Starkly realistic. Visually stunning

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2007)

Contrast. Kubrick applies it in this story, making use of the dictatorial might of Rome revealed in Crassus (Olivier) and the longing to be free, as portrayed by the slave Spartacus (Douglas). Although we may understand Crassus's maniacal love for Rome, Kubrick allows us to recognize through Spartacus, our own rational passion for freedom.
Story telling aside, imagery is also used to contrast ideas. A casual discussion between Roman dignitaries in the foreground, coldly indifferent to gladiators fighting to the death in the background, contrasts adequately both human decadence and desperation. More importantly, since our attention is on the fight, their inattention is accentuated, defining cool depravity.
Throughout the film, decency and depravity are displayed. The love affair between Spartacus and Varinia is among the most passionate I have ever seen on film, with little, if any, sexual innuendo. Evil is manifested in casualness: As two Roman women sip on wine, they coolly select the men that they will watch try to butcher one another.
It is as if Kubrick possesses the desire to present on film the fundamental nature of an idea, or perhaps, the very best example of it. He certainly had the ability.
Spartacus ends with bittersweet imagery. As an eleven-year-old, it was difficult to see the hero die, crucified. But now, when I study the pain-staking attention to cinematic perspective that places the climax of the story in the background where all my attention is instinctively focused, I realize that I was not only influenced by emotional story-telling, but by remarkable visual imagery