The Colossus of Rhodes

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Movie
German title The Colossus of Rhodes
Original title Il colosso di Rodi
Country of production Italy , France , Spain
original language Italian
Publishing year 1961
length 125 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Sergio Leone
script Ennio De Concini ,
Sergio Leone,
Duccio Tessari ,
Ageo Savioli ,
Luciano Chitarrini
Carlos Gualtieri ,
Cesare Seccia ,
Luciano Martino
production Michele Scaglione
music Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
camera Antonio L. Ballesteros
cut Eraldo da Roma
occupation

The Colossus of Rhodes (original title: Il colosso di Rodi ) is an Italian adventure film by director Sergio Leone from 1961. It is one of the numerous monumental sandal films of the Italian film industry in the 1960s and 1970s. The film is the first film project in which Leone is named as a director in the opening credits.

action

The ancient Greek world in 280 BC BC: The Greek general Dareios visits his uncle Lissipus on the island state of Rhodes . Its king Xerxes has just had a huge statue of the god Apollo built to protect the harbor. They are also planning an alliance with the Phoenicians , but this would lead to enmity with the Greeks. Darius has his eye on Diala, the stepdaughter of the architect of the statue. At the same time he came into contact with a rebel group led by Peliocles, who had decided to ask the Greeks for help. The rebels want to overthrow the tyrannical king Xerxes, but one of Xerses captains, Thar, has plans of his own. He smuggled Phoenician soldiers, disguised as slaves, into Rhodes and brought the statue under his control so that the Phoenician fleet can enter the port unharmed.

Darius, who is suspected of being a spy and is not allowed to leave the city, is unwittingly turned into a courier by the rebels. When the rebels try to leave the harbor under cover of night, they are captured by the Phoenicians. Dareios is also arrested as an alleged accomplice. However, the rebels were able to flee before the planned execution. It is clear to Peliocles that the Phoenician invasion can only be stopped when the statue is under their control. It is also important to free some more rebels who are stuck in a dungeon under the statue; the release mechanism can also be found in the statue. Dareios, now completely convinced of the rebels' cause, tries to win Diala as an accomplice because she knows the plans for the statue, but unfortunately he reveals the location of the rebel hiding place. Diala, who strives for power and wealth, passes this news on to Thar, who attacks the rebels and almost destroys them. Only Peliokle's brother Koros and his sister Mirte escape. Diala's father, who does not want his building to be abused, is also killed by Thar.

Peliocles and the rest of his men are now to be executed in the arena for the amusement of the people. Dareios arrives in time and reveals Thar's machinations, but Thars is ready to carry out his coup and Xerxes and his courtiers are killed. Dareios and Koros invade the Colossus to free the rebels, but Dareios is arrested while trying to start the liberation mechanism and Koros is killed. The rebels attack the colossus, but are forced by its armament to disperse in the city.

When the Phoenician fleet has almost reached the port, a huge storm breaks out of nowhere and an earthquake shakes the country. Thar and his men flee the statue in a panic, but are killed by the rebels in the city. Meanwhile, Diala, who blames herself for her father's death, frees Darius, but when the statue collapses, it is killed by falling debris. The colossus finally wobbles and falls into the sea in front of the harbor basin. When calm returns, Dareios and Mirte meet Lissipus outside the destroyed city. Although Darius could now return to Greece, Darius declares his intention to marry Mirte and help rebuild the destroyed city of Rhodes.

background

The film was shot in Spain in “Totalscope”, the Italian version of Cinemascope . Rory Calhoun always wore a white bracelet on his left arm while filming to cover up his modern tattoos . His role of "Dareios" should first be played by John Derek .

Reviews

The lexicon of international films called Leone's first film "a well-equipped but surprisingly naive costume and combat production with a multitude of raw torture scenes". Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz described the production in their encyclopedia “Films on TV” (1990) as the “first significant Leone film” and rated it with 2½ out of 4 possible stars as “above average”. They praised: "Mass scenes, colorful battle and the magic of the south in a drinkable, trick-technically impressive design."

Chistoph Huber wrote on filmzentrale.com: "It was a further step to the spaghetti westerns Leones, but fans of the director are interested in this rather mediocre entry into the sandal film genre, after all, a few of his preferences can already be recognized in the debut."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Colossus of Rhodes. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV" . (Extended new edition.) Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 459.
  3. ↑ See filmzentrale.com