Gladiator is a historical epic movie of Roman Empire. Maximus
Decimus Meridius, the protagonist is a general of roman army. The Emperor of
Rome, Marcus Aurelius is in favor of him to inherit his throne, rather than his
own son, Commodus. This decision angers Commodus and eventually he killed his
father. Also, he demands Maximus to be executed. Maximus escapes the death but
his wife and son killed by roman soldiers. Later, he captured by a slave master
where he needs to kill the other warriors to survive in the fighting pit.
Maximus determines to seek revenge for his family. He enters the Colloseum as a
gladiator to murder Commodus. Later, he reveals his identity to Commodus after
winning a tough match and survives with the support from the crowd. However,
Maximus is captured after fail attempt to overthrow Commodus. In the final
battle, Commodus stabs Maximus on the side to gain upperhand on the battle. Still,
Maximus triumphs to victory as he kills Commodus with a dagger. In the end,
Maximus is dead in the Colloseum and people honored him as a soldier of Rome.
There are many memorable scenes in the movie Gladiator. The first
scene is the disturbing scene of Commodus murders his father. Camera shots are
done either close up or extreme close up. These shot arrangements allow
audiences to anticipate more with the characters interaction thru the changing
emotion on their face. The stiffness of body language emphasis the conflict
emotion and bring more focus to the actors’ facial expression. Emperor’s costume
in simple white robe to suggest his innocent will for atonement and guilt to
his son for not inherits the throne to Commodus. On Commodus’s side, his bluish
black costume suggests he has bad intention and his has rather shady
characteristic. The lighting in the set is mostly dark to create crime scene
atmosphere to indicate something bad is going to happen.
Second scene is the death of Maximus’s wife and son. It started
with wide shot of the wheat field to show the location change. Long shot is
used when Maximus’s son walks toward roma army and killed by the horses. The
usage of slow motion and cut scene with Maximus’s wife creates attention and
emphasis to itself. Long shot is used for Maximus rushes to his home only to
see his beloved wife and son killed and hanged to indicate speed from one
location to the destination. He knees infront of them as a way to beg for
forgiveness. The close up shot of him holds the corpse’s leg and faints while
crying express his heartbreak and remorse.
Third scene is Maximus’s first battle in Colloseum. Fast pace
editing creates action stimulates real time fighting sequences. Long shot and
medium shot used to film the fight between horse carriage’s army and Maximus’s
clan because horse carriage is a larger object compared to human. Close up shot
used when a person killed by spear or arrow. Maximus’s helmet is an important
prop in this scene as it conceals his identity thru the victory. Another
significant prop is the weapon equipped on horse carriage wheels, the spinning
spear. It keeps the audiences gasp for excitement as it almost killed Maximus
for saving his allies. The archers with golden armor ride the horse carriages
are a symbolic image based on Greek god Apollo, who has major influence in
ancient Rome.
The forth scene is the final showdown between Commodus and
Maximus. Close up shot of both actors having face to face conversation is
staging the anticipation of final battle. On battle arena, rose petals falling to
honor the glorious warriors who spill their blood in the battle. Another close
up shot is used after Commodus takes out a dagger from his gauntlet, but to be
killed with it by Maximus. It helps to bring focus on the tension of the
battle, especially the death scene of Commodus where he struggles to fight back
and died in agony. Both of them wear battle armors as Maximus wears the
gladiator black armor, similar to the previous battle while Commodus wears
white lethal armor for royal identity. The distinguish difference of color
clearly separate both of them to avoid confusion on close combat.
The movie itself is a must-watch for fans that mesmerized the
glorious Rome Civilization. This movie Gladiator is supported by a team of professional
actors, script writers and director Ridley Scott. Finally, audiences are
advised to bring tissue papers to watch this movie as the ending scene will be
tear-jerking moment with a string of emotional scenes.
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