Caesar on TNT...

[Neophobic Man]

Anyone else waste their time with this "mini series"...? As an individual who enjoys reading about the fall of the Repulic, and who counts Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series is among the better historically fictionalized accounts of it...THIS SERIES WAS BRUTAL!

[jones]

There were some omissions that puzzled me: oversights of certain events like Pompey's famous defeat, any reference to the Triumvirate, and the second half of the pirate story (where Caesar comes back and has them all crucified -- yes, this may be legend, but it was good enough for Plutarch, and such legends make great drama).

Also, of the three timeless examples of Caesar's terse, razor-sharp phraseology that everyone knows:

<ul type="square">[*]alea iacta est ("The die is cast")[*]veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered")[*]et tu Brute (true, these are Shakespeare's words, not Caesar's, but Shakespeare says it better, and Seutonius reports J.C. saying something very similar)[/list]

The first is fudged and nearly inaudible, the second is absent, and the third is changed to just Brutus' name and a few weak grunts -- not at all appropriate for this consummate simplifier who was praised even in ancient times for his efficiency with words. One reason I watched the show was to see how these three moments would be rendered, and in that respect I was disappointed. It's like Rocky without "Adrieeeeeeeeeeeeeenne!" (or, I suppose, Bruce Banner without, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." -- See? Even Ang Lee knows when to give the people what they want!).

That being said, I thought there was also quite a bit to like in the show. Richard Harris is amazing as a feckless, decrepit Sulla trying vainly to bludgeon a culture of sophisticates into the barbarity of dictatorship. Of course, I thought there was some confusion in the scene where he orders Caesar to divorce Cornelia. The dialogue (and Jeremy Sisto's delivery) suggest that Caesar refuses because he's devoted to his wife, but the way Harris plays Sulla, it should be obvious that this guy will never last as dictator and Caesar can score some popularity points by standing up to him. That would be more characteristic of Caesar rather than the role of the faithful husband refusing to give up the love of his life. That's certainly not the Caesar that we are shown in the rest of the movie, and if there's some transition point where he goes from good-hearted family guy to calculating political aspirant, I must've missed it.

But there were some other good things. It was fun to watch the evolution of Cato from crafty politician to wild-eyed, bedraggled revolutionary. Chris Noth was better as Pompey than I thought he would be. Jeremy Sisto really looked the part of Caesar and wore it well -- even if his delivery was uneven at times. But it was Julia (don't know who played her) who really stole the show. She was more believable as the daughter of Caesar than Sisto was as Caesar himself.

One minor point: Sean Pertwee was underutilized (as usual). He played Pompey's lieutenant who later becomes Caesar's lieutenant in Gaul. He only gets a few forgettable lines. And that's too bad because he's capable of so much better.

take care

---jones()

[Neophobic Man]

"...Jeremy Sisto really looked the part of Caesar and wore it well..."

jones, Caesar was blond and BALDING...it's in all the busts...such is the irony of being cognomened Caesar...I thought Sisto was rather lifeless in much of his work...there just wasn't the air about him that made me think he was the cold and calculating individual Caesar had to be...

Richard Harris as Sulla was rather fun though. I've often wondered about Sulla, he gets so little "air time", if any, in history...he seemed to be so right...but if have of what they say about his life is true, hell, Sulla deserves at least a four hour mini-series about his life...

Did I miss it, or did they remeber that Caesar was Pontifus Maximus? You're right, the series did seem to gloss over many things...some of them important enough...

As for, "...alea iacta est ("The die is cast")..." I kinda hold that it wasn't exactly what he said...that McCullough and her sources got it right with "Let the dice fly!"...but that is minor, you're right about how they presented it, all muddled and muffled...

Was it just me or was Cleopatra living in Caesar's house at the end? Caesar would never have let an annointed soverign inside the walls of Rome...it wasn't done...though I daresay that I might have just misinterpreted it...

I didn't have any specific problems with Chris Noth's acting, but again, Pompey wasn't exactly black haired...I do beleive he was famous for his supposed "resemblence" to Alexander...

It was really a "C" mini-series at best...