Imperium: Augustus

Plot synopsis:
Augustus is on his death bed. He looks back on his life to a conversation he had with his beloved daughter, Julia. After an attempt on Augustus' life, he is shocked to learn his closest friend and Julia's husband Marcus Agrippa is dead. Livia suggests that for the safety of Rome, her stepdaughter Julia should marry her son Tiberius. Her reluctance to marry Tiberius causes Augustus to sit down and tell her the story of how he became the emperor of Rome.
He recalls 46 BC Rome is in the middle of a civil war. Together with his friend Marcus Agrippa, the young Octavius (Augustus) goes to Spain in order to help Julius Caesar battle the troops of Pompey. Even though they are outnumbered they manage to defeat Pompey. Caesar honours his adopted son Octavius with a triumphal entry into Rome and then sends him to Macedonia together with Agrippa and the son of Caesar's friend, Maecenas. There Octavian hears the news of Caesar's assassination and he returns to Rome with his friends.
Back in Rome he is able to gain both the support of the people and Cicero. In his struggle with the conspirators against the murder of Caesar and claiming his new share of the empire, he finds an ally in Mark Antony, Caesar's right-hand man. Mark Antony not only pursues Brutus and Cassius, he also initiates a wave of executions, which practically eliminates the old Roman ruling class. Among those who are killed is the husband of Livia. Octavian marries Livia and divorces his wife Scribonia on the day she gave birth to their daughter Julia. In accordance with the laws of Rome claiming sole custody of his newborn baby. Julia resents Augustus's treatment of her mother.
Octavian and Mark Antony defeat Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Phillipi. Octavian and Mark Antony at first share the empire. However Antony has become the lover of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, having been taken in by the Egyptian culture of divinity. After Antony humiliates Octavian's elder sister Octavia by casting her out of his house and divorcing her, Rome declares war on Cleopatra. Agrippa defeats Antony at the Battle of Actium and after a successful military campaign Octavian becomes the sole ruler of the Roman Empire and in doing so takes the great name of Augustus. However he tells Maecenas that he will never be king of Rome. Octavian spares Iullus, Antony's son by his first wife, and sends him to Rome on Octavia's request to be raised as her son.
In present-day Augustus's rule Rome experiences a period of peace, prosperity and an age where art and culture flourish. Agrippa and Maecenas are both dead. Livia is Augustus's principal advisor. She is envious of Julia, the mother of Augustus' heirs and the person Augustus claims that "[he] has never loved anyone as much as [her]". Julia is upset her husband's death as she was very fond of him and is upset when Augustus forces her to marry Livia's son Tiberius for whom she has an intense dislike for. Tiberius is also upset to divorce his wife whom he loves, although he does not dislike Julia and pities his stepsister, knowing how little happiness she has had in her life. Augustus sends Tiberius away to fight in a campaign. However, before leaving Tiberius scolds him for his treatment of Julia, saying "you destroy everything you love."
Julia admits to her father that she loves Iullus Antonius. Iullus (along with Julia's half-brother Scipio) wish to end Augustus' reign and form a regency over Julia and Agrippa's sons. In the beginning it is Iullus who paid the assassin to kill Augustus. He then attempts to seduce Julia in order to get close to Augustus and avenge his father's death. However upon watching Julia being forced to marry Tiberius, Iullus realises that he has fallen in love with her. Augustus tells Julia that she can continue to see Iullus (provided they are discreet) but tells her that he hopes, eventually, she will come to see him for what he is and learn to live without him.
Tiberius returns from his campaign. He shocks Julia in her room and accuses her of having an affair with Iullus. She tells him their marriage is a sham and orders him to return to the northern borders else she will have her father throw him in prison as a deserter. Tiberius threatens to find Iullus and kill him. However, when Julia still refuses to submit to Tiberius he attacks and rapes her.
Julia suffers a mental breakdown after the rape and confides to Iullus how miserable her life has been under her father's control. In her sorrow she tells him that sometimes she wishes her father were already dead just so her suffering would end. Iullus recites Julia's misery to Scipio and he comes upon with a plan to kill Augustus themselves. They agree not to tell Julia of the plan. Tiberius, who is still planning to kill Iullus for infidelity with his wife, overhears the plot and informs his mother. Livia decides that they will catch Iullus in the act and in doing so would rid themselves of Julia also.
Iullus uses his position in the imperial household to gain access to Augustus' chambers. However the plan is foiled when the noise alerts Livia, Julia and Tiberius to the scene. Tiberius fatally wounds Iullus and saves Augustus. Scipio and Iullus are revealed to be the assassins just as Julia enters. Before he is taken away Iullus tells Julia "I did it for you."
Augustus goes to the senate and orders them to exile Julia from Rome. They refuse due to her popularity with the people and the fact she is his daughter but Augustus demands they obey him. As he leaves the senate he instantly regrets it, stating that had Maecenas been alive he would never have allowed him to exile Julia. She tells him she was unaware of the plot but Augustus tells her for her own safety she must leave Rome. He insists on keeping her children. Julia finally tells Augustus that her life was a torture and it would have been kinder to kill her when she was born. Julia leaves saying that she, at least, loved her children. Upon sending Julia away Augustus breaks down into tears.
The scene returns to his death bed. Gaius and Lucius are dead, Julia is still in exile and Tiberius is heir to the throne. Before he dies Augustus cries out for Julia but Livia and Tiberius tell him she is not there. Then to everyone's surprise Julia, in a cape for disguise, enters. Happy to see his daughter again he holds out his hand to her and asks for forgiveness but she refuses to take his hand. Augustus is upset but understands. His final words are to Julia, asking "Did I play my part well in the comedy of life?" to which Julia replies "The gods will tell you, father." Augustus dies. Livia goes to place his death mask on but Julia takes it from her, kisses her father on the forehead and places it herself over her father's smiling dead face.

Tags: murder, cult, intrigue, violence, flashback, revenge, storytelling

Review:
I had the feeling their lines were dubbed in.That aside, I liked the way it recounted the life of Augustus in the form of a long conversation with his daughter Julia with flashbacks.
This production explored why Augustus, Julia, Livia, and others did what they did.Others complained it was too long; on the contrary, I would like to have it longer and fill more detail in some of the years in Augustus's life that were not covered or glossed over.The recreations of the Forum, the Curia, and other locations were the best I've seen.
Moreover, the battles they represent are meaningless, as they neglect to show either Phillipi or Actium in any detail that could do them justice.The script is a bizarre mishmash of historical accuracy and modern elements, the most obvious being the character of Maecenas, brought in for some reason to be both comic relief and "the only gay in the village".
The continual harping on about Rome also grates somewhat, though this tends to die out towards the end; for that matter the original insistence that Octavian and Agrippa were "country boys" is incorrect - Octavian's father had been praetor.The filming location - in Bizerte - is also very obviously not Italy, and since a recurring element of the film is the activity in and around the forum, this is noticeable more than it would have been if the activity was focused in the senate.Despite all that, there is still an OK film lurking beneath the surface.
Peter O'Toole does a good - if bored - turn as the elderly Augustus, Livia (who the historical sources believe was as manipulative as she is portrayed here Marcus - Caligula was to call her "Ulysses in petticoats") is played well by both actresses, with exactly the right amount of malice; Michele Bevilacqua's Tiberius is suitably reluctant to assume the burden of the Empire and Julia, as well as nagged by Livia (though he shunned Julia, and appealed against her banishment - so the rape scene was unjustified).Despite what Marcus wrote above, the treatment of Julia in this film - aside from the rape - is justified by the extant evidence, she was banished for adultery, after a complaint by her father using a law he had brought about with Iullus.Its also much more historically accurate than most films - it sticks closely to Suetonius's "Life of the Deified Augustus" (aside from the gripes mentioned above) and far better than more expensive films (King Arthur bow your head in shame), and is well worth watching for anyone who is prepared to accept some bizarre script moments in order to learn something of history..
Charlotte Rampling is frighteningly real.But it is O'Toole's show all the way as the older Augustus.After 30 years of "wafer thin ham" acting this and his performance in "Troy" show what an experienced actor can do with a good part.
This movie was made with an obvious plentiful budget, sponsored by the Italian government and US filmmakers, and the result is a complex and nicely detailed biographical study of the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar, the man whose reign spanned the BC/AD time frame with all the attendant changes in world geography and history and religious orders.
It was a time of Rome's greatness and a time of Rome's disintegration.Writer Eric Lerner and Director Roger Young wisely elected to tell this tale as a series of flashbacks as recalled by the aged, dying Augustus brilliantly portrayed by Peter O'Toole.
Augustus is attended by his wife Livia (again, a wise choice in casting the always superb Charlotte Rampling to bring this odd woman to life).
With some adroit camera superimpositions of the old Augustus' face the story goes back in time to the death of Julius Caesar, the one who appointed the young Augustus (Benjamin Sadler) to be his successor.
It is 42 BC and the young Augustus, together with his sidekicks Agrippa (Ken Duken) and Maecenas (Russell Barr in a foppish turn), struggle through the Senate, the noblemen, and the poor people of Rome who all have been ignored during Julius Caesar's infamous wars to expand the Empire.
The complicated lineage to the 'throne' of Rome is manipulated by Julia (Vittoria Belvedere), Marc Antony (Massimo Ghini), Tiberius (Michele Bevilacqua) and Iullus (Juan Diego Botto), the son of Marc Antony, among many others.Along the way we meet Cleopatra (Anne Valle) and Cicero (Gottfried John) and many of the other casually dropped names of Roman history.
The acting is superb for the leads, adequate for the secondary roles, and the camera work manages to make the numerous battlefield sequences seem cogent.In the end is the beginning: the death of Augustus.
This is a fine overview of Roman history and civilization and thanks to the fine work by Peter O'Toole and Charlotte Rampling the result is very satisfying.
A good historical and overlong television film co-produced by England/Spain/France with great actors.
The movie deals with Octavio Augusto's (Peter O'Toole) epic life from first triumvirate : 'Craso , Pompeyo and Julio Cesar' .
Tiberius will inherit the Roman Empire .The movie runtime is overlong , it results to be a bit boring but it will appeal to history buffs .
As part of the contract deal , the British/Spanish/Italian/German productions hired players from each of the nations that financed the big budget for the making of the film ; as Spanish actors : Juan Diego Botto , Elena Ballesteros ; German : Ken Duken , Gottfried John ; Italian : Anna Valle , Vittoria Beldevere , Valeria D'Obici , Michelle Bevilacqua ; French : Charlotte Rampling , Gerard Klein ; and British : Peter O'Toole ; some of the players spoke good English with fluent accents , others were dubbed .
First-rate set design by the production designer Titus Vossberg , whom the movie is dedicated , the film is very atmospheric , Roman time is well designed .
When you consider that he treated her like that and that she had a father who led a far kinkier and scandalous sex life, is it any wonder his daughter, who apart from her adulteries had no bad vein in her body, ended up the way she did?
Augustus (Peter O'Toole) is on his deathbed, overlooking how he "played his part in this comedy called life," and he takes us back several years to the high point of his rein.
His daughter Julia (Vittoria Belvedere) is married to his beloved friend and ally, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and together the two have had a pair of lovely sons, Gaius and Lucius, who are "just like their grandfather" and running around in army gear, rather like how Julia's daughter Agrippina (oddly missing from the movie) would do for her youngest son Gaius, or Caligula, thirty or so years later.
He tells her of his earlier days when he was a sickly eighteen-year-old, who one day gets a letter from Julius Caesar, despite the pleas of his mother, "Your father would forbid it!" Octavius (Benjamin Sander) reminds her that, "only your uncle treats me like a son," leaps on a horse with Marcus Agrippa (Ken Duken) another eighteen-year-old, who dreams of becoming a soldier, to join the army.
Agrippa represents the world that we all want to be apart of, yet he doesn't live in a fool's paradise like Octavius does, and towards the end of the flashbacks he finally pulls his friend out of belief that sticking to the nobles will save him; he has to suppress them.
In a way, Iullus cheats both his saviours, not only seducing Augustus' daughter but also taking Agrippa's wife and using her against the man he spent his whole life protecting.
Of course the plot falls through when Iullus ends up falling in love with her proving himself a true Antonius boy"a woman changed Antony, you could change Iullus" Augustus says and by god, Julia does.
The acting is still great, though many see O'Toole as the best: the desperation of Belvedere's Julia, the cunning of Rampling's Livia, the nobleness of Duken's Agrippa and the deep love that Barr's Maecenas has for Augustus really does touch you and makes their characters come alive.The only thing that is disappointing is that it didn't cover the whole of the history, the Battle of Actium was rushed, we never see two of Augustus wives and we don't know what happened after the civil war was over, which is probably some of the most interesting part.
Various other characters were clearly cut to save time for the film, Octavia's first husband, her children, Fulvia, Sextus, Drusus, who was Livia's other son and various others.
If anything, this show would have been better off as a mini series and covering other important parts of history like the self-exile of Agrippa because of Marcellus, and how his death resulted in Agrippa's marriage to Juliathat would have been a story worth hearing.If you're not interested in history, then you could just watch it for its soap opera feel, with the drama, attempted assassination and Julia's affair with Iullus Antonius driving her husband into raping her, we might as well have been watching an ancient rendition of DAYS OF OUR LIVES, only it's much better!
Boys will also be happy to see that they get a hot babe to stare at in the form of Augustus' daughter Julia for half of the film.
I'm particularly enamored of Ken Duken as the you Agrippa and would like to see more from him.A great blend of the full range of human emotions humor included at just the appropriate moment to keep it from becoming depressing.I highly recommend this movie - do be aware, however that it is very long - although worth every minute..
This movie is based on the life and achievements of the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar.
Augustus, a fascinating and controversial man, may have been the most important figure in Roman history.
- A.D. 14) and deeds, the failing Republic became an empire which endured for centuries, thus preserving and advancing the civilization of the day.Particularly noteworthy is an outstanding performance by Peter O'Tool as Augustus, possibly his best, both captivating and very enjoyable indeed.
Peter O'Tool masterfully uses a full repertoire of emotions to tell the story of Augustus as he seeks to preserve his Rome..
This movie's historical accuracy was matched by it's overall quality of performance and filming.
He of course always says no.This is the first point of greatness in this moderately made TV drama: Augustus is not a dolt like he is in I, CLAUDIUS, he is as he should have been: knowing, ruthless and in league with everyone.
Despite all arguments from both parties, they don't really love one another, they are like friendly rivals who both want their children to become leader of some big corporation.Of course the victims in the war against each other are Julia and Tiberius, who both hold the love or their father/mother, but have different ideas on how they'd rather spend their day.
Augustus wants a baby-making, obedient daughter and mother-of-Roman-future in Julia.
The movie was made for entertainment purposes and showed great battle scenes as like those in the days of yesteryear.
Just take Augustus for what it is and enjoy this epic with great battle scenes and done in the same manner as past greats like "Ben Hur" and "Cleopatra".
If you find Rome an abomination, a foul mouthed screw-fest of little historical accuracy, then you might enjoy Imperium: Augustus.
Peter O'Toole and Benjamin Sadler share the role of the first Emperor Augustus of the new Roman Empire in this literate adaption of his story.
For those of you who have read, seen, and enjoyed I Claudius, Julius Caesar, and Antony And Cleopatra, this film will be all the more enjoyable.In the other works I've mentioned Augustus aka Octavian is a peripheral character in the drama.
Here the story is seen from his perspective, in the present with Peter O'Toole where he is dealing with the problem of his daughter Julia played by Vittoria Belvedere in 12 BC.
She now wants to marry for love, but Augustus influenced by his wife Livia, his second wife I might add played by Charlotte Rampling has her marry Tiberius, Livia's son by her first marriage.
That was author Robert Graves own interpretation.In flashback we see Benjamin Sadler as young Octavian who with his trusted companions Agrippa played by Ken Duken and Maecenas played by Ronald Barr as they first join Octavian's grand uncle Julius Caesar at his final campaign against the heirs of Pompey in Munda, Spain.
After that we see for the only time I know the events of Julius Caesar and Antony And Cleopatra from the point of view of Octavian.
This is the genesis of the character played by Rampling here and by Sian Phillips in I Claudius who was at one time married to Peter O'Toole.I made it a point to do some research Ronald Barr's character Maecenas and what you see is what apparently was.
In addition, the movie was obviously filmed simultaneously in Italian and English with various actors being dubbed later.
The actors were obviously pasted onto a cheesy computer generated ancient Rome.The only reason I give this boring mess any stars is because I always find Peter O'Toole entertaining.
It's so bad that I have nothing good to say about either Peter O'Toole or Charlotte Rampling, who have both risen far above bad material in the past.
I don't know what movie the first reviewer saw but it sure isn't the one I saw or (actually) he is ignorant of Roman history because it was seriously inaccurate.
(Okay, I exaggerate a bit, but the dialog truly is bad.) The HBO series Rome is superior for no other reason than that its characters were at least believable, regardless of their historicity.Rome was also wise enough to know they couldn't stage epic battle scenes.
As a history major, I was hoping for an alternative approach to Augustus than HBO's Rome, which, I feel, failed to capture his overall "feel" quite as well as they did Caesar or Antony.
It is painful to see the great Peter O'Toole and Charlotte Rampling surrounded by so many high school-quality actors (with the possible exception of Benjamin Sadler) and especially the other two main actresses.
And yet, if you are interested in Roman history, it is worth a look.Pacing is generally good.
From the acting to the sets to historical accuracy, Augustus was irritatingly bad for anyone familiar with the magnificence of the real city, real people, and actual history.
Rampling was quite good as Livia, and while suspected of doing away with Julia's two sons, she would never have broached a what-if to her husband about their demise, knowing his unabated devotion to them.Historically, Augustus was never stabbed in the forum as is done in the first scenes, he would have disdained the very idea of a fatherly chat with Julia at the scene of her nightly debaucheries.And then the sets.
Augustus is a great movie.
Movie begins with old Augustus mourning the death of his friend, son in law and General Agrippina with his daughter.
Some of the important details are missing from the movie which in my opinion is OK even if they are missing like Augustus butchered the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar; Augustus's daughter was first married to Mark Anthony and Augustus's sister's son.
Peter O'Tool as Augustus is quite good.
Consequently, a question could arise: "is there any point in making yet another movie about Augustus' reign?" It seems that the persona of Augustus Caesar has been widely developed in lots of film versions from spectacular CLEOPATRAs to brilliant novel-based drama I, CLAUDIUS (1976).
However, while looking deeper at some aspects of this film, you realize that the point lies somewhere else.Roger Young's movie's strength lies in the the psychology, the insight into the personal struggles of Augustus.
Since it has a powerful tale to tell, the director uses the tool to tell the story according to his own vision: a story of a man who ruled the world but could not rule himself, his own life; a man with all his strengths and weaknesses, a father who was forced to send his beloved daughter to exile, a brother who had to sacrifice the happiness of his sister for Rome; a husband who could not foretell the wickedness of his wife; finally, a 'god' (worshipped by some people within the empire) who could not avoid the necessary fate of death.
There is Livia, Augustus' wife portrayed by sweet young Martina Stella and later by Charlotte Rampling indeed not that memorable as Sian Phillips in the famous TV series but giving quite a decent performance.
He crafts the difficult role perfectly making it possible for the viewer to understand Augustus, to get his point, to see the events in his way, from his point of view.All in all, does the movie play its role well?
In terms of historical accuracy, this is the absolute worst Roman film I have ever seen.
The list not only of errors but of plot ideas that are flat impossible would run longer than the three-hour film, but just to give you an idea...Julius Caesar and Augustus are presented as liberal Democrats, taking the side of "the people" against "the nobles." This is patently absurd.
I burst out laughing several times, especially when Julia, the daughter of Augustus, meets a lover.
The actor who plays Augustus as a young man is such a nebbish --- and the character is written as such --- it's impossible to envision him as the cunning, crafty, Machiavellian politician who created the Roman Empire.
Here, he's just a whiner who has to be told what to do most of the time.Charlotte Rampling does manage to emerge from an underwritten role as Livia, Augustus's wife, with dignity.