From being a general at the beginning—a person under one person, a person above ten thousand people, to a later slave who had to fight for survival as a gladiator, the protagonist Max Moss experienced many fragments of his life. The tragic death of his wife and children made his battle full of meaning; the king's entrustment before his death kept him in mind until the last moment of the battle.
The film recurring memories of his hand caressing the fields seems to repeatedly show that in the eyes of the protagonist, power and position are only tools to gain the emperor’s approval, and the real meaning lies in winning the emperor’s understanding - not Merely attached to him. So Max Moss rejected the temptation of Commodius and only wanted to return to his hometown after the war.
It was not until he saw that under the rule of Commodius, when the people were unable to achieve freedom, he was "forced" to resist. All this was to fulfill the king's dying desire-to return the government to the people.
In his heart, only his hometown’s wives and children are the ones that are most worth thinking about. They are his only support; and fighting for them and avenging them is his purpose of continuing to fight; when this wish is fulfilled, for The people-became his last wish before his death.
If Bellini, the protagonist in "The Kingdoms of the Heavens", gradually went from a cowardly person to a hero, Marx Moss in "Gladiator" is a pursuit of sublimation from a hero to a realm of life.
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