Caesar |
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| DeAngelis Group TV miniseries of the epic story of Julius Caesar for TNT | |||||||||||||
Julius Caesar championed the causes of the Roman "populares." Many compare the "populares" with modern liberals and their opposition, the "optimates," with modern conservatives. In this Julius Caesar miniseries, according to the DeAngelis Group press release, Caesar "fights the corrupt aristocracy that dominates Roman politics. He declares that, for the Empire to have real meaning, all of its subjects - of whatever race, creed or color - should be offered Roman citizenship."
Making a movie is not the same as leading a life. If Caesar's love affairs were less dramatic than they are portrayed, that may be taken as artistic license. Caesar was not emperor, although that may be more a matter of semantics than fact. However, it is galling to put modern terms like "whatever race, creed or color" into the mouths and actions of an ancient Roman, especially one with as many noble and historically accurate qualities as Julius Caesar. It is as if what good Caesar did wasn't enough and must be embellished or as if modern audiences are incapable of sympathisizing with historical figures who have social attitudes appropriate for their times. The DeAngelis Group has selected what sounds like a stellar cast for "Caesar," with the late Richard Harris as the power-mad dictator Sulla and Christopher Walken as the uncompromising moralist Cato. Julius Caesar himself will be played by Jeremy Sisto. Peter Pruce and Craig Warner wrote the screenplay, which was produced in 2002. Costumes were designed by Simonetta Leoncini. The four-hour miniseries is a co-production of TNT, the DeAngelis Group, Victory Media Group, and Five Mile River Films, CAESAR - Sunday June 29th, 2003 8 p.m. and Monday June 30th 8 p.m. Eastern - TNT |
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This resource is copyright © 2003 N.S. Gill.
