Great Caesar's Ghost

Cleopatra, 1/5/13, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects 1963

There were a few thoughts that stayed with me for this movie:

- Oh my gosh, this is four hours….and it was originally six!

- Elizabeth really isn’t Cleopatra

- and lastly, those tunics are REALLY short

So, with those three themes in my mind, I was still able to enjoy the movie. I mean, who doesn’t like a big, hysterical historical costume piece? It was epic. Cleopatra and the Egyptians still fascinate us all today, with exhibits of King Tut touring the world. The movie opens with Caesar’s victory over Pompeii’s legions and he’s on his way to Egypt to get wheat and corn and meet with Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy. Rex Harrison played Julius Caesar, and at first I didn’t quite buy it, but before it was over, I couldn’t think of anyone else in the role. It’s too bad that he and Richard Burton (Mark Antony) didn’t have more scenes together; two of the best-spoken actors in theater would have been wonderful to hear. The story follows Caesar and his affair with Cleopatra through to Cleopatra’s suicide. It’s an oft-told tale, so I won’t re-hash it. I haven’t mentioned Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, she plays Cleopatra. It’s not as if she didn’t do an amazing job, she did, I just could not shake the feeling that she was ‘playing’ Cleopatra, not that she ‘was’ Cleopatra. Like the way Al Pacino ‘was’ Jack Kevorkian, or Glenn Close ‘was’ Albert Nobbs. I could not reconcile Elizabeth Taylor in the time of the pharaohs. But she was really good, and played well between Harrison as Caesar, with her love and admiration for the most powerful man in the known world at that time; and then after Caesar is murdered, she begins her affair with Mark Antony (several years later, about two hours in movie time). That relationship is different; Cleopatra is a little stronger, having the memory of the great Caesar close to her heart. Antony struggles with having the memory of his mentor and friend lingering over his love affair. He is drawn to Cleopatra and as Shakespeare and history have shown us, this led to an incredible fall from grace. There are two hours dedicated to this story arc; in some ways, it’s almost a second movie. There is a third storyline, maybe more of a subplot involving Caesar’s nephew, Octavius, played by a blond Roddy McDowell (that was a little disturbing) and the Roman Senate. The film won four awards in the visual categories, and it’s main competition (I think) came from How the West Was Won (I think, because I have the DVD to watch today if I can get it to play), but from just seeing Cleopatra, I’m going to say queens and roman legions trump cowboys and ranchers. It is a hugely visual experience; I would love to see it on the big screen. The costumes for Cleopatra alone should have won a special award just for their bodaciousness; there was one headpiece that looked like it belonged on Phyllis Diller, circa 1969. Maybe that could be a drinking game, take a drink every time Taylor has a new hairstyle or headwear. Now would be the time to mention the tunics worn by almost all of the men…they were short, uncomfortably short, like I kept thinking, one wrong move and I’ll be scarred for life. And I swear they got shorter as the movie went on. Of course, perhaps I am just not the demographic for that kind of thing. The colors of the set and the incredible scope of them was overwhelming; Cleopatra makes an entrance into Rome on this huge stone sphinx pulled by hundreds of men. It makes Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade look like a neighborhood block party. Aside from the incredible story of Cleopatra and her lovers told in the movie, the movie itself was historical in its scope and its cost, and the love affair it started (Burton and Taylor) which makes for interesting viewing. I don’t think there was a movie or documentary made about it, but that might be a good project for someone. Should you see it? Sure. Make it an event, have guests come in costume, serve Egyptian or Middle Eastern food, and lie on pillows.