The fall of the Roman Empire

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Movie
German title The fall of the Roman Empire
Original title The Fall of the Roman Empire
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1964
length 173 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Anthony Mann
script Ben Barzman
Basilio Franchina
Philip Yordan
production Samuel Bronston
music Dimitri Tiomkin
camera Robert Krasker
cut Robert Lawrence
occupation

The fall of the Roman Empire (Original title: The Fall of the Roman Empire ) is an American monumental film by Anthony Mann from 1964 .

action

Around 180 AD: On the northern borders of the Roman Empire , Emperor Marcus Aurelius finally ended a long war against barbaric tribes. The aging and war-weary emperor finally wants to bring lasting peace to his empire and proclaims the Pax Romana . He knows that his only son Commodus does not meet the requirements to become a good emperor and instead wants to make the military tribune Livius, the close friend of Commodus and lover of his daughter Lucilla , his successor. But before he can officially do it, he is poisoned by supporters of Commodus' who learn of this plan without his knowledge.

Lucilla married the King of Armenia at the request of Mark Aurel - despite her love for Livy - in order to secure peace with the East through this connection; but her megalomaniac brother, now at the levers of power, ruthlessly leads Rome towards doom. Because of the high taxes, there is an uprising in the eastern provinces. Livy is sent to the east to suppress the rebellion. When he gets there, he finds out that Lucilla is the driving force behind the uprising. She wants to persuade him to change to her side, but despite his love for her he refuses and can end the campaign victorious.

Historical authenticity

As can be seen from its title and even more from its prologue , the aim of the film is to address the problem of explaining the decline and eventual decline of the Roman Empire . While this process dragged on for hundreds of years in historical reality and was a very complex process, the film is limited to a period of about twelve years and depicts the demise of the "good" emperor Marcus Aurelius and the subsequent arbitrary rule of his son Commodus .

Although the context of the film is historical, its plot is fictitious and in no way reflects the actual events of that era. Marcus Aurelius was not poisoned, but died of natural causes in Carnuntum or Vienna . The central figure of Livy for the film is - like most of the others - fictional. The two emperors and Commodus' sister Lucilla are an exception.

According to the historian Allen M. Ward , the fictional Livy in the film is drawn more realistically than his lover Lucilla, who is based on the historical model of Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla . Ward admits that the historical Lucilla was already a widow at the time of her forced marriage and probably never considered a life as a Vestal Virgin . In addition, Lucilla's hatred of her mother Faustina is not proven by historical sources. It is more likely that mother and daughter tried together to avert Lucilla's marriage to Pompeianus .

In addition, Lucilla was accused as early as 182 of being involved in a conspiracy against her brother, exiled to Capri and executed; so she died ten years before Commodus, while she survived him in the film. He only takes up the proverbial grain of truth from the historical events by letting Lucilla carry out an (unsuccessful) assassination attempt on Commodus. In addition, the emperor did not find his end in a duel as shown, but was strangled in the bathroom.

As with similar productions, the makers sometimes placed very little value on archaeologically sound clothing and equipment, which is particularly noticeable in the equipment of the military and the only slightly antique-looking robes of Sophia Loren . In some cases, however, an intentional orientalization of the costumes can be noted, which is believed to illustrate the close ties between Rome and its eastern provinces. In terms of historical correctness, however, the reconstruction of the Roman Forum should be highlighted. The elaborate setting was erected north of Madrid and gives a largely accurate impression of the buildings.

Reviews

“Despite a comment that was at times critical, the adventure film, which is lavish in terms of equipment and viewing values, offers the usual falsification of history. Some reasonably exciting scenes do not outweigh the half-hearted mixture of pathetic talkativeness and battle panoramas. "

- Lexicon of international film

The cast on "The Fall of the Roman Empire"

Alec Guinness (Marcus Aurelius)

The British actor Alec Guinness admits in his autobiography "Blessings in Disguise" (1985) that he has never seen more than 20 minutes of the finished film and says that he made corrections to the script during the flight to Spain because his text was his seemed ridiculous. Guinness describes director Anthony Mann as "a friendly director who always treated the actors benevolently". The then 50-year-old Guinness got along well with Sophia Loren , whom he once took to Madrid to eat in the pouring rain while filming in Spain.

Christopher Plummer (Commodus)

In his autobiography "In spite of myself", the Canadian Christopher Plummer tells of Anthony Mann's outbursts of anger towards assistants and extras, which were in stark contrast to his benevolent treatment of the stars. Plummer describes producer Samuel Bronston as a down-to-earth man who visited Sophia Loren personally in Rome to get her to agree to The Fall of the Roman Empire with a check for a million dollars.

Like Alec Guinness, Christopher Plummer also criticizes the script, which he describes as wooden and dull. Although they agreed on the script, no friendship developed between Plummer and Guinness, something which Plummer later regretted.

Further information

Samuel Bronston produced the film for Paramount Pictures . The film was shot in Ultra Panavision . The shooting took place in Spain. For Anthony Mann it was the second ancient monumental film after its brief stint in Spartacus . Stephen Boyd was seen in a chariot race again after Ben Hur .

The film flopped at the box office. The losses totaled $ 14.3 million and led to the bankruptcy of producer Samuel Bronston.

Ridley Scott made the film Gladiator almost 40 years later , which took over the historical framework, the structure of the characters and various motifs from the previous film. Here, too, there is a conflict between the successful general Maximus, whom Marcus Aurelius wanted to make his successor before his murder, and Commodus. In the further course of the plot, however, the two films differ significantly. Only the end is similar again: in both films there is a duel between Commodus and Livius or Maximus, which ends with the death of the emperor (in the "Gladiator" also with the death of Maximus).

Voice actor

The voice actors for the German version:

Awards

literature

  • Marcus Junkelmann: Hollywood's dream of Rome: “Gladiator” and the tradition of monumental films . Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-2905-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allen M. Ward: History, Ancient and Modern, in The Fall of the Roman Empire . In: Martin M. Winkler (Ed.): The Fall of the Roman Empire. Film and History . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester / Malden / Oxford 2009, p. 74 .
  2. ^ A b Allen M. Ward: History, Ancient and Modern, in The Fall of the Roman Empire . In: Martin M. Winkler (Ed.): The Fall of the Roman Empire. Film and History . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester / Malden / Oxford 2009, p. 73 .
  3. ↑ Allen M. Ward: History, Ancient and Modern, in The Fall of the Roman Empire . In: Martin M. Winkler (Ed.): The Fall of the Roman Empire. Film and History . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester / Malden / Oxford 2009, p. 64 .
  4. ↑ Hildegard Temporini Countess Vitzthum: The family of the "adoptive emperors" from Traian to Commodus . In: Hildegard Temporini Countess Vitzthum (Ed.): Die Kaiserinnen Roms. From Livia to Theodora . CH Beck, Munich 2002, p. 247 f .
  5. ^ Jan Willem Drijvers: East and West in The Fall of the Roman Empire . In: Martin M. Winkler (Ed.): The Fall of the Roman Empire. Film and History . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester / Malden / Oxford 2009, p. 125 .
  6. ^ Jan Willem Drijvers: East and West in The Fall of the Roman Empire . In: Martin M. Winkler (Ed.): The Fall of the Roman Empire. Film and History . Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester / Malden / Oxford 2009, p. 126 ff .
  7. ↑ Marcus Junkelmann: Hollywood's Dream of Rome. Pp. 272-275.
  8. ↑ The fall of the Roman Empire. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  9. ↑ a b c Alec Guinness: The happiness behind the mask . Kindler, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-463-40041-3 , p. 352 (Original title: Blessings in Disguise . Translated by Ute Mäurer).
  10. ↑ Alec Guinness: The luck behind the mask . Kindler, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-463-40041-3 , p. 253 (Original title: Blessings in Disguise . Translated by Ute Mäurer).
  11. ↑ Christopher Plummer: In spite of myself . Vintage Books, New York 2012, pp. 365 .
  12. ↑ Christopher Plummer: In spite of myself . Vintage Books, New York 2012, pp. 362 .
  13. ↑ Christopher Plummer: In spite of myself . Vintage Books, New York 2012, pp. 374 .
  14. ↑ Christopher Plummer: In spite of myself . Vintage Books, New York 2012, pp. 367 f .
  15. ↑ The biggest flops in film history
  16. ↑ synchronkartei.de: The fall of the Roman Empire. Retrieved August 10, 2015 .