Gladiator
For me, “Gladiator” has held my attention over the years primarily for its score. Four years after my Hans Zimmer love began, the work he and Lisa Gerrard did for Ridley Scott’s swords-and-sandals epic took my appreciation of his work to a new level. There’s something about the thunderous action cues and haunting emotions of the themes that just feels elevated, even though- upon re-listen- you can clearly hear how the former paved the way for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” scores. This and his work for John Woo’s “Mission: Impossible 2” remains one of my favorite 1-2 composer punches of a year now. Rewatching the film now, my love was renewed.
If you’re familiar with this sort of epic, the screenplay by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson borrows liberally from the likes of “Ben Hur” and “Spartacus,” as well as Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart,” the latter especially in this film’s furious battle at the beginning between the Roman army- led by Russell Crowe’s Maximus- and the Germanic horde. Where it gets its energy is in the score by Zimmer and Gerrard, the performances by Crowe and the rest of the cast, and Scott’s direction. In recreating ancient Rome in this story of revenge and politics, Scott used visual effects to bring the time to life in a way that doesn’t always hold up now, but also looks better than a lot of films who approached their stories similarly over the years.
The heart of the film is this- after the opening battle, Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) tells Maximus he would like to return Rome to the Senate, and he hopes that Maximus will aide him in that. Before it can be done, however, Marcus’s son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), murders him, and calls for Maximus and his family to be murdered. Maximus survives, and is taken into slavery, then becoming a gladiator who makes his way to the great Colosseum of Rome, where he reveals himself to now-emperor Commodus. He will have his vengeance, and it starts with getting the people of Rome to love him more than the tyrannical son.
Obviously, the story of Maximus and his vengeance is what a lot of people resonate with in this film, but I think my favorite dynamics in the film are between Maximus and Proximo, the slaver who turns him into a gladiator (and is played by the late Oliver Reed, who passed away before the film was released), and Maximus and Juba, a fellow slave who becomes his friend. Juba is played by Djimon Hounsou, and while his role in this as a fellow gladiator is probably partially responsible for why he got typecast in Hollywood in supporting roles as “the heavy” in action films, there is a real character in this role for Hounsou, and the dynamic between he and Crowe allows the film to earn its final moments, where Juba pays tribute to his departed friend. A few years ago, I began to really start to mourn how Hounsou’s career was not bigger, and rewatching his work in this- and considering his work in “Amistad,” and his Oscar nominations for “In America” and “Blood Diamond”- along with hearing how he’s often struggled financially makes me wish someone in Hollywood would figure out his potential, and give him the starring vehicle he deserves.
Overall, I find myself entertained by “Gladiator” in the moment, but not having particularly strong feelings about it overall. This type of story will always work for me, and Scott does a great job of bringing it to life, but what I’m passionate about with this film are specific to me things in the film, not the film as a whole. It’s a very good achievement, but I wouldn’t consider it a great one like earlier epics of this ilk were.
