Spartaco

Plot synopsis:
In the 1st century BC, the Roman Republic has slid into corruption, its menial work done by armies of slaves. One of these, a proud and gifted man named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), is so uncooperative in his servitude that he is sentenced to fight as a gladiator. He is trained at a school run by the unctuous Roman businessman Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), who instructs Spartacus's trainer Marcellus (Charles McGraw) to not overdo his indoctrination because he thinks "he has quality". Amid the abuse, Spartacus forms a quiet relationship with a serving woman named Varinia (Jean Simmons), whom he refuses to rape when she is sent to "entertain" him in his cell.
Batiatus receives a visit from the Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), who aims to become dictator of Rome. Crassus buys Varinia on a whim, and for the amusement of his companions arranges for Spartacus and three others to fight in pairs. When Spartacus is disarmed, his opponent, an African named Draba (Woody Strode), spares his life in a burst of compassion and attacks the Roman audience, but is killed by an arena guard and Crassus. The next day, with the school's atmosphere still tense over this episode, Batiatus takes Varinia away to Crassus's house in Rome. Spartacus kills Marcellus, who was taunting him over this, and their fight escalates into a riot. The gladiators overwhelm their guards and escape into the Italian countryside.
Spartacus is elected chief of the fugitives and decides to lead them out of Italy and back to their homes. They plunder Roman country estates as they go, collecting enough money to buy sea transport from Rome's foes, the pirates of Cilicia. Countless other slaves join the group, making it as large as an army. One of the new arrivals is Varinia, who escaped while being delivered to Crassus. Another is a slave entertainer named Antoninus (Tony Curtis), who also fled Crassus's service after the Roman tried to seduce him. Privately, Spartacus feels mentally inadequate because of his lack of education during years of servitude. However, he proves an excellent leader and organizes his diverse followers into a tough and self-sufficient community. Varinia, now his informal wife, becomes pregnant by him, and he also comes to regard the spirited Antoninus as a sort of son.
The Roman Senate becomes increasingly alarmed as Spartacus defeats the multiple armies it sends against him. Crassus's populist opponent Gracchus (Charles Laughton) knows that his rival will try to use the crisis as a justification for seizing control of the Roman army. To try and prevent this, Gracchus channels as much military power as possible into the hands of his own protege, a young senator named Julius Caesar (John Gavin). Although Caesar lacks Crassus's contempt for the lower classes of Rome, he mistakes the man's rigid outlook for nobility. Thus, when Gracchus reveals that he has bribed the Cilicians to get Spartacus out of Italy and rid Rome of the slave army, Caesar regards such tactics as beneath him and goes over to Crassus.
Crassus uses a bribe of his own to make the pirates abandon Spartacus and has the Roman army secretly force the rebels away from the coastline towards Rome. Amid panic that Spartacus means to sack the city, the Senate gives Crassus absolute power. Now surrounded by Romans, Spartacus convinces his men to die fighting. Just by rebelling and proving themselves human, he says that they have struck a blow against slavery. In the ensuing battle, after initially breaking the ranks of Crassus's legions, the slave army ends up trapped between Crassus and two other forces advancing from behind, and most of them are massacred. Afterward, the Romans try to locate the rebel leader for special punishment by offering a pardon (and return to enslavement) if the men will identify Spartacus, living or dead. Every surviving man responds by shouting "I'm Spartacus!" (an idea from Fast's novel, not documented by history). As a result, Crassus has them all sentenced to death by crucifixion along the Via Appia.
Meanwhile, Crassus has found Varinia and Spartacus's newborn son and has taken them prisoner. He is disturbed by the idea that Spartacus can command more love and loyalty than he can and hopes to compensate by making Varinia as devoted to him as she was to her former husband. When she rejects him, he furiously seeks out Spartacus (whom he recognizes from having watched him in the arena) and forces him to fight Antoninus to the death. The survivor is to be crucified, along with all the other men captured after the great battle. Spartacus kills Antoninus to spare him this fate. The incident leaves Crassus worried about Spartacus's potential to live in legend as a martyr. In other matters, he is also worried about Caesar, who he senses will someday eclipse him.
Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus's family from Crassus and carry them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group pass under Spartacus's cross. Varinia is able to comfort him in his dying moments by showing him his little son, who will grow up without ever having been a slave.

Tags: violence

Review:
Curio value high, but..... This appears to be the same film issued the following year in the United States as SPARTACUS (the database offers no other potential films within a decade of SPARTICO). One of the joys of the silent era was that film could more easily be a truly international medium merely by the insertion of new title cards of an alternate language, and these were literate and interesting - if at strange variance with the story as usually understood from history and later films.Unfortunately, the surviving print I have seen was severely truncated to only about an hour and with no credits. The plot refers to Crassus (the brutal Roman Consul who put down the slave revolt led by Spartacus and crucified the survivors as a warning to future slave rebellions), but has no mention either of slave rebellion (other than a bit of adultery) or crucifixion ('though there is much use of throwing prisoners and revealed "bad guys" to the lions in the Colloseum). It is presented as more of a "sword and sandal" telling of a standard domestic intrigue romance and possible murder.In the print viewed, the use of the title would seem to be merely one of box office convenience, but who knows what might have been in the missing half hour? The production values are relatively high with excellent period sets and costumes for 1913, but fast cuts away from actual action which might have been difficult or dangerous to film - falls from walls or confrontations with actual beasts - disappoint.To modern eyes, the set pieces of massed groups trooping in and out don't excite, but the one-on-one interactions of Spartacus and his lover are, for all the period emoting, are involving. A complete print should he interesting.. Impressive Feature. Spartacus (1913) *** (out of 4)The second adaptation of Raffaello Giovagnoli's novel comes at a time when Italy really started pumping out their epic films with the longer running times, expensive sets and lavish production values. This film really doesn't stray too far from the source as we have our hero Spartacus being sold as a slave only to rise up and battle the evil Crassus. These Italian movies are certainly a far cry from the American ones coming out at the same time and this one here has so much going for it that I'm sure even the most jaded silent-hater would have to respect what's on display here. For starters, the set design here is incredibly well-done and I couldn't help but lose focus of the story at certain parts of the film while I just looked in great detail at the buildings. I thought all of the sets looked extremely real and they really made you feel as if you were in ancient Rome. Another major plus were the costumes, which yet again add a touch of realism to the film as they all look and feel as if they're in a real setting. The movie runs just over an hour and there's really not a dry or slow moment to be had. The movie has some terrific action scenes and we also get some nice drama. This can easily be seen towards the end when Spartacus is in jail accused of killing a man. The way director Vidali builds up the suspense was very impressive and the actors all fit their roles quite nicely. I'm not sure what the budget to this thing was but the realistic, mammoth sets make this a must-see for fans of classic cinema. The one minor problem with the film is that the editing could have been done a lot better and one can't help but thing that a "Griffith" touch would have cleaned up some of the minor technical issues.