It can be said that Elizabeth Taylor vividly interprets the beautiful and legendary life of Cleopatra.
It can be said that when evaluating "Cleopatra" from the perspective of ordinary audiences, I think it can be described in two words: stunning and romantic. But aside from the movie itself, looking back at that period of history, it is not as romantic and beautiful as in the movie. Because the movie is a joke, it naturally strengthens the role of love, adding and changing many places, making the story more romantic and legendary. But for the historical events themselves, I think the factors of politics and national interests will be more important. There are many places in the film that are different from reality. For example, when Cleopatra was with Caesar, he also had an orthodox husband in Egypt, Ptolemy XIV, who visited Rome together. After Caesar's death, Queen Yan poisoned her husband to death. And the combination of Queen Yan and Anthony, I don't think it's all because of love as described in the movie, I think it's more for the interests of the country. Next, I will give a further introduction to the three protagonists on this point. And through the three protagonists to further illustrate the Roman society and its social contradictions at that time.
Caesar, a legendary hero who has to be mentioned in Roman history, can be said to be synonymous with "greatness", "sublime" and "sacred". He used his life to compose an immortal epic and played a passionate A mighty triumph. At the age of sixteen, Caesar lost his father and had no strong support and support. He relied on his courage and talent to gain a place in Roman politics and continue to expand his career. In the early days of his political career, he served successively as treasurer, inspector, priest, and justice. As the governor of Gaul in 58 BC, he led his troops to conquer the whole of Gaul within a few years, which made him famous in the first battle. The prestige has also greatly increased. And this is just the beginning of Caesar's brilliant life. Caesar, one of the leaders of the "First Three Alliance", fought Pompey at Pharsalu in 49 BC. Pompey defeated and was eventually killed. After just a few years of hard work, Caesar finally ended the situation of "the former three-headed alliance", integrating the consul and the dictator, and became a veritable military dictator. But Caesar's glorious life did not draw a perfect ending. On March 15, 44 BC, under the planning of Brutus and Cassio, Caesar was stabbed to death, and a great hero regretted the end. his own life.
In the film "Cleopatra", the assassination of Caesar is also described in detail. The film mainly tells that under the influence of Cleopatra on Caesar, Caesar's ambitions continue to expand. He thinks that he has made great achievements in war. , no one can match, is the hero of this country, should be worshipped by the people of the whole country, and even break through the stereotypes and become the king of this country. It was Caesar and Cleopatra's powerful ambitions and dictatorial behavior that aroused the dissatisfaction of the Senate, and it was Caesar who killed himself. It is undeniable that this was one of the reasons for Caesar's killing, but in my opinion, this is not the most important reason. I think the fundamental reason is that Caesar's rule impacted the system of the Roman Republic and damaged the nobility headed by the Senate. traditional interests, this is the disaster that he eventually provoked to kill.
During Caesar's reign, a series of reforms were carried out on Roman society. He reformed the taxation system in the province, expanded the power of citizens in the province, and through various measures enabled more than 80,000 veterans and poor peasants to acquire land in various provinces and granted them many privileges. At the same time, he also did a lot of useful work in cultural construction. It can be said that many of Caesar's measures were adapted to the needs of the development of the Roman state and to the needs of Roman slave owners, but as we said above, he destroyed the old aristocratic republic system, damaged the traditional interests of the senators and aristocrats, and at the same time It also damaged their current and future interests, and Caesar became the victim of this interest.
It is a pity that Caesar and Empress Pontiff failed to have a happy ending. Unfortunately, Caesar died of hatred before his ambition was completed, but his reforms and achievements paved the way for the establishment of the Roman Empire, and he is worthy of the praise of future generations.
After talking about Caesar, let's talk about another hero, Anthony. Although it is one of the "later three-headed alliances", I think it is far inferior to Caesar. In my opinion, Anthony can be said to be an excellent general and warrior, but he is not an outstanding statesman.
The portrayal of him in the film will make people feel that he does not have the ambition and scheming of a politician, he is more emotional, and love may be more important to him than power and status. For love, he would rather leave his hometown and stay in Egypt; for love, he did not hesitate to divorce his wife and fall out with Octavian; for love, after hearing about Cleopatra's death, he chose to commit suicide to follow. Anthony in the movie is the embodiment of love. For love, he can abandon the country, rights, honor and even life. He shines in the face of love. This persistent love makes him fail in the struggle for power, but But let him gain the heart of the queen and the respect and understanding of the world.
I was deeply moved by the love between Anthony and Cleopatra in the movie, but looking at the historical data, I found that their union was not just because of love, but more for political purposes .
It's not exactly the same as in the movie. Although Anthony's political methods cannot be compared with Caesar's, it is not difficult to find that Anthony's political ambitions are still very strong. The conflict between Antony and Octavian intensified. He tried to stabilize Rome's eastern preparations and prepared to expedition to Parthia. All of this was in urgent need of Egypt's financial support. For Cleopatra, she was in urgent need of Rome's support. Support to maintain and develop the Ptolemaic kingdom, strengthen and expand their own ruling power. Therefore, the combination of the two parties is more for the national interests and respective political rights of Rome and Egypt. In fact, this is also reflected in the movie. In the final naval battle between Anthony and Octavian, when he heard the news of Anthony's death, Cleopatra fled immediately. Not as deep as we thought.
Anthony was finally defeated by Octavian. It could not be attributed to love, but he had a great relationship with Cleopatra. In order to satisfy her ambition, he had given her many territories because of her infatuation with Cleopatra. , he stayed in Egypt for a long time. All this he did, and his relationship with Cleopatra, was criticized by the Romans, provoking their resentment and ultimately his own defeat.
The last thing I have to mention is the absolute protagonist of this film - Cleopatra. "The Temptress on the Nile", "The Sexy Demon Queen of the World", these are the evaluations of Cleopatra by later generations. For her, later generations have mixed praise and criticism, but my evaluation of her is more positive.
It cannot be denied that her beauty and methods have directly or indirectly killed many people. She successfully seduced Caesar with her beauty and wisdom, so that Caesar was willing to send troops to Egypt for her and seize the throne for her. The mutual interests of the two sides made them very close. In the process of getting along with Queen Yan, Caesar's ambitions continued to expand, and eventually he was killed. Similar to Caesar, Antony's death had a lot to do with Cleopatra. Because of the interests and love between countries, the two walked together. The beauty of Cleopatra deeply fascinated Antony. For her, Antony left his wife. For her, the conflict between Antony and Octavian intensified. See you. The relationship between them aroused dissatisfaction in the Senate and Roman society, and Antony gradually deviated from Roman society and chose suicide after losing the battle. It can be said that Caesar and Anthony were indirectly killed, and another figure in history, who did not appear in the film, the queen's husband, Ptolemy XIV, was directly killed by the queen. of. After Caesar's death, Cleopatra returned to Egypt, where she poisoned her husband and put her son by Caesar on the throne to rule Egypt with him.
To Roman society, she was indeed a temptress, and he indirectly killed two heroes of Roman society. But for Egypt, for herself, I think she is an uncompromising hero. In the film, we can see Cleopatra's beautiful face and sexy body. Every time she appeared, she was so amazing and touching. She appeared in the Roman Forum wearing a golden robe, and she was suffocating. How could she be so fascinated by her, maybe it wasn't that the queen seduced Anthony and Caesar, but that they were convinced by the charm of the queen. As Shakespeare said: "Queen of the competition, you are so dignified in whatever you do. Blame, laugh, cry, every emotion of yours is full of beauty. And moving.
Not only has a beautiful face, Cleopatra also has enough wisdom, courage and courage. Although her appearance caused indirect damage to Roman society, all she did was to win 22 years of peace for weak Egypt. She is wise, and her beauty is not a decoration. She can skillfully use her beauty to earn rights for herself and peace for the country. She was bold and courageous. In order to obtain the support of Rome, she did not hesitate to meet Caesar alone. In order to defend her dignity, she could make Caesar and Antony kneel at her feet. In front of the world, she may have many shortcomings, but in my eyes, she is a real hero.
I have finished watching the movie, and the characters in the movie still appear in my mind from time to time. Although the ending is not so perfect, I firmly remember these three protagonists with different personalities and infinite beauty. Remember the magnificent Roman society. According to my understanding, I wrote this film review, maybe there is still some deviation between what I think and the truth, but this is my deepest feeling about this history.
Main references: "Ancient History of the World" Zhou Qidi Beijing Normal University Press
"Cleopatra, the woman who surprised the world" Youmin "Southern Tunes" 2007 No. 04
"A Real Cleopatra" [German] Emile . Ludwig
's "Underwater Palace. In Search of the True Queen on the Bank of the Nile" [America] Laura. Forman
"On Cleopatra under Shakespeare" Li Jingyao "Yipu (Journal of Jilin Art Institute)" 1988 No. 01
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