The ’’GLADIATOR’’ is Russell Crowe..a trained fighter who fights to win and be applauded for his victory. But this is how the great General of the Roman Army ends his torturous life, a mere entertainer who kills to entertain the blood thirsty mobs in the Colloseum.But even as he fights unto death, he fulfills the last wish of his old Emperor Marcus Caesar to deliver Rome from the grip of corruption and give it back to the people in all its glory and splendour.It was this wish of the Emperor that changes the entire life of the great General Maximus who had strived for his country and fought many a victorious battle. All he had wanted in return for his victory, was to be allowed to go home to his farm, his wife and his 8 year old son. In fact he had been counting every single day of the 3 years, months and days he was away from his family. But no sooner does the old Emperor, played superbly by Richard Harris divulges his wish to place Rome in Maximum’s hands, to his wicked son Commodus the latter kills him even as father and son are locked in an embrace. What better than this act of patricide, can describe the character of the new Emperor Commodus as he takes over Rome, invites Gladiators to fight and entertain his discontented people, holds his own sister a prisoner of his scheming , incestuous desires..He orders the execution of General Maximus who escapes only to reach home to find his wife and little son brutally murdered. Its then that fate makes him a Gladiator who returns to his people, wrecks vengeance and fulfills his master’s dream of Rome. Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) has played his role to perfection as a weak, jealous, useless, cowardly and corrupt son of the great Emperor . He is superb as the perfect foil to the strong qualities of Righteousness, Honesty, Simplicity and Strength of the great General Maximus now turned into a Gladiator. And when these two meet in the Colloseum, in treacherous circumstances, its the climax of the film with its sheer breathtaking unequal fight which ends as a great leveller of Rome’s destiny.
It’s no doubt the film of the year and the oscars it has won are well justified. The sets depicting Rome, its old architectural splendour, it’s Colloseum, were all perfectly created and so were the simple, regal flowing Roman robes. A difficult film to make with such realism ! The photography of the battle scene, the background music, especially the one where Russell Crowe lies at the feet of the crucified burnt bodies of his wife and kid, and is found by a slave trader and carted away to be sold, is so heartrending... An altogether different kind of music which you take note of almost instantly. A massive film!