Spartacus

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: tragedy, romantic, historical, murder, violence

Review:
One of my favorite movie lines of all time is delivered by him addressing the Roman Senate where he says he'll "take a little republican corruption for a little republican freedom." Another sly rogue in the film is Peter Ustinov who won the first of his two Oscars as Batiatus the owner of the gladiatorial school.
Although he has little creative input (i.e. script and story wise) he manages to make a compelling movie with his keen eye and directorial abilities.Filmed in a grand scope and in such great detail, Spartacus is eye candy for fans of epic film making.
Kirk Douglas is the man as Spartacus, Tony Curtis is quite good as his sidekick, Charles Laughton is wise and witty as the elder senator, Peter Ustinov is a hoot in his role as the poor victim of fortunate (and unfortunate) circumstance and Sir Laurence Olivier shows why he was the premier actor of his day as Crassus.Highly recommended for Kirk Douglas fans and Stanley Kubrick philes..
Nothing can withstand it...........how much more a mere boy?" And at that point Antoninus, whom he had been trying to seduce into a homosexual tryst with oblique erotic talk referring to "snails and oysters," escaped to join the rebelling army of slaves led by Spartacus.Made just as the various civil rights organizations were starting to cohere, one wonders if this epic movie which highlighted the injustice of slavery, had an impact on American society which finally acknowledged and did something about its gross violations of human rights based on skin color..
"Spartacus" has its moments but feels for the most part like what it is: An overblown epic with too many cooks stirring the pot.It's shortly before the dawn of the Christian era, and somewhere in the vastness of the Roman Empire, a slave named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is forced to become a gladiator, providing kill-or-be-killed entertainment for leisured decadents.
Or will the vile Crassus (Laurence Olivier) bring him to heel?Nominally directed by Stanley Kubrick, for which this was his introduction to the big-time, "Spartacus" is in fact a shining example of limitations, both of the Hollywood star vehicle as art form and the ability of a 1960 film to come to grips with the ancient world.
Douglas loses the fire while Kubrick loses interest in Spartacus's story, becoming engaged only when the scene shifts to Rome, where the aristocratic Crassus battles with the plebian Gracchus (Charles Laughton) for the city's soul, and Spartacus's former owner Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov) finds himself in the unhappy role of political pawn.Ustinov's performance was the only Oscar-winning one in any Kubrick film, and he's great both as a bridge between the two story arcs and as low-key comic relief, playing off the high dungeon of everyone else.
You must abase yourself before her."Nothing else sticks quite like that (and that only because the restored version on the Criterion DVD put back an excised scene of Crassus and Antoninus in a bath, which explains what the old Roman meant by "abase".) Whenever the movie goes back to Spartacus and company, its hard watching as Douglas smiles a lot and moves through adoring crowds like John F.
One year earlier, in 1959, William Wyler finished his own opus known to film buffs as Ben Hur.In 1960, Kubrick directed this film under the tight scrutiny of the "real" producer, Douglas himself.Both films seem alike in the IMDb. That is, the ratings are similar, the public acclaim (at the time) similar, and both won multiple awards.But the real battle, the real foe, is time itself.A half-century later, BEN HUR still shines, the dialog still rings, and Heston's prideful acting outlives the actor himself, as is true with all great actors.This film does not fare so well for any who would spend 3+ hours with it.
One of those movies which somehow seems to improve as it ages (probably because, between viewings, we forget how many cliches it avoids), Spartacus is a terrific film, and one which, I think, would have been every bit as terrific even if Mr Douglas and Mr Mann hadn't had that little falling out which led to Mr Kubrick getting the phone call.Don't get me wrong, I think Kubrick was a great director, perhaps even the best there has been, but not only had Spartacus been in pre-production for over a year by the time he was told to hop aboard, the actual shooting had already begun (that opening sequence in the quarry is all Mann's, I believe).
As a history lesson SPARTACUS is rather poor , if you look up the goofs on this page you'll notice that no one has really bothered to their home work as to the history , politics and machinations of ancient Rome with perhaps the most striking piece of speculation is the myth that Spartacus was from a Greek province sold into slavery when it's far more likely he was a Roman legionnaire who was sent to gladiator school but I guess the being sold into slavery makes for a better story But this very simplistic black and white view of history can be forgiven because it's what makes SPARTACUS a great movie , we know who the bad guys are and why they're bad guys ( They're rich and cruel ) and we know who the good guys are and why they're good guys ( They're poor but noble ) and therefore the audience know instantly whose side they're on SPARTACUS is also a film famous because its director Stanley Kubrick supposedly hated it mainly down to the fact that he didn't have any involvement in the screenplay .
It contains fine performances from all the cast but the stand outs are Douglas , Simmons , Laughton ( Someone else alleged to have had leftist sympathies ) Olivier and Ustinov , so many fine actors in one movie and you don't notice how many different accents used until it's pointed out to you .
Check out those battle scenes at the end and remember this was long before CGI so these were real people making up the slave and Roman armies but for me the greatest scene of the film and one of the most haunting scenes I have ever seen is where Woody Strode and Kirk Douglas sit facing each other waiting to go into the arena .
Olivier, Simmons, Laughton, Ustinov and Curtis all put in fine performances and the "I'm Spartacus" is probably one of the most memorable scenes in movie history.
Actually it might have been much better and more cohesive as too much feels as though the director lacked interest and most of the best scenes are more Mann-ish than Kubick-esquire.The film starts off traditionally enough – Spartacus is raised in the slave pits and makes a seamless transition to gladiator.
Jean Simmons (no, not one from "KISS") is quite restrained and bland as Douglas's love interest, though she isn't really given much to do either.Usually epics like this are redeemed by massive battle scenes but (despite some heavy gore for the time) the big show-stopping fight is not the best of the genre, owing some to Alex North's pedestrian score and Kubrick's apparent disinterest.
Spartacus is the Thracian slave who refused to be a Roman plaything, breaking out of their clutches he led the slave revolt that panicked the Roman Rebublic in circa BC 73, this film is based on that period in history.Spartacus got off to a troubled start, original director Anthony Mann was fired by leading man Kirk Douglas (Spartacus) after a falling out, some of Mann's work does remain in the final picture, tho, notably some of the early scenes in the desert are thought to be at Mann's direction.
We are in short set up perfectly for when the film shifts its emphasis in the second half.So many great sequences are in this picture, the gladiator training school as Spartacus and his fellow slaves find that they have dignity within themselves; forced thru a tough regime designed to set them up for blood sport entertainment to the watching republic hierarchy.
Peter Ustinov (Best Supporting Actor Winner) is in his pomp as Batiatus, Jean Simmons (perfectly bone structured face) plays off Douglas expertly as Varinia, with Tony Curtis (Antoninus), John Gavin (Julius Caesar) and Charles Laughton (Graccus) adding impetus to this wonderful picture.Spartacus also won Academy Awards for Best Color Cinematography, Best Art and Set Direction and Best Costume Design, with nominations rightly going to Alex North for his score and Robert Lawrence for his editing.
While it is true that Spartacus isn't as good as films such as A Clockwork Orange or Dr Strangelove, it's still a fine piece of cinema and it also represents one of the better epics to come out of Hollywood, and despite the fact that he didn't write it and didn't get as much freedom as he usually likes, Kubrick has still managed to inject his own style into the picture, which is at least somewhat responsible for the fact that this is more than just the standard blockbuster.
This film may be given a new lease of life these days due to the success of several recent historical epics, but trust me; Spartacus is a hell of a lot better than the likes of 'Gladiator'..
What makes such movies like Spartacus true masterpieces is a combination of everlasting ideals, brilliant performance, personalities of actors, and a strong feeling of LIVING AMONG the characters at the same time when they lived...
I suppose his final satisfaction must have come in the endurance of this film's popularity after all the other nominees faded into obscurity.'Spartacus' is one of the great Hollywood epics and Kirk Douglas' defining role.
A mawkish and manipulative script from Dalton Trumbo, the bizarre miscasting of Tony Curtis as a "sing-ger of sawngs", and a complete disregard for historical reality overcome spectacular cinematography, well-done battle scenes, and terrific performances from Olivier, Ustinov, and Laughton.All "fact-based" movies (even documentaries) are fictionalized to some extent, but the attempt to turn Spartacus into the Roman world's version of Abraham Lincoln is not merely a matter of storyteller's license, but a failure of imagination and a falsification of history..
With Scenes that look like as if they were shot in present days with modern technology rather than in the 60's.The Sets were elevating, and performances were strong.Kirk Douglas leads the whole film without trouble.
At over 3 hours this film never feels like a boring film ,with the exception of some scenes that could've trimmed(Blame the writer).It is Kubrick that enriches every film of his.He brings the utter realism and beauty to every shot and never makes it look like a cheesy 50's film.This unrated Director's Cut is splendid and surpasses all swords and sandal epics we come across nowadays.Before there even was The Gladiator ,there was Spartacus.Although it is a major disappointment that this film wasn't even given as much nominations or awards as Ben Hur got and that performances in that film were lame and weak..
Without knowing who the director was, it might come as a small surprise to know that Stanley Kubrick directed it, but then again, his craftsmanship and distinctive style are quite apparent at times.The story certainly lends itself readily to cinema, and with all the battles, confrontations, and tumultuous developments, it's little wonder that they decided to film it as an epic.
In particular, Peter Ustinov and Charles Laughton both steal more than their share of scenes.It's very easy to understand why a director of Kubrick's stature would have been disappointed not to have complete control over a project like this, and given the opportunity he could surely have produced a different version of "Spartacus" that would have been worthwhile in its own way.
Kirk Douglas is perfect as Spartacus and Jean Simmons has never been better than here as Varinia (although she was also great as Diana in THE ROBE) but the real scene-stealers are the magnificent trio of Sir Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov (who won the Supporting Actor Oscar).
Once the Romans got really annoyed, however, they got serious and defeated Spartacus' forces.Kirk Douglas gives his average outstanding performance in this movie, bringing the slave/gladiator to life right before your eyes.
When you watch Spartacus with all actors and actress within, you feel not only they successfully convey the true story but you live within the sequence itself.The first impression you think it's from this Millennium but actually it's 45 years ago !The Cinematic effect and the visual effect at that time wasn't supported with advanced technology, and I think because the actors and actress are talented,even the director and the crew are doing the best work to succeed the movie.All efforts from Actors and Actress creating interactive live event, there's originality in this Film and the way the director trying to convey his vision with the reality combined altogether harmoniously !
It's true, Kirk Douglas' Spartacus is one of the strongest and most convincing heroes in movie history (maybe second only to his performance in PATHS TO GLORY, also directed by Stanley Kubrick).Still, there are two characters stealing the show: Peter Ustinov's slave dealer and especially Charles Laughton's Gracchus.
Kirk Douglas, a stellar leading man, suits the title role perfectly, Laurence Olivier is amazingly detestable as the villain, and the supporting cast, which includes Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, and Charles Laughton, is highlighted by Peter Ustinov's justly Oscar winning performance.
Charles McGraw was very hatable, and the Roman "nymphs" (Nina Foch and Joanna Barnes) are such a fine example of the vain, idle rich.Although this isn't the most Kubrick-ian of Kubrick's films, probably due to Kirk Douglas' and Anthony Mann's influences, it is one of the best historical epics ever, and is a total treat to watch!.
In addition, the relationship between Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) and Varinia (Jean Simmons) is tender but restrained; they fall in love in the opening scenes of the movie even though they never speak, barely ever touch each other and never speak more than three words.All that said, the film is a remarkable achievement.
The performances are all superb, especially Ustinov's sly, Oscar-winning comic performance; Olivier's evil dictator; Laughton's wonderful work; and Simmons and Douglas as well.The battle scene is one of the most spectacular ever filmed, with over 8,000 Spanish soldiers filling out the ranks of the slaves and the Roman army, in sharp contrast to those all-too-common ancient battle scenes in which fast cutting and close shots fail to create the illusion that the couple of dozen men fighting are two clashing armies..
Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and John Gavin give very memorable performances as Roman politicians, a slave trader, and Julius Caesar, respectively.Spartacus is one of those classics, like Gone with the Wind, that everyone sees at least once in their lifetime.
Kirk Douglas is magnificent in director Stanley Kubrick's epic retelling of Spartacus, who was a Roman slave who was drafted into gladiator school, where he learned both the combat and military skills that would later prove to be invaluable to him, as well as hardening his hatred for and resolve against Roman rule, when he leads a slave revolt that grows to astronomical proportions, posing a real threat to the Empire, thus inspiring many political machinations among the Roman senate involving both Senators & Generals(played by Sir Laurence Oliver, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov) that plan to defeat Spartacus' army.
The cast is certainly something stellar: Lawrence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov and Kirk Douglas all in epic movie mode.
Stanley Kubrick's direction is very well crafted and Kirk Douglous has poignantly portrayed the legend of Spartacus thus revealing the true grit and stoic fortitude that is usually hidden in a rebel or a societal misfit.Douglous and Olivier have played their roles very well while Tony Curtis has failed to give a stunning and respectable performance during the fatal duel at the end of the film.The sets are more real and painstakingly crafted than in "Gladiator".
Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, Stanley Kubrick---this is one of those movies where everybody is great doing their part.
Also the action is brilliantly done, and the performances are to be much applauded, with Kirk Douglas believable and sincere in the title role, Jean Simmons alluring as Varina and Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Charles Laughton stealing every single scene they are in.Overall, maybe not Kubrick's very best, but a fine historical epic.
"Spartacus" was the first great film for acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick who would later go on to direct films such as "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) and "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) and while his slavery gem does not par with epics such as "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) and "The Ten Commandments" (1956) it is a very interesting motion picture that while dated, seems somehow more effective and mature than its modern day mimickers.Kirk Douglas stars in the title role as Spartacus: a Thracian slave who revolted against the tyrannical Roman Empire during its greatest years.
The Cast, from the Stars Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton etc, to the supporting cast (To numerous to even think about) and the Storyline...Absolutely Fantastic and it never ages' Like a lot of old movies tend to (Although I still love a lot of them too)I was 14 when I first saw Spartacus, It has long been amongst my personal  Collection and I must admit I have watched it literally Hundreds of times over the years and have never tired of it.
Kirk Douglas did great job as Spartacus but for me the best charachter in this movie was Laurence Olivier as Crassus.
The best of the gladiatorial epics Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus had one of the best ensemble casts I have ever seen on screen, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Woody Strode, Peter Ustinov, Charles Laughton, John Gavin, and last but not least Tony Curtis.