Epic struggle

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2006)

Ridley Scott film Gladiator (2000), reputedly inspired by a painting, is set in ancient Rome at the time of Caesars (approximately 100-50 B.C.). Leaders of a republican empire that spread across the whole of Europe, most of the Middle East and North Africa, we join their premier General Maximus (Russel Crowe) on the battlefield immediately prior to their invasion of Germany.
Caesar himself (Richard Harris) is in old age. He is wondering whether this great empire he has conquered has been worth the sacrifices he has had to make to secure it.
It is not long before he finds out. His aptly named and disaffected son Commodos (Joaquim Phoenix) is soon hell-bent on winning control of all that his absent father has won. His unwilling sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark) are drawn into a succession of outrageous betrayals which they feel helpless to avoid.
Loyal Maximus, meanwhile, suffers the loss of his family and barely escapes with his life. Tended to by Juba (Diimon Hounsou) and exiled, of necessity, to a remote part of the Empire - he rebuilds his shattered life championed by the unlikely promoter Proximo (Oliver Reed).
No longer the leader of a legitimate army, Maximus makes his name as a prize-fighter or Gladiator. Even in the time of ancient Rome, such a fighter could win his freedom from slavery by open competition in the public arena.
Returning to Rome as a self-made champion, Maximus is soon recognised by long-serving members of the Senate like Graccus (Derek Jacobi) with whom he conspires to free Rome from the tyrannous hold that Commodos has gained by deceit.
A powerful tale, well told and full of the dark uncertainty that attends such great events.