,
charismatic General, brutally defeating
the Germanic hordes.
When Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix),
learns that his father, the current Caesar,
Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) wishes
Maximus to inherit the rule of Rome, the
story begins to evolve.
Commodus takes the throne with the
aid of patricide and immediately sets
about to secure his position. Maximus
is quietly sent away and his family is
executed. Barely escaping his own
execution, exhausted and wounded,
Maximus is captured by slave traders
and dreams of all that could have been.
Hope is found when he is faced
becoming a gladiator. Maximus swears
vengeance and brings his warrior talents
to the grandest arena in the land, the
Coliseum. At first a crowd pleaser, he
soon becomes a political power as he
successfully and repeatedly defeats
the Emperor's chosen on the hot
sands of Rome.
The story of Gladiator is classic in the
style of Shakespeare or a Greek tragedy.
Incestual threads, family conniving, and
back stabbing, are interwoven with low
treacherous whispers behind marble walls.
The devilish grins of Commodus, and his
evil obsession with his sister, make for
a perfect villain.
You yearn for the hero Maximus, a rock
of strength with unswerving morals and
virtues in the middle of Roman decadence,
to kill him.
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MARCUS AURELIUS
Richard Harris |
JUBA
Djimon Hounsou |
FALCO
David Schofield |
GAIUS
John Shrapnel |
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