Julius Caesar

Plot synopsis:
The play opens with the commoners of Rome celebrating Caesar's triumphant return from defeating Pompey's sons at the battle of Munda. Two tribunes, Flavius and Marrullus, discover the commoners celebrating, insult them for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, and break up the crowd. There are some jokes made by the commoners, who insult them back. They also plan on removing all decorations from Caesar's statues and ending any other festivities. In the next scene, during Caesar's parade on the feast of Lupercal, a soothsayer warns Caesar, "Beware the ides of March." This warning he disregards. The action then turns to the discussion between Brutus and Cassius. In this conversation, Cassius attempts to influence Brutus's opinions into believing Caesar should be killed, preparing to have Brutus join his conspiracy to kill Caesar. They then hear from Casca that Mark Antony has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times and that each time Caesar refused it, fainting after the last refusal. Later, in act two, Brutus joins the conspiracy, although after much moral debate, eventually deciding that Caesar, although his friend and never having done anything against the people of Rome, should be killed to prevent him from doing anything against the people of Rome if he were ever to be crowned. He compares Caesar to "A serpents egg/ which hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,/ and kill him in the shell." He then decides to join Cassius in killing Caesar.
Caesar's assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, occurring in Act 3, scene 1. After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wife's own premonitions, Caesar comes to the Senate. The conspirators create a superficial motive for coming close enough to assassinate Caesar by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, and the others follow in stabbing him; Brutus is last. At this point, Shakespeare makes Caesar utter the famous line "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?", i.e. "You too, Brutus?") Shakespeare has him add, "Then fall, Caesar!" This suggests that such treachery destroyed Caesar's will to live.
The conspirators make clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes, and do not attempt to flee the scene. After Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, the crowd is on his side. However, Mark Antony makes a subtle and eloquent speech over Caesar's corpse, beginning with the much-quoted "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" In this way, he deftly turns public opinion against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the common people, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus's speech, yet there is method in his rhetorical speech and gestures: he reminds them of the good Caesar had done for Rome, his sympathy with the poor, and his refusal of the crown at the Lupercal, thus questioning Brutus's claim of Caesar's ambition; he shows Caesar's bloody, lifeless body to the crowd to have them shed tears and gain sympathy for their fallen hero; and he reads Caesar's will, in which every Roman citizen would receive 75 drachmas. Antony, even as he states his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is taken by the mob, which kills him by tearing him to pieces for such "offenses" as his bad verses.
The beginning of Act Four is marked by the quarrel scene, where Brutus attacks Cassius for supposedly soiling the noble act of regicide by having accepted bribes. ("Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? / What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, / And not for justice?") The two are reconciled, especially after Brutus reveals that his beloved wife Portia had committed suicide under the stress of his absence from Rome; they prepare for a war against Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son, Octavius. That night, Caesar's ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. (He informs Brutus, "Thou shalt see me at Philippi.")
At the battle, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will probably both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant Pindarus kill him after hearing of the capture of his best friend, Titinius. After Titinius, who was not really captured, sees Cassius's corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the battle--but his victory is not conclusive. With a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next day. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, which is held by a soldier named Strato.
The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained "the noblest Roman of them all" because he was the only conspirator who acted, in his mind, for the good of Rome. There is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which characterizes another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
one of the early scenes in the movie involving the pirates is so ignorant of history as to make the viewer throw up their hands in disgust and say 'why was the primary text ignored?' the story of Caesar and the pirates is one of the best stories of his life and it was not given any justice.
in the end this movie was in terms of historical accuracy below even the HBO series Rome which was also fairly free in its interpretation of roman history but much more entertaining..
Covering the period from Sulla's occupation of Rome in 82 BC to Julius Caesar's murder in 44 BC, this is a fairly good biography.
There are several factual errors, like Pompey did not crush the slave rebellion (Crassus and Cicero did), there was no law against armies south of the Rubicon - Caesar just transgressed his jurisdiction to do so.
Like some of their other Producions one sees a few well know actors, such as Richard Harris and Christopher Walken , as well as some local actors of Germany and Italy(Heino Ferch, Tobias Moretti).The picture itself, even not indepth to the real Caesar story, gives an nice picture of the times of the roman empire.
Nice acting, as well as a well combined cast, give a nice viewing pleasure.Jeremy Sisto gives a new angel to a few on Caesar,Chris Noth (Sex & the City) gives a very good performance and Harris plays a Sulla, which you enjoy dying.All in all, the about 3 hour mini series is a nice evening view for the family, bringing love, war/action as well as history into your living room..
Julius Caesar is a magnificent historical person, a film like this was long overdue.Well, I have to say, I didn't like the first part much until Vercingetorix showed up.
The historical facts were severely mutilated, although the costumes and scenery looked fine and the actors did good jobs.
Pity.I can recommend this mini series to everybody who loves action scenes with lots of Roman soldiers and definitely to fans of Heino Ferch.
Caesar had a very famous grand nephew named Gaius Octavian, aka Emperor Augustus, who is not depicted in the film but mentioned in the end credits.I think it is OK for TV movie, but like most Roman films the "liberties" with historical facts annoys me.
With actors like Christopher Walken, Chris Noth, and Richard Harris, you'd expect something more from the lead, but unfortunately Sisto doesn't seem to have been a good casting choice.
Though Sisto does try, and gives a better performance than Klaus Maria Brandauer as Caesar in "Druids/Vercingetorix", the best parts about this movie are the sets and the supporting actors.
This vivid storytelling about the Caesar life is one of the greatest stories ever told.This Roman story told in impact form on a great scale with several spectacular scenes, though is a fairly standard for epic TV.Lavishly TV miniseries from Sulla government until death Caesar.It concerns about his infamous existence, feats,political greed,corruption,tragedies,wars and lovers.One of the last television's most prestigious production with electrifying performances,this is definitely the best TV version available about the famous historic character developed of the following way : The tyrant Sulla(Richard Harris) defeated to Marius and conquers Rome ,Julius Caesar(100-44 BC),as nephew of Marius,is condemned to death,but helped by Pompeius(Chris North)flees towards Orient where is kidnapped by pirates asking a ransom.When is freed,he returns to Rome where is married with Calpurnia(Valeria Golino) and begins the political career.Meanwhile,his daughter Julia marries with Pompeius and Caesar asks him his army to fight against the barbarians.But Caesar conquers whole the Gaul.The final defeat takes place at Alesia where Vercingetorix(Heino Ferch) is definitely vanquished and coerced to handcuffed parade through the Rome streets.Julius Caesar is appointed as Consul for life and crossed the river Rubicon.Pompeius and Cato(Christopher Walken) fear that Caesar will use the troops for ruling the empire and declare himself king and they flee to Greece and are defeated in Farsalia.Pompeyo escapes to Alejandria, Egypt where is beheaded by Tolomeo and Potino.
Of course also is developed the usual version of the Egyptian temptress'lust for Caesar,young royal,Cleopatra(Samuela Sardo)wants to rule Egypt and she seduces the conqueror to gain the kingdom and he helps her gain control of Egypt.Later they return to Rome,but the thing don't turn out so well.An old man prevents him on the Ides of March.Caesar is murdered by his nephew Brutus(Ian Duncan) and Cassius(Tobias Moretti) and senators,starting the second triumvirate by Marc Anthony,Lepido and Octavius Augustus .The son of Caesar and Cleopatra -Caesarion- was assassinated by order of Augustus.This stylish,visually stunning epic-scale Roman biography contains,drama,action,romance and overwhelming battles including the computer generator soldiers,though the crowd is most part by ordering ,in spite of it, still looks great.The movie displays a few top American stars in main characters somewhat at variance with an array of notable British acting talents.There are memorable performances from leading roles and the movie's wealth of expert personages-drawing extends rightly to the minor roles,one of which is played by Richard Harris,he seems terrific in his last performance.Harris whose memory the movie is dedicated but he died during the filming.Directed with imagination by Uli Edel,the picture proved that the public would go for epic series if the impact was strong and the performance attractive enough.Lovers of Sword and sandals genre and good acting will find much that is rewarding.
With his performance in Caesar, Jeremy Sisto has a new fan.He was a sexy, compassionate, yet brutal Caesar with a touch of insanity toward the end.I wish they had made this a 6 hour series as the second half seemed rushed.
Julius Caesar is a very good film and it is worth watching if you're a sucker for history--though it's not completely historically accurate, for example Cato being a member of the senate when Sulla was in charge when he was only a teenager and putting Julia, Portia, Brutus and Marcus' ages the same when Julia and Brutus were at least six years older then Portia and Marcus.
It was also disappointing not to see Brutus' mother Servilia, who was the love of Caesar's life, missing out an extra tension between her brother Cato and Caesar as well as the crude rumours that Brutus was Caesar's bastard son...But otherwise, it's a great show...So, what about the characters, you ask?
Well, Caesar you might hate if you can't stand winners but he's nice to watch as too is his lovely wife Calpurnia who is the second best character in this series giving us so very wonderful scenes--especially her last scene with Portia and the dying Caesar.
As for everyone else, Pompey is such a big-headed dude who I wouldn't trust at all--good job Julia was there (who is nice but she's irritating.) Antony can be a bit annoying, Cassius' special subject is the obvious and he might get on your nerves (her certainly gets on Brutus') Marcus (Cato's son) is an overgrown baby but he is noble and very sweet--he gives us a lovely scene towards the end with Cato and he stands up to Caesar.
Brutus is the sort of guy you want to pat on the head but it's hard to decide whether you like him or curse him, and then his wife/cousin Portia who admittedly spends most of her time standing next to him looking pretty, does a remarkable wordless scene when she stumbles across Brutus planning the murder of Caesar.So who is the one you want to watch this for, well, partly Richard Harriswho plays the villain Sulla very well considering he spends most of his time playing friendly, old heroesbut mostly, you watch it so see Christopher Walken who plays the amazing and hypnotic Cato, father of Portia and uncle of Brutus.
Walken is by far the best actor in this showhis way of grabbing your attention just with one sentence is remarkable and he pulls off the noble, stubborn and grumpy Cato perfectly making this film worth watching just to see his tear jerking death scene acted to perfection with the moving soundtrack this film has.Overall, I advice to you watch this if you are one of those people who is a sucker for the Roman history..
I didn't know that Cato falling on his sword had anything to do with Caesar's triumphant return to Rome after defeating the Roman army under Pompey.
I'd never been entirely clear who Pompey was, for that matter, except that it was the name of a Roman general and a slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their vacation and also the name of John Wayne's assistant in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence".So this pulled a lot of things together for me, as history.
And since most of the faces were unfamiliar the problem was even more acute.I did recognize Richard Harris, looking absolutely GREAT in his last film role, all white and withered and glowing with inner strength and with nastiness.
Speaking of him -- VercinGETorix, that is -- the actor who plays him, and whose name I don't have the opportunity to look up at the moment, gives what is for me the best performance in the movie.
Oh, and another thing -- I always thought that when a Roman general returned from a victory, trailing prisoners and booty, a slave stood beside him in the chariot whispering to him, "Remember, thou art mortal," just so he didn't get any ideas like Caesar did.I wish some of the performances had been better.
The Roman Empire finally fell apart, as everyone knows, but as it split up, there were still a lot of leaders or would-be leaders claiming direct descent from Gaius Julius Caesar.
Too bad we didn't get more of Caesar's accomplishments, or a better look at his weaknesses -- after all, he allowed himself to be appointed dictator without trying to reconstitute the Senate -- and there was that business with Cleopatra, a political opportunist if there ever was one.
Who would have thought someone who is not well know as Jeremy would play Caesar the best.
There is a problem with the Roman army's uniforms: in this movie (like in many others about the Roman Empire), the Roman soldiers are not properly equipped; I mean especially the helmets: they have Imperial Italic helmets, but these helmets appeared 40 years after Caesar's death, during the reign of Augustus!
I'm also a big fan of Richard Harris, Christopher Walken, Chris Noth, and any number of the interesting actors in this production.
Was this *supposed* to be "Julius Caesar, the Good Parts Version* (*with just enough bad left in to make him seem human and not perfect)" ?It felt like the writers desperately wanted to make Caesar a good guy and not deserving of the murder plot ultimately hatched against him on the Ides of March.
Don't get me wrong -- Julius Caesar had many good points and did a lot for history.
What they showed was he was doing many *good* things for Rome, with a few mistakes (like his affair and child with Cleopatra) thrown in to make him look a bit more human.Anyway.
IMHO, better to have taken an extra hour or two to tell the tale properly than to try to fit it into the time they allowed.Hmmm...and thinking on it, this miniseries was decidedly written by someone who adored Caesar, and preferred to praise him, not to bury him..
Julius Caesar is an epic story set in magnificent, ancient Rome.
As Caesar rises to fame, his life is constantly at risk for high political reasons, and he is forced to flee Rome when Sulla, the malevolent Roman dictator, threatens to execute him.
It is towards the premature end of his life that Caesar, isolated at the pinnacle of power, finds love in his relationship with another of history's great leaders - Cleopatra.
Now a mature man, Caesar's attitude towards power, towards Rome and towards the Roman Senate seems to have changed.
However, Jeremy Sisto was good as Caesar, for the most part, a surprisingly versatile actor.
On the whole, I felt it was too soap-like and thus hard to appreciate, in spite of the great setting and costumes, fine story and interesting characters..
This is a great movie/miniseries on Julius Caesar.
Anyone with any interest in Roman history should watch the HBO series 'Rome' instead.
It was made just a few years later (2005- 2007), and while it at times goes overboard with sex and nudity, that series captures the historical essence of the events of Caesar's life infinitely better than the 'Julius Caesar' mini-series..
Although I've read elsewhere people criticizing the critics themselves by saying 'it's only a movie, and not a history lesson'-I disagree-the Romans were inveterate diarists and cataloguers, which is why we know so much of what happened during this period-It's true history is written by the victor, but there are so many contemporary sources to mine for facts that I can only assume the producers just couldn't be bothered...
JULIUS CAESAR is a dull, lengthy TV movie exploring the origins and eventual downfall of Rome's first Emperor.
Watching Jeremy Sisto wandering around with what looks like talcum powder in his hair is hardly what I'd call convincing, and indeed the film as a whole seems to be a waste of time and talent.
Famous faces like Richard Harris (this was his last film) and Christopher Walken show up and chew the scenery for a little before disappearing again, but it's all very leaden and uninteresting.
It is absolutely unbelievable to see that in the times of the Roman Empire according to the movie, there are women in the Senate, girls are going out with men to restaurants!!!!!
Please, don't watch this movie if you know something about the Roman Empire.
A really historically Caesar a was more complete person, is true that he had a dark part ( mas murders in Galia, and made a much illegal facts in his consulship )but in this a really person he have good and bad parts as all mans in the world.
For once in a historical feature about Caesar they started back early enough in history to bring Sulla into the picture.For historical accuracy: Marius, seven times Consul of Rome tried to break the back of the aristocracy.
After Sulla's death Gnaeus Magnaus Pompey tried to become the big name in Rome but was unable to accomplish it by himself, ultimately having to share power with Marcus Crassus (of the Spartacus Revolt fame) and Gaius Julius Caesar.
Caesar's major failing was his predilection for pardoning his opponents and letting them into his favor, like the brutish Brutus who was nothing like the noble assassin in Shakespeare's play.A good feature, well worth the watching..
Jeremy Sisto did a fine job conveying both the strengths and weaknesses in Caesar's character, and the supporting cast (especially Chris Noth) did an excellent job acting as complements and foils to Caesar.I would say that adding an additional hour or two to the aired miniseries (which was 4 hours long with commercials, split into two parts) could have immensely improved the overall quality of the production, but it is already a very good historical character study as it is.
I never real knew the early life of Caesar and this movie did a decent showing it.
I think that Jeremy Sisto did as best as he could considering that he was play the great Julius Caesar.
The only thing I did not like about this movie was how they skimmed of the latter part of Caesar's life.
I also liked Jeremy Sisto as Caesar..
Some of the facts of Caesar's life are left out or out of order, but that's understandable because the movie was made to hold attention.
I loved how in depth the movie went into the character of Caesar.
I didn't get to finish it but hopefully I'll be able to buy it and watch the rest, even though I already know how the story of Julius Caesar ends.
This is definitely a movie I would watch multiple times, even if it was just for Jeremy Sisto!.
The pretty boy appearance for great warriors kinda takes away from the overall value.On the up side, it's a wholesome film that kids can watch and actually learn something - a concept that's becoming more and more a rarity.Walken's and Noth's roles were supportive enough to make it work.
being a history buff, i was eagerly looking forward to julius caesar.
I wanted more information about Caesar's time in Gaul, when he marched back to Rome, when he went after Cato and Pompey, when he was in Egypt, when he was back in Rome.
I suppose a look in the history books would answer the question, but I was hoping to find my answer in the 3 plus hours of "Caesar."I was especially disappointed with the battle between the Romans and the Gauls.
The movie, Julius Caesar.
Jeremy Sisto (plays Caesar) is inconsistent in his performance.
in reality Cato was only 13 at the time, 5 years younger than Caesar, he was also Pro-Sulla.
furthermore the movie makes it look like Pompey was some big senate leader.
Cato was only in his early teens when Sulla took Rome (and was five years younger than Caesar) but this could be excused as the need to have an establishment voice through the movie.
Julius Caesar is a slightly better than average TV movie.
I'm a bit of a roman history buff and have read a number of books on the Caesar.
What saves Julius Caesar is the fact that it is well acted by most of the cast and is the first movie that I have seen that try's and tackle the early life of Caesar.
Jeremy Sisto is a very good Caesar, unfortunately he doesn't age well.
The plain fact is that you can't fit Julius Caesars life into 3hours.