Bleier Grant 4/27/07 Mrs. Monica Cyrino Classic Films Midterm 2
Classics 214: Second Take-Home Exam
Part I: Characters
1. Proximo is in Gladiator, and he plays a fierce ex-gladiator who is the owner of Maximus, trains him to fight, and brings him to Rome for his revenge with Commodus. 2. Murron is in Braveheart, and she plays a beautiful village girl, who is wedded to William Wallace, but gets killed by the English soldiers. 3. Juba is in Gladiator, and he plays Maximus' sidekick, and looks after Maximus' wounds after he is picked up by the slave trader at his destroyed home in Spain. 4. Robert the Bruce is in Braveheart and he plays the Scottish noble who is next in line for the Scottish throne and he was also inspired by Wallace to do right. 5. Commodus is in Gladiator, and he murders his father Marcus Aurelius to become the emperor of Rome.
Part II: Film Interpretation
Gladiator (2000)
In the first stage of the movie, Maximus is a powerful Roman general who is loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. In Gladiator, Maximus goes through multiple stages ranging from being the soon to be emperor, to a slave, and finally to a gladiator. Before his death, the Emperor chooses Maximus to be his heir over his own son, Commodus, and a power struggle leaves Maximus and his family condemned to death. The powerful general is unable to save his family, and his loss of will allows him to get captured and put into the Gladiator games until he dies. The only desire that fuels him now is the chance to rise to the top so that he will be able to look into the eyes of the man who will feel his revenge. In the beginning of the film, Maximus Decimus Meridias has been named the keeper of Rome and its empire by Marcus Aurelius. This is proposed so that the rule might pass from the Caesars back to the people and the senate. Marcus Aurelius is a dying old man and he knows that his time is coming soon. He meets his son Commodus in the dark house that which he lives. He asks Commodus if he is ready to do his duty for Rome. Marcus Aurelius then informs him that he will not be the emperor of Rome. Aurelius then tells him "My powers will move on to Maximus". Aurelius informs him that he wants the power to go to senate, and that Rome is to be a republic again. When Commodus hears this he is enraged, and smothers his father in his jacket, suffocating and killing him. Monica Cyrino describes Commodus as "harboring vicious fantasies of hurting others to alleviate his own emotional pain" (Monica Cyrino, Big Screen Rome, p.234). I believe this is an accurate description for Commodus during this scene because he is very emotional while he kills his father. After murdering Marcus Aurelius, Commodus planned to have Maximus executed in order to secure his claim to the throne, and his family murdered. After he escapes execution by
killing multiple guards, Maximus does a hard ride on his horse all the way to Spain where his wife and son live on his farm. He is worried that Commodus might have killed them, and he arrives to the grim scene of his son and wife hanging from a wooden structure. After taking his journey home, Maximus passes out from having lost too much blood from his wound. While he is unconscious, he is abducted by slave traders. Maximus recovers from his wound with the help of another captured slave named Juba. Both he and Juba end up being the property of Proximo and they are put to work as gladiators. I would call this stage in Maximus' life his slave stage. At this point, Maximus lives only that he might someday take his revenge and fulfill the dying wish of his emperor. His sole ambition is to have revenge on Commodus. In this part in the movie there is currently a love triangle. Lucilla loves Maximus, but Maximus is still in love with his wife who was recently killed. He wants nothing more but to see his wife and son again. Maximus wants to settle the score with Commodus for what he has done to his wife and child, and for the grief he has caused him up to this point in the film. Maximus hatches a plan to scrape off his tattoo that proves his status, because I believe if Proximo found out, he would set him free. Maximus then risks his life as a gladiator in a coliseum that is miles away from Commodus and Rome, in hopes that Commodus would invite Proximo and his gladiators to join him in his coliseum to fight. While training with Proximo, Maximus is held in the room before he is unleashed before his enemies. His enemies have weapons including a morning star which is a spiked ball attached to a chain on a pole, to a halberd, and axe with a pointed end. He barges out killing every man that stands in his way only with a sword and a shield. At one point in the movie, Maximus is unleashed on 6 men, killing all 6. His last enemy he brutally decapitates him, telling the world he is the best.
The time soon comes when Proximo's gladiators are called to Rome to participate in the gladiator games held at the request of the new emperor, Commodus. Once in Rome, Maximus wastes no time in making his presence known. This showed me that in this point of the movie it was his victory stage of being a gladiator. He brutally kills his enemies, making Commodus wondering who the man is behind the helmet. Commodus asks him to remove his helmet, while he removes it and replies "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the North, general of the felix legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance in this life or the next". Maximus lets it be known that he will have his revenge, someday. In the final scene where Maximus gets his vengeance, I call it the freedom stage. Maximus had been striving for his freedom all along as a gladiator because he was under another human's command. Before their duel, Commodus stabs Maximus in the back, showing him what a coward he really is. I believe Maximus grabs the dirt and rubs it in his hands because it reminds him that he is both a farmer and a warrior. Monica Cyrino describes Maximus as a "middle-class, land-owning farmer who tends his own fields with the help of his family" (Monica Cyrino, Big Screen Rome, p. 232). I also believe Maximus grabs the dirt to show his dead wife and son that he will avenge them. Even though Maximus dies in the end of the film, he carried out the duties that Marcus Aurelius requested of him, to restore the power to the people and the senate. Maximus in the end equates to "Good Rome" because he strived to achieve exactly that, a free Rome controlled by the people. To me "Good Rome" is what Marcus Aurelius described as his ideal Rome, and Maximus sacrificed his life to make sure he would succeed Marcus Aurelius.
Part II: Film Interpretation
Braveheart (1995)
William Wallace was a man who fought for the freedom of Scotland and all the He people. showed in his actions that he wanted the best for his country, and to carry out his families desires. In the beginning of the movie Braveheart, William Wallace is a young boy in his adolescent stage. He watches as his father and brother are brought back to the farm in a wagon, both of them killed during the bloody battle to take over Scotland. William Wallace's father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. To me, this fueled Wallace to succeed his father and brother and to fight what they also fought for, the freedom of Scotland. At the funeral for his brother Malcolm and his father, William meets his uncle Argyle who fought in the battle with Malcolm and his father. Argyle promises to teach young William how to use his mind before he shows him how to wield a sword. He takes him away to live with him. Next it shows William in a stage when he is an adult, riding on his horse. Years later, King Edward marries his son, Prince Edward, to Princess Isabella, the daughter of the King of France. William returns to his hometown after many years of being away. He falls in love with Murron, who as a little girl gave him a flower at his father's funeral. We discover that Lords have the right to sleep with brides on their wedding night, so William marries Murron in secret. They kill all the soldiers, seize the fort, and Wallace avenges his wife's death by slitting the throat of the Magistrate. When Isabella returns, she discovers that the King had been planning to kill Wallace and his army, even if he did agree to peace. Seeking revenge, Wallace kills the noblemen that betrayed him. When his love is killed, Wallace is enraged at the English and prepared to go to battle.
In the stage where he proves he is a warrior, Wallace then builds himself a fine army entering cities and killing all Englishman who live there. Wallace prepares to move on to Sterling where he prepares for his greatest battle yet. In this battle Wallace wears the paint on his face like a warrior, to me representing the blood of his brother and father who were killed in battle. Wallace puts the paint on his face to represent them, and to show that he is beginning the fight for his freedom and the freedom of Scotland. This is where I believe "Free Scotland" comes into play, because this is where it all begins with the first battle. In the forest he realizes that he must find a way to beat the heavy cavalry from the ground, he decided to create spears twice as long as men. These spears killed the cavalry, and showed Wallace what his army was capable of. Winning his first battle was only the beginning to Scotland's freedom. Wallace was at his stage where he was a true warrior, showing his colors. At the end of the battle he thrusts his sword in the air, telling his father and his brother that he has began his journey, and he won't stop until his brother and fathers dream is fulfilled. Eventually Wallace reaches York, the most important military city he gains control. While in York, he is betrayed by the father of Robert the Bruce, is captured and refuses to bow down as a loyal subject of the king Edward I, Longshanks. After being captured, he is laid out on a table to be executed. Barely catching enough air to breath, in his last breath he screams "Freedom". This symbolizes that in his mind, William Wallace achieved what he strived to in the first place, freedom. Wallace is now known as the man who "had done his work right well and truly, as builder of foundations of Scottish independence he had sealed with his faith and blood" (Graeme Morton, William Wallace: Man and Myth, p.101). To me this shows that he fought for his words through faith, but also fought
for his freedom through blood. I believe Wallace did all that he could to motivate the Scottish to fight for their freedom. After Wallace dies, Robert the Bruce led the battle of Bannockburn the last battle for Scotland's freedom. This is a strong scene because after all that has happened to the Scottish, they are still fighting for their freedom which shows how really strong they are. All the Scottish people were inspired by Wallace, for his strength and honor toward his country. Wallace creates a legend of himself, with his courageous defense of his people and attacks on the English. In this movie Wallace goes through multiple stages ranging from a boy who does not understand the meaning of war, to a man who fights for his freedom and for his country's freedom. Wallace inspired his people just as Spartacus inspired the fellow slaves. He inspired them to fight for their freedom. Wallace was carrying out the idea of "Free Scotland" throughout the whole movie. His father and brother fought for their freedom and Scotland's freedom, and so did Wallace. His whole life he and his family fought for their beliefs and that is what they will be remembered for. William not only inspired others to achieve for what they believe in, but to fight as hard as they can until they get what they deserve. In Graeme Morton's novel, he describes Wallace as "having the strength to carry Scotland's national identity over the centuries" (Graeme Morton, William Wallace: Man and Myth, p.17). To me Scotland's national identity is the freedom that the Scottish strived to have for years, and they achieved what they fought for. William Wallace is someone who will be remember for his courage and his honor, not for his death and failures. William Wallace's name will live on forever as the legendary force who freed Scotland.
Extra Credit #1 I believe in a duel between Maximus and Wallace, Maximus would be victorious. Maximus in my mind is the better warrior and has better fighting skills. While Wallace was fighting swords and shields, Maximus was battling tigers, maces, and tridents. I believe if you can fight a spiked mace and win, you can win a battle against a man who is a traditional fighter with a sword and shield. Maximus would also win because he is a brave and strong fighter, despite being stabbed in the back, he still defeats Commodus. Maximus is stronger and braver than William Wallace in my mind.
Extra Credit #2 William Wallace is a character who to me is most similar to the Spartan King Leonidas. They are both fighting for their freedom, like Wallace fighting for the Scottish freedom from the English; Leonidas is fighting for Sparta's freedom from the Persians. Not only are they fighting for freedom, but they have the same warrior like techniques. Just as Leonidas has his army in formation and use techniques to kill thousands of men, William Wallace strategizes also. William used the wooden spears mow down the cavalry, just as Leonidas used his spear and shield techniques to mow down thousands of enemies. Another similarity is that Wallace and Leonidas give compassionate speeches, compelling their fierce soldiers to win the battle, and they both die in the end.