Caesar is front and center of this shot, with an entire legion of soldiers fully armed standing behind him giving the illusion he is bigger than he actually is. The two men on his left are looking at him listening and waiting for his instruction. He is standing tall and confidently looking out over the camera at an obstacle in his path, however the vibe he gives off in this picture indicates that he is not at all worried about the obstacle hindering his progress. The obstacle being the Egyptian market which he slides through with ease. The audience is a eye level with Caesar, demonstrating that in this instance the common people are equal to him. He even acts like a common person as he shops his way through the Egyptian market. The man to Caesar's right is looking out where Caesar is looking, as if they are both faced with the same problem and that this man is Caesar's right hand man.
Your interpretation is particularly good in analyzing the direction of the actors' glances: Rufio looks, like Caesar, at the bustling market in front of them, so he is trying to solve the problem together with Caesar. Admiral Marcus Agrippa, in contrast, and Caesar's mute servant Flavius both look to Caesar for an answer rather than thinking themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe one point where I'd disagree with you concerns the meaning of the eye-level shot. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this makes the common people/audience equal to Caesar. I'd say the eye-level and the audience's relative closeness to Caesar and his men (the effect of the medium shot) only _includes_ us, the audience, in his and his men's deliberations, but we are no more equal to Caesar than Rufio or Agrippa. Still, the camera makes us part of their circle, unlike the Egyptian courtiers, who'd be observing Caesar from a much greater distance.