(Untitled)

[selenak]

I, Claudius:

Mater Familias: to put it as unspoilery as possible for people not familiar with either the book, tv series or the detailed history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty: Antonia deals with her children. It's a brilliant and emotionally devastating look at one decision Antonia makes, and manages to get the core of her.

Sarah Jane Adventures:

Comments

[violaswamp]

Thanks for the recs. Have never seen I, Claudius and know nothing about the dynasty, but...yeah, now I don't want to. Oddly enough, that story gave me more of a glimpse of Claudius than his mother (who was basically an I Must Be Ruthless type of person)--a weak or apathetic man who can stop his sister from dying a horrific death but does not care to, or dare to, I'm not sure which.

[selenak]

Well, as both novel and tv series are in Claudius' pov, we know which; the reason why he doesn't help Livilla beyond one verbal protest towards Antonia is that she both poisoned her husband and tried to kill her own daughter when finding out her (Livilla's) lover, Sejanus (Patrick Stewart, btw), had designs on marrying the girl. (That, and she was also a terror during their childhood, but really it was about what almost happened to Helen - the daughter.)

In general, Graves' basis premise for I, Claudius is that that Claudis didn't survive all the deaths in the family by accident but precisely because he played into being underestimated as the weak and foolish half-wit, thus being deemed by everyone too unimportant to kill, culminating in the irony of him becoming Emperor.

[violaswamp]

Okay, Patrick Stewart as Sejanus? Now I want to watch it.

Thanks for the backstory!

[selenak]

Oh, I, Claudius has the best actors of the 70s on British soil in it. Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Sian Phillips as Livia, Patrick Stewart as Sejanus, John Hurt as Caligula, Brian Blessed as Augustus, John Rhys-Davies as Macro, Fiona Walker as Agrippina and so on, and so forth. And top notch brilliant dialogue to go with the brilliant acting. Here are some clips to demonstrate.

First a short and early scene to demonstrate Livia at the height of her power (also waiting for the death of Augustus) and Claudius as the clumsy ridiculed fool:

Livia, now in her old age, invites Claudius to dinner to have some things out. Young Caligula is also present. Has a wonderful transformation scene as Claudius finally emerges from his family fool mask in front of Livia, Sian Phillips being awesome and John Hurt being creepy.

Livia is dying (also the show switches from Livia to Caligula as prime antagonist); she sees Caligula, then Claudius.