Julius Caesar
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Movie Reviews of Julius Caesar
Movie Review: Riveting production of Shakespeare's Great Roman Tragedy... Fine DVD transfer from Warner
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a thoroughly riveting production of Shakespeare's tragedy. It boasts a stellar cast and excellent production values. I found it strange that it is touted as a Marlon Brando film when Brando doesn't actually play the central role. That honour belongs to James Mason who provides a brilliant portrait of the tormented Brutus, the one truly noble man in this whole sad affair. Sir John Gielgud is also outstanding as the envious, conniving but weak Cassius. Brando's performance, great as it is, should be seen in the context of the equally great performances of those around him. In Robert Osborne's introduction, we are told how Brando sought Gielgud's help in preparing for his role; recording Gielgud's delivery of Antony's lines, and assiduously listening to and studying from them. The final effect is electrifying. This is not the boring Shakespeare dreaded by schoolkids the world over. This is gripping, searing stuff that, as Laurence Fishburne says in the accompanying documentary, made Shakespeare "the Aaron Spelling of his day." The one sore spot was Louis Calhern's Caesar who looks more like Hollywood's caricature of a Roman Patrician than Shakespeare's intended character. But that's a minor quibble for Caesar is really just a minor figure, even though the play does bear his name.
I was delighted by the reviewer who pointed out the interpretational possibilities regarding Brutus' character and motivations. However I disagree with him when he says that the film failed in its depiction of Brutus. The reviewer's preference for a darker, more self-aware Brutus is fascinating to explore but this is a Hollywood film from the early 1950s and we should see it in that context. The beauty of Shakespeare is that it can be interpreted in so many different ways. However, in the end, it is the producer who has to decide how he wants to depict the character on stage. The producers in this case, chose this particular interpretation; a relatively straightforward, clearcut view of Brutus; that of the essentially good, noble, but naive hero. It is as valid an interpretation as the one proposed by the reviewer. I agree that the darker view could make the film even more fascinating to watch. But it does not mean that the present interpretation is a failure. It is a perfectly valid interpretation in an altogther fine film. If this wonderful production can spark interest in viewers to find out more and to question further the original play, then it will have done far more than anyone could hope for.
Warner has finally made this classic film available on DVD in a fine transfer preserving its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (Full Screen). The B&W print looks largely excellent, with very good contrast and excellent grey shading. There are a few segments where flutters of dirt and nicks suddenly appear but they are thankfully rare. Film grain is visible throughout but is never obtrusive. The original Mono sound has been remastered to give a very creditable sounding DD 5.1 track. Speech is crystal clear and largely front-centered. Strangely there is also a French language track. It was bizarre listening to Shakespeare in French. Optional English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are included. There is a fine 20-minute documentary "The Rise of Two Legends," on Brando's role in this and other films. There are also trailers for 4 of the 5 films being released as part of the Marlon Brando Collection. If this interests you, you might want to consider getting the entire boxed-set because there is a substantial difference in price and quite some savings to be made.
Movie Review: Only the tiniest of quibbles
Summary: 5 Stars
There could hardly be a better production of JC than this. Nevertheless, I can't totally suspend my mean-minded critical faculties, and would perhaps have docked half a star, were that permitted. Calhern is definitely miscast. It's not just that he looks wrong --- he's far too tall (Caesar was short); he's too old-looking, too paunchy, and has too many double chins (Caesar had a lean face, he was a truly tough soldier, and he was also bald) --- but he really doesn't speak the lines too well. Caesar was portrayed by Shakespeare as definitely frail, vain, slightly deaf, but still magnetic, charismatic, and a great leader of men, capable of rising to an occasion with a few well-chosen words. Calhern plays him as a pompous joke, a sort of stuck-up, buffoonish comedian type. It's wrong.
The opening doesn't hit quite the right register at the start. But it sure gets good later on, when Gielgud and Mason get into their strides. Brando is terrific. I felt he should have delivered the first clarion note of his speech, FRIENDS! with more power, but he decided almost to throw this too-famous line away. Well, that didn't matter so much, because he really turned it on as he tore Brutus and the others to shreds. Another reviewer said Cicero was miscast, and he could be right. The fat senator was good.
Shakespeare's script is also famous for containing the anachronism of a striking clock, before striking clocks were invented. This was cut out of this adaptation, but instead they inserted an anachronistic chessboard, about a thousand years before chess was invented. [Actually, the clock does strike in the film, but its tinkle was so faint I didn't notice it when I wrote this review. The anachronistic chess set was more obvious. I still feel the chessboard was a deliberate in-joke.]
The play is renowned as being the best introduction to Shakespeare for young school-kids, because it is clear-cut (or seems to be) and hasn't really got anything which is sometimes referred to as too "mature". It nevertheless raises complex issues of morality and politics, which every school-kid should learn to be aware of. It also has quantities of superb poetry, so even the young can discover what a mean man with a word Shakespeare could be.
Brando is ace here, and Mason and Gielgud are perhaps only millimetres behind him --- it's a question of the parts they have to play. The disc is exceptionally clean and sharp. The introduction seems to suggest that Brando was personally responsible for a new kind of way of presenting Shakespeare's lines to a cinema audience, but Olivier had already done this in his slightly earlier Hamlet.
Movie Review: The dogs of war slip...
Summary: 5 Stars
The sets, the staging, the directing and quality of the acting are all fantastic. My favourite moment in this adaptation is when Marlon Brando howls out "Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war!", then follows up with the famous "Friends, Roman, Countrymen" eulogy where he turns Brutus's honour to dishonour.
The second best thing is John Gielgud's spot on performance as the manipulative but weak Cassius. He goads Brutus into leading a conspiracy he hasn't the gumption to bring about on his own.
On the other hand, Louis Calhern as Caesar is disappointing because he completely lacks the charismatic grandeur needed to make the dictator believable. However it is the idea of Caesar and the whirlwind arising from the political vacuum left by his murder that rule the play. The actual Caesar whom we see on stage (or on film) is really a supporting character so he doesn't matter as much.
The film also fails with its depiction of Brutus. It's not that James Mason's performance is bad, it's excellent in fact, but it's spot _off_, it's wrong. Mason's Brutus is really noble, but if Brutus is noble then what are we to make of Antony's eulogy? The eulogy clearly implies that Brutus is not an honourable man, that he's got his own personal agenda.
For me, Brutus should have been played as someone infatuated with the idea of his nobility, as a narcisstic man obsessed with his place in history and society, not at all as someone pursuing the good and the truly noble. Then, the last line, spoken by Antony over the dead Brutus ("the noblest Roman of them all") could have been played dripping with irony and sarcasm. Alas, 'twas not done so.
Nevertheless, a tremendous movie with Brando stealing the show.
Trivia: Alan Napier, who played Alfred on the 60s TV version of Batman, makes a short appearance as Cicero.
Vincent Poirier, Tokyo
Movie Review: SUPERB
Summary: 5 Stars
Shakespeare on film is a mixed bag - most of it not very good, some reasonably okay, some good. This 1953 version of "Julius Caesar" is hands down the best Shakespeare on film that anyone could ever hope to see - it is the definitive version. This is one of those rare films where everything came together to show what Shakespeare is all about. Start with the acting, which is stunningly great. The critics all laughed their heads off when they heard that Marlon Brando was going to play Marc Antony. That is, until they saw the film. This reviewer has seen numerous performances of "Julius Caesar" on stage, and one other one on film, where Marc Antony was played by Charlton Heston, but there is simply no way that any performance can touch Brando's. This film would be worth watching just for that, but fortunately there's much more. Brando is matched every step of the way by the brilliant acting of James Mason as Brutus, John Gielgud as Cassius, and Louis Calhern as Julius Caesar. Smaller parts are equally well done by Greer Garson, Deborah Carr, and Edmund O'Brien. The rest of the supporting cast is just as admirable, all of them, right down to the smallest part, including the great George Macready in the opening. Director Joseph Mankiewicz has the timing and movement all down perfectly, and creates atmosphere with a deft touch. The script has been smartly edited, with no discernible loss, cutting only those sections of speeches that really are extraneous, and in addition would not play well on film. The simple sets fall halfway between stage and film, which really is the best way to do Shakespeare on film, and which allow the material itself to shine through, proving once again that "The play's the thing." All in all, a monumental achievement, and a film not to be missed.
Movie Review: One of Brando's Best Performances
Summary: 5 Stars
The critics almost always list Marlon Brando's portrayal of Marc Antony in this 1953 film based of course on Shakespeare's play and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz ("All About Eve") as one of this great actor's best performances. I couldn't agree more. Only someone of Brando's talent could make Marc Antony's funeral oration for Julius Caesar come alive after many a high school English teacher killed it for teenaged English students held in captivity. (On the other hand, I do not regret that my high school English teacher required me to memorize large portions of the play, including Marc Antony's funeral apeech. They will follow me as long as I have a memory.) Brando's speech is simply magnificent. It is a joy to watch him rouse the crowd with his adept use of reverse psychology: "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him," etc., etc., etc.)
In addition to the stellar performance by Mr. Brando, a very young John Gielgud as Cassius, James Mason as Brutus and Louis Calhern as Julius Caesar are very good in their roles as well. Even though the film is a bit dated-- much of the film is shot in a studio-- sometimes some of the actors get a little stiff as they make their speeches, and Deborah Kerr as Portia and Greer Garson as Calpurnia look as if they just stepped out of a photo shoot for "Photoplay" magazine, as a whole, the film holds up very well indeed after over 50 years.
The movie would be worth watching for Brando's acting alone. He has travelled quite a distance from Stanley in the torn T shirt although he does make his first appearance here showing his bare chest.