Don’t call it the United States, call it Rome. Recently it was released in theaters Megalopolisin which Francis Ford Coppola draws a clear parallel between the Roman Republic and the chaos that preceded the arrival of the Empire in 63 BC. A republic founded on the highest ideals ever seen. bled by corruption and the opulence of its elites in the face of a poor and indebted people, desperate and vulnerable to populism.
The greatness of this civilization remains, but the greed of tyranny increases as power does. Lord Acton already said in the 19th century that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
Gladiator IIby Ridley Scott (South Shields, United Kingdom, 1937), also openly presents a parallel between classical Romein this case in the middle of the imperial era at the beginning of the 3rd century, and modern America. In the film we see a Rome dominated by the brothers Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), two sinister characters who represent the decline of the empire.
It is a vain and arrogant Rome that despises everything except itself and has fallen into what the Greeks call pridethis “form of madness” that men contract when they attempt to transgress the limits imposed on mortals by taking themselves for gods. And in this Rome, it will still be a gladiator, a member of the lowest class, one who eventually brings orderas Russell Crowe has already done in the wonderful first part which follows, putting himself at his level.
The story of the film is, essentially, similar to its predecessor. 24 years have passed since the first Gladiator and the story takes place several years after the events recounted there.
The protagonist is Hanno/Lucio (Paul Mescal), a young “barbarian” from Numidia (now part of Tunisia and Algeria). The “glory of Rome”, as seen in the first, and Absolutely spectacular, sequence of the maritime invasion of the centurionsalso meant the destruction and massacre of millions of people and the end of other civilizations. Tacitus is quoted: “They created a desert and called it peace. »
Among the losers is the protagonist, who becomes furious when the invaders kill his wife and is reduced to slavery. Arriving in Rome, Hanno/Lucius becomes the most successful gladiator, discovers the secret of his origins and, by decapitating others in the arena, he begins to get used to the idea that he will have to “fulfil one’s destiny” and free Rome from itself.
There are many films about the Romans, but none with this level of detail or such perfect panoramic views.
As we saw in Napoleon (2023), Ridley Scott loves soap operas and here he poses the conflict in Freudian terms. Hanno/Lucius is both a victim of the empire and the most Roman of the Romans. Royal blood runs in his veins: he is the grandson of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris in the first part), son of Máximo (Crowe at the time) and Lucila (Connie Nielsen), today married to General Marco Acacio (Pedro Pascal), a “soldier of Rome” with problems of conscience.
The shadow of lascivious emperors is found in the figure of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a man hungry for “glory” who represents the “Roman dream” by which “the son of a humble family can reach the heights of power”. . Macrinus, to whom Washington gives a charismatic ambiguity, is the symbol of a rotten system where ideas and ideals are no longer fixed, where everything is intrigue and fake news. Fortunately, the heroes remain.
Yes in Megalopolis We heard “let us not now allow destruction forever”, censoring a society which, in its own frenzy, prefers instant pleasures to the solidity of “transcendence”, Ridley Scott places us more in an old-fashioned epic context“great values”, Mio Cid song to Arthurian legends. Here honor is honor, greatness is greatness and the heroes are neither tired nor keen.
enjoy Gladiator II We must get rid of the cynicism typical of the modern world and let expressions like “strength and honor” or “our actions resonate in eternity.” excite us without blinking.
A scene from “Gladiator II”
There have been many films about the Romans. So Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960), perhaps the best, to which Gladiator II pays homage in this scene in which everyone chants “I am Spartacus”, in this case of course, Hanno, become the new liberator of the Romans. AND Ben Hur (William Wyler, 1959), with Charlton Heston who also descends into the abyss and, against all odds, manages to rise. But no one shows this world with such precision and detail, nor offers such perfect panoramic views of this ancient Rome, as beautiful as it is dusty and uneven.
With a budget of $310 million, Gladiator II restores theaters to their status as a cinephile temple, an irreplaceable place to dream of great stories – there are those of John Ford, Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962), or the first opuses of star wars–.
The film is also a ardent defense of the fundamental values of Western culturethe rule of law and democracy, facing the vertigo of tyranny. In the age of “strong leaders” and the rebirth of authoritarianism, this is clear.
