Cleopatra (1934)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Cleopatra |
| Original title | Cleopatra |
| Country of production | USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Cecil B. DeMille |
| script |
Waldemar Young , Vincent Lawrence |
| music |
Rudolph G. Kopp , Milan Roder |
| camera | Victor Milner |
| cut | Anne Bauchens |
| occupation | |
| |
Cleopatra was directed by Cecil B. DeMille in 1934 and is about the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra . This film is the first important sound film about the famous queen after the most famous silent films of 1912, 1917 and 1920. It won an Oscar for "Best Camera".
action
48 BC Chr .: Cleopatra fights with her brother Ptolemy for rule over Egypt. The traitorous minister Pothinos kidnaps her, abandons her together with her servant Apollodorus in the desert and informs Julius Caesar that the queen has left the country. When Caesar wants to conclude a contract with Ptolemy, Apollodorus appears surprisingly with a rolled-up carpet in his luggage, from which Cleopatra climbs. She seduces Caesar with the prospect of the riches of Egypt and India. Later she discovers a peephole behind a curtain and rams a spear into the pothinos lurking behind it.
Caesar returns to Rome with Cleopatra. Cassius, Casca, Brutus and other powerful members of the Senate are concerned about this development because they rightly fear that Caesar wants to cast out his wife Calpurnia in order to dissolve the Roman Republic with Cleopatra at his side and to make himself emperor. Despite warnings from Calpurnia, Cleopatra, and a seer who explains the Ides of March to him, Caesar enters the Senate and is murdered on the spot. The broken Cleopatra wants to follow him to death, but Apollodorus explains to her that Caesar did not love her, only her power, and convinces her that Egypt needs her.
After Caesar's death, a bitter struggle for supremacy in Rome breaks out between rivals Mark Antony and Octavian. Antony arranges a meeting with Cleopatra in Tarsus in order to take her to Rome as a hostage, but succumbs to her seductive skills.
Some time later, Herod the Great visits the newly-made lovers and independently presents the plan to both of them to poison Antony in order to pacify Rome, which is controlled by Octavian. Antony refuses the request, but Cleopatra, who is reminded by Apollodorus of her obligation to her country, tests the poison on a convicted murderer. Before she can give Antonius the poisoned wine, however, the news arrives that Octavian has declared a state of war.
Antony then wants to collect his legions and generals, but receives from his friend Enobarbus the message that they have completely deserted out of loyalty to Rome. Enobarbus believes that Octavian can only lose control of Rome if Cleopatra dies, but Antonius refuses to even consider this possibility.
He goes into battle with the Egyptian army, but is defeated by Octavian and locked in his own camp. Cleopatra leaves the camp unseen and offers Octavian her land in exchange for Antonius' life, which the latter refuses. Antony, mistakenly assuming that Cleopatra left him for Octavian, inflicts a fatal stab wound on himself. The broken Cleopatra returns to the camp, reconciles with her dying lover, and kills herself with a venomous snake the moment the enemy troops enter.
Reviews
"Monumentalopus that history uses as a foil for Cleopatra's love life."
“Historically, Cleopatra is one of the great rulers who used love as a means to an end. It was about the freedom of her people. The film forces world events into a narrow private sphere; the queen becomes a seductive woman, the men who elevated Rome to world power become nagging washcloths. What happens here to a Caesar or an Octavian is not humanization, but degradation. "
Awards
- In 1935 Cleopatra won an Oscar for Best Camera .
- In the same year there were Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Film , Best Assistant Director , Best Editing and Best Sound .
Web links
- Cleopatra in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Cleopatra atrotten tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cleopatra. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 24, 2017 .