I Finally Watched Gladiator
I had a weirdly censored upbringing when it came to films. My mother, a Mormon, would only allow certain types of entertainment into the house (i.e. wholesome, not rated R types) and my father, a not-Mormon, brought in whatever he felt like, put it on, and then claimed to have missed the rating on the back when my mom walked in. That said, unless he was specifically the one to put on the contraband, I was not exposed to it. Somehow, either he never felt like watching The Gladiator, or I wasn't home the night he did. As an adult, I guess I never got around to circling back to all the classics I've missed until now. Braveheart is next on my list.
I was rather shocked at the balance of academia and brutality that Rome struck. I even called B.S. right from the beginning, assuming that Hollywood had taken extensive artistic liberties with the amount of fire and explosions, but my history-buff of a husband was quick to point out that nearly all of it was accurate. Clearly I need to read up on Roman warfare. It was, I suppose, an insightful view of what a young society would look like, attempting to cling to reason and learning while feeding a primal bloodlust and need for domination, wondering which would mean survival in the end. How delicate that system was, crippled by one bad leader and a fickle mob. Can't help drawing certain similarities to our young Republic over the last few years.
The other huge takeaway I had was the astounding amount of raw emotion exhibited throughout the film. I felt the maddening chaos and bitter fear of battle. My heart broke time after time as tragedy struck. The bile in my stomach rose every time the Emperor spoke. This is story-telling in its purest form. What an accomplishment for everyone involved.