On May 1, 2000, the premiere of Ridley Scott’s historical drama, The Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. The action of the picture takes place around General Maximus - an invincible military leader who for years led the vast Roman legions, fighting against opponents of the empire. However, after a treacherous conspiracy and the murder of his wife and son, a noble warrior falls into slavery and becomes a gladiator, preparing to take revenge on his main enemy.
The original version of the Gladiator screenplay, inspired by Daniel Pratt Mannix's novel The Way of the Gladiator, was written by David Franzoni. After reading the book, he plunged into history and sketched his own story, in the center of which was the Roman athlete Narcissus - the killer of the emperor Commodus.
Ridley Scott, who was offered the script, was fascinated by the idea of making a film about Ancient Rome. But Franconi’s script seemed too superficial to him.
Despite the fact that the film was later credited with the revival of the peplum genre, the director noted that in the first place he wanted to avoid all the cliches of this direction (including the presence of characters who are idle in the frame, eating grapes and drinking from goblets). Scott did not plan to once again recreate Ancient Rome familiar to Hollywood movies; he thought of a more historically accurate description of the era.
In addition, some scenes were completely unsuitable for embodiment on the screen. For example, according to Franzoni’s script, Marcus Aurelius was to deliver a two-page heavy, completely uninspiring speech to the army.
The director hired John Logan (The Aviator) to process the script, then William Nicholson (The Land of Shadows) joined the team. They changed the characters and plot of the upcoming picture, and also added more emotional scenes. Now the main character has become General Maximus, according to one version named after the Roman statesman and commander Sextus Quintilius Maxim.
But even after a fundamental overhaul, the script did not suit either Ridley Scott or Russell Crowe. As a result, the director reduced the text to 21 pages and invented the story already during the filming.
As noted in an interview with Crowe, who later repeatedly collaborated with the director, for Ridley Scott this is normal practice.
“We never make a film that would be completely ready to shoot. But Ridley has made progress: we started shooting Gladiator when page 21 was ready, Good Year when it was 48 pages, and Gangster 64 or 65 pages, ”the actor quoted GamesRadar as saying.
- © Shot from the movie "Gladiator" (2000)
Edits were made almost until the end of the filming process. And they touched on some key points. So, for example, in the original scenario, Maximus remained alive, but Crowe and Scott concluded that the hero's goal was to avenge his family, and after the vengeance had come to pass, he had nothing more to do in this world.
“I remember, Ridley came up to me on the court and said:“ Look, judging by where everything is going, I see no reason why you should survive. The essence of this character in this pure act of revenge for his wife and child. And as soon as he takes revenge, what will he do? ” And I constantly joked: “Yes, what will Maximus do? Will he open the damned pizzeria at the Coliseum? ” He has one single goal - to meet his wife in the afterlife and apologize for not being there. That's all, ”said Crowe.
Real Tigers and Oliver Reed's Death
Filming took place from January to May 1999. They started in Germany - opening scenes were worked out there. The group then received permission to shoot in a forest near the airport near Galway. According to Ridley Scott, construction was subsequently planned there, and the forest had to be cut down anyway. It turned out to be more profitable for the land owners to give it to the filmmakers for burning than to clean it themselves.
Then the team moved to Ireland, where they removed a significant part of the tape. Scenes somehow related to the desert, as well as episodes in a gladiatorial school, were shot in the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate. They built an arena with 30 thousand seats, where Maximus spent his first battles.
Scenes in Ancient Rome were being worked on in Malta, at Fort Ricasoli. A copy of a part of the Roman Colosseum about 16 meters high was built from plaster and plywood. The construction took several months and cost about $ 1 million. On the reverse side of the structure, rooms were erected, sculptures, colonnades, trading floors were erected and various furniture was put in place for a number of scenes.
- © Shot from the movie "Gladiator" (2000)
The film crew strove for maximum naturalism. And this applied to all aspects of the filming process. One of the iconic scenes of the “Gladiator” - during the battle of Maximus with the Tiger from Galia live tigers appear in the arena - was shot with the participation of real animals. They were just five meters from Russell Crowe. At the site there was always a veterinarian with tranquilizer darts, ready to euthanize animals if something goes wrong.
Even the traps in the wooden floor from which the tigers were released in this scene were indeed used for similar purposes in the Coliseum and were executed with historical accuracy.
Despite such a fundamental approach and huge budget (more than $ 100 million), there was always room for improvisation on the site.
In one scene, Maximus describes his home. He tells how his kitchen is arranged, how it smells in the house in the morning and at night. None of this was in the script. Russell Crowe made up his own speech and described his real home in Australia.
Ridley Scott has always been positive about such initiatives of the actor. He noted that Crowe is a co-author of the films in which he is shot.
“When Russell takes on the role, he brings in a lot of useful things, he really does his best, and he has a lot of ideas. As soon as we chose him for the role of Maximus, he began to read the works of Marcus Aurelius and get acquainted with the history of the Roman Empire. He’s also very well-read on other topics, ”quoted the director of The Hollywood Interview.
- © Shot from the movie "Gladiator" (2000)
The opening scene, in which Maximus walks along the wheat field, has also undergone significant adjustments. Initially, it was assumed that these frames will be the last, but already at the installation, it was decided to transfer them to the beginning.
Another reason for the partial revision of the script was the death of actor Oliver Reed three weeks before the end of filming. His hero - Proximo - is very important for the plot, so there was a point in Reed's insurance, according to which the filmmakers could re-shoot all the scenes with another actor. However, Ridley Scott decided to keep frames with Reid. As a result, the final scenes were rewritten, and the film was completed using CGI and an understudy.
“Oliver was what I would call a“ charming scoundrel. ” He was a wonderful actor, incredibly deep. I knew that for this role I needed an actor like Robert Shaw, who was as strong as flint, but also had a sensitive side. There are very few actors like Shaw and Reed. Among them are Richard Harris and David Hemmings, but both are already involved in the film, ”said the director.
"The return of splendor to the faded genre"
The star premiere of "Gladiator" took place on May 1, 2000 in Beverly Hills, and the tape was released a few days later. In Russia and a number of other European countries, Gladiator started on May 18.
For the first weekend in the USA, the picture raised almost $ 35 million (and lasted two weeks in the first place), and in total it earned more than $ 187 million at home rental. Profit from foreign shows amounted to about $ 273 million, and the general fees exceeded the mark of $ 460 million. the year, the film became the second largest box office at the international box office (only the adventure action movie Mission: Impossible 2 earned more).
The Gladiator has received many awards. The tape took the Oscar as the best film of the year. The statuette for the best male role was awarded to Russell Crowe, and the prizes of the film academy were awarded costumes, sound and special effects.
In addition, the “Gladiator” was awarded the Golden Globe in the main nomination (the composers of the film also received the award); Five BAFTA awards, including Audience Award, and many other awards. At the moment, the film has 76% "freshness" according to Rotten Tomatoes. The audience rating of the picture is 87%.
- © Shot from the movie "Gladiator" (2000)
Critics have focused on three aspects of the tape. First of all, many praised the Russell Crowe game - The Guardian journalist Peter Bradshaw even called him Maximus the Superman from the Coliseum. In 2000, Crowe was already famous, but his role in Gladiator became one of his most striking works.
It can be argued that the “Gladiator” in many respects set the quality standards for shooting and production as a whole. At the same time, the tape became a worthy experience in the revival of the peplum genre, which was popular in the 1950s - 1960s.
“Powerful and bloody battle scenes, a fascinating story of revenge and a real journey of about 2000 years into the past - Ridley Scott's epic painting about intrigues and heroism in the Roman Empire returns brilliance and excitement to a faded genre that often becomes the subject of ridicule, but still gave at least to one generation of moviegoers, some of the most precious memories of youth, ”critic Todd McCarthy commented on the film in an article for Variety.
After the success of Ridley Scott’s film in the following years, “Troy” with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, “Alexander” with Colin Farrell, “Eagle of the Ninth Legion”, “Ben-Hur” and many other films were released. However, Gladiator was the first such project after years of calm.
Interestingly, Scott's film had an impact not only on cinema, but also on publishing. The sharp rise in interest in antiquity was even dubbed the “Gladiator effect”. Demand has increased for fiction about the Roman Empire - in particular, for the Howard Fast novel “Spartacus”, on the basis of which the famous 1960 film was shot. Also increased sales of the biography of Cicero and the works of the emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius - one of the heroes of the film.