BEFORE: Quite a week it's been, with a phony dictator ("Duck Soup"), three princes ("Hamlet", "Henry V", and "The Prince and the Showgirl") and umm, whatever Othello was. A general, I think? This trend comes to its logical conclusion tonight with a film about a Roman emperor.
I could have sworn that I had a direct connection worked out between the Olivier films and this one, but now I can't find it. Did I schedule this one next just because it comes from the same playwright? That's pretty shaky, but I'm on the Bard track now, so I guess I'll just roll with it. An indirect actor link is no problem - Olivier was also in "The Boys From Brazil" with James Mason (last seen in "North By Northwest"), who appears as Brutus in this film. That will have to do here in Year 7, where a direct link between films is no longer a certainty.
I missed the Ides of March, which was March 15 - the day that Caesar was, umm, removed from power. (historical SPOILER ALERT) If you don't know what happened to Julius Caesar, go read up on it and then meet me back here. Anyway, today is the Ides of April, and that's going to have to suffice as well. It's also tax day, when we "render unto Caesar" what is due. I think that quote comes from the Bible and not Shakespeare, but to me it legitimizes scheduling this film today. I mailed our returns in on Monday, if you're still doing yours today, I wish you luck.
THE PLOT: The assassination of the would-be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for the idealist and the republic.
AFTER: Speaking of quotes, I think that "Julius Caesar" is one of Shakespeare's most quotable plays, perhaps 2nd only to "Hamlet" - which brought us such expressions as "Neither a borrower nor a lender be", "To thine own self be true", "Brevity is the soul of wit", and "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark", in addition, of course, to "To be or not to be" and "To sleep, perchance to dream..."
But check these out: "The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves." "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." All of those come from the play "Julius Caesar".
And of course, there's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." This is spoken by Marc Anthony, who's played by Marlon Brando, who up to this point in his career was famous for mumbling his way through films like "A Streetcar Named Desire". No doubt a few eyebrows were raised when he was cast in a Shakespeare adaptation - but his voice is very understandable here (so, why then all the mumbling in the other films...hmmm....)
Also surprising is how early Julius Caesar gets praised. Umm, buried. I mean killed. It's like that would have made a logical ending for the film, but perhaps Shakespeare learned from plays like "Hamlet" that he shouldn't have all the action at the end of the film, so maybe he should move some of it up to the middle, like to Act III. But I think what's most interesting about Caesar is not just how he died, but what happened after. Eventually (another Historical SPOILER ALERT) he was replaced by a triumvirate, with Marc Anthony, Octavian, and Lepidus ruling together. The second half of this play/film is devoted to the aftermath of Caesar's death, which really signaled the end of the Roman Republic, and the beginning of the Roman Empire. So focusing on Caesar's death as a key moment in history is really an understatement.
But what about today's audiences? What can we learn from "Julius Caesar" that affects the modern world? First off, don't trust anyone. There's a lot of stabbing in this play, most of it real but some of it metaphorical - and stabbing used to be the universal symbol for betrayal, before we had buses and reality-show contestants to throw under them. I've worked for over 20 years in animation studios, and I can tell you that business is as cutthroat as any other. Your enemies might stab you in the back, while your friends should at least have the courtesy to look you in the face while they stab you in the front, and twist the knife in your gut. Shakespeare got that 100% right with this play. (I'm thinking about personal experiences, but also about a particular Oscar-winning animator who got "Julius Caesar"-ed out of his Portland studio by his own board of directors a few years back.) I'm sorry if this sounds cynical, but I call 'em like I see 'em.
Also, we're coming up on a new season of presidential politics - and by "season" I mean the 18 months between now and November 2016. Remember that Caesar wasn't assassinated because of all the things that he DID for Rome, he was assassinated because of all the things he MIGHT do in the future, if he were inclined to be more ambitious. The Roman senators couldn't take the chance that he'd become drunk with power, and become Emperor - which, in retrospect, is what he really became.
Anyone who runs for President of the U.S. is going to be subject to the metaphorical swords of the media - one false slip or hint of scandal, and they'll be torn apart by media AND now social media as well. Hilary Clinton's been in the race for about a week now, and with all the (real and/or perceived) skeletons in her closet, I'm amazed she's lasted this long. Look at the candidates that got crucified in 2012 - Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann. God, it was like some horrible version of "American Idol" where the worst contender got voted off every week, but the ones that remained weren't great either.
So, bear this in mind - anyone who announces their Presidential campaign this early clearly WANTS to be President, and there's a school of logic that says that anyone who wants it that badly shouldn't get it. I think the candidates are starting to figure this out, which is why a lot of them are getting really cagey about running, or sort of half-announcing but not really, or they say they're "testing the waters". What this country really needs is someone qualified enough to do the job, but also smart enough to not want it. I'll vote for the best candidate who agrees that he (or she) is needed, but he (or she) is not happy about that at all. Good luck finding THAT person.
Anyway, that's going to wrap up the Shakespeare portion of this month's proceedings, and just when I was starting to get used to hearing flowery speech in iambic pentameter, too. Oh, well - more Brando tomorrow.
Also starring Marlon Brando (last seen in "Don Juan DeMarco"), John Gielgud (last seen in "Gandhi"), Louis Calhern (last seen in "Duck Soup"), Edmond O'Brien (last seen in "White Heat"), Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr (last seen in "Kiss Them For Me"), George Macready, Alan Napier (last seen in "Marnie"), Richard Hale (last seen in "Family Plot"), Michael Pate, Ian Wolfe (last seen in "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"), Douglas Dumbrille (last seen in "A Day at the Races").
RATING: 5 out of 10 togas, of course
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