Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov
The story, loosely adapted from real life, revolves around Thracian gladiator turned revolutionary leader Spartacus, who in the first century BC led an army of freed slaves against the Republic of Rome. Producer/Star Kirk Douglas, having been shafted for the lead role in the previous year's Ben Hur, decided to make his own sword and sandals epic. Originally to be directed by Anthony Mann (Winchester '73, The Naked Spur), but after only a week's worth of filming Mann was let go due to conflicts with Douglas. Kirk then brought on young director Stanley Kubrick, with whom he'd previously made the war film Paths Of Glory, to take over at the eleventh hour.
Amongst Kubrick purists, this one is often pushed to the side. Despite it's critical and financial success, the director was fairly dismissive of it, as he ended up having very little control over the script or the editing. He considered it, rightly, to be pretty hokey. But is it completely without merit?
I've seen the film a few times now, and have to finally admit to having a grudging fondness for it. It's painful to think how good this could have been had they simply let Stanley have his way with it (He was, despite resistance, able to insert a battle scene into the film), but there is actually quite a bit to enjoy here. The cast, as you can see, is superb. Laurence Olivier brings an obvious menace, but also a subtle fragility, to the villainous Crassus. Douglas is a ticking time-bomb as Spartacus, anger seething through his every pore. Laughton is quite charming as benevolent Senator Gracchus, and Ustinov, in an Academy Award winning role, is delightfully slimy and hilarious as the scheming Batiatus.
The music by Alex North, a prolific composer best known today for his song "Unchained Melody"(A melody he wrote for a prison film entitled, you guessed it, "Unchained"), is appropriately rousing, incorporating snare drums (somewhat unusual for the time) with blaring horns and strings. Other scenes, such as Crassus' attempted seduction of a servant played by Tony Curtis, feature a soothing drone offset by discordant notes, perfectly capturing the feeling of Roman decadence.
The photography, which features a grainy type of colorization that, frankly, I don't exactly love, was a huge point of contention during filming. Director Stanley Kubrick is a photographer first and foremost, and is very exacting with the lighting and framing of his shots. However, when he came on board, veteran photographer Russell Metty (All That Heaven Allows, Touch Of Evil) had already been hired as the DP, and didn't take kindly to this "kid" telling him what to do. The studio intervined on Kubrick's behalf; he was able to shoot the movie his way. Ironically, this film led to Metty's only win for Best Cinematography.
So yeah; it is a bit hokey. But as a fairy tale, it works. Spartacus is a paragon of virtue, showing us that a simple man, joined with his brothers, has the power rise up against his tyrannical oppressors (Spartacus was a favorite historical figure of Karl Marx, and it's no coincidence that both the author of the novel upon which the film was based, and the screenwriter, were registered members of the US Communist Party). The action scenes are lively and, occasionally, quite brutal (Watch out for the arm severing!). And the battle scenes - My god! That ain't CGI. It's just thousands of people marching in unison, and the effect, and scale, is staggering.
Major demerits are for the ridiculous overlength, cheesiness of the love story, and not living up to the potential of a Stanley Kubrick film. All that aside; yeah, it's pretty good.
FREDERICK OPINES: GOOD
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