I think I think I like it...

Rating: Null/10 (27 November 2004)

My first feeling (starting from the Hephaestion's thighs-quote) - and one that stayed throughout the entire film, was one of shock. Shock over the fact that that the Alexander/Hephaestion story line was there, from the beginning, in full sight for everyone to see. And I was thrilled beyond belief - I fell head over heals on love with them. I also think that that was the one thing that stopped me from thrashing the movie before it even started, because at he back of my mind I still thought the dialogue was appalling, some of the acting rather embarrassing and, honestly, didn't Olympias sound a bit too much like a rather campy Russian spy? But I did like the way the love-story was portrayed so casually, as a friendship above all others, as a hinted erotic relationship and just generally a different way of thinking before there was such a thing as being gay/bi/whatever. Now, I'm not an expert here, but I still have studied these ancient cultures (somewhat) and I do believe that this kind of scenario may just have been not completely false to history, given that we can never completely down-to-the-last-detail know (talking generally here - not just Alexander).
And this is where I - some 4-5 hours later - begin to rethink my thoughts about the rest of the movie as well. I'm starting to see small traces of the structure of the Greek drama/tragedy, both in the dialogue (still not quite over that one, though!;) ) and the way they incorporated issues like Oedipus, Medea killing her children and Olympias practically loosing/twisting her mind as a result of Philip's actions/character. It hints at a culture that had great thinkers, writers and philosophers who spent time and effort trying to understand Man and his role in the universe; Alexander most probably did believe that this was a culture worthy of expansion. In any way, it provided a nice background and a *sort of* structure for the story. Or perhaps I'm just desperate, for Hephaestion's and Alexander's sake, to like it? ;)
Although we, for example, did not see the full extent of his increasing arrogance and hubris, there were still other details that I was delighted to recognise (like the proskynés issue, Dareios' or Kleitos' death). I also appreciated the "feel" for mythology here in Alexander - there was a sense of them actually living and breathing at the foot of Olympus (which I thought was unfortunately lacking in "Troy").
So, all in all, it was a bit camp (not necessarily of the good kind...), a bit disjointed (I could've done without some of the flashbacks and storytelling), and although I liked (as much as one can like images of killing) the battle scenes (better than most films!), I missed a proper explanation of his strategy (as well as an overall plan), and perhaps I, personally, would've concentrated on other parts of his life.
But I think it's worth another viewing, if only to make my mind up on whether I like it or not. :)