Two strange conquerors

Rating: Null/10 (1 September 2006)

During a battle in India, there is a beautiful slow motion sequence that freezes briefly when Alexander is challenging the unknown and powerful  the European horse versus the far bigger Indian elephant, the Greek conqueror versus the far bigger Asian mystery. To boldly go where no man haswell you get the picture. At nearly three hours, Stone takes enough time to portrait this amazing man as a conqueror that does not believe in western superiority and thus treats the people he beats in battle with unprecedented respect. Alexander the Great, the conqueror more civilized than modern onesThis part of the story is fascinating to see. Make up and art direction are fine and the presentation of two of the most important battles during that historic raid is sometimes amazing. You smell the CGI all over the place but you can't really see them right away on the big screen. Impressive.
Another important focus for Stone is Alexander's emotions. Since childhood, he is often surrounded by good looking males, but even in the scenes with his life-long lover Hephaistion, the most intimate they do is giving hugs, these modern hugs that spread on American television. Stone failed to make a statement here. It is widely known that bisexuality was a very common thing in those times so why make a big deal out of it? Almost 50 years ago Laurence Olivier explained in "Spartacus" that his taste includes both snails and oysters and Alexander admits to his suspicious wife that there are different forms of love. That is not really much of a progress.
The casting is odd as well. Anthony Hopkins is playing his role as a narrator no different than for a documentary on penguins. Colin Farrell is a good actor, but he never looks like an Emperor. When he desperately tries to convince his high ranks of following him even further into the unknown, he is just not mad enough for the emotional turn into madness fury he tries to deliver. Christopher Plummer just has to be wise and nobody will remember Angelina Jolie because of her acting. Val Kilmer as a lonely king and Gary Stretch as Alexander's loyal but increasingly desperate older brother save the day.
There are other strange things going on. Alexander's mother looks exactly the same during a stretch of 25 years, various animals escort some of the main characters, and in the last third of the movie a sudden "Macedonia, 7 years earlier" flashback does not make sense. Alexander's opponents in battle don't speak while the Macedonian conqueror himself cultivates a strong Irish accent. Stone was as historically accurate as possible on other occasions. The man is still a riddle. Maybe a commentary track on DVD would lift the veil, but then again  would it make a difference ?