Cleopatra
Composer:
Alex NorthCast:
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Cesare Danova, Kenneth Haigh, Andrew Keir, Martin Landau (more)Plots(1)
Possibly the most alluring, mysterious and powerful woman of all time, Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) changed the course of history when two of the most powerful men in Rome fell in love with her. Rex Harrison is Julius Caesar, who wins the Egyptian throne for Cleopatra, marries her and provides her with a child, Caesarean. Upon returning to his native country, Caesar is crowned Dictator of Rome, but his desperate desire for even greater power causes a worried Roman Senate to fatally conspire against him on the Ides of March. Several years later, Marc Antony (Richard Burton), previously Caesar's right-hand man, is now a general in charge of all Eastern provinces. Financial troubles cause him to turn to Cleopatra for help and she soon seduces him, setting in motion another all-consuming affair. However, for the new Dictator of Rome, Octavian (Roddy McDowall), Antony is now all that stands in the way of his absolute rule of the Empire. Octavian and the Senate declare war on Egypt, paving the way for a great battle between these two ancient superpowers. (20th Century Fox AU)
(more)Reviews (3)
I first saw Cleopatra about 30 years ago and even then the film seemed to me like a marble monument of a certain era of cinema, where it is possible to admire the grandeur of the setting, the monumentality of crowd scenes, the beauty of women, and the masculine appearance of the male characters. But at the same time, I was missing a sense of experience, reality, and real life. I felt a bit like I was in a museum. In the recently filmed series Rome, I had the feeling of touching living history, and I became a part of the ancient world for a moment and experienced the stories of my heroes. Here, I feel like I'm looking at Taylor in historical garb, not the Egyptian queen. Taylor as an actress, for example, is a heroine from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for me, while in her most famous film role, she is just a celebrity on the silver screen... Overall impression: 45%. It's not that Cleopatra doesn't have anything to offer, but somehow it passed me by.
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Clear five stars, a perfect film in every sense. Part of my private trilogy Ben Hur - The Ten Commandments - Cleopatra.
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Beautiful epic film that captivates with magnificent scenery and crowd scenes, as well as with the beautiful Cleopatra and her partners. It is a powerful story, one of the great blockbusters, but I can't help it, it doesn't affect me as much as it did when I was younger. Back then, the grandeur truly overwhelmed me. Now it's just an excellent film.
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