This screenshot of Gladiator is taken when the crowd and the emperor are waiting for Maximus to kill Tigris. He is in the center of the shot from the waist up, letting the audience see him contemplate his decision, holding the ax up in suspended motion, which contributes to the scene's feeling of tense anticipation. The angle is slightly low so that the audience looks up at Maximus, contrasting Commodus's previous scene where he is at eye level, implying that Maximus is more powerful than the emperor at the moment. Fractured sunlight, which usually indicates Jesus in religious art and cinema, is shining down on him; as Jesus was known for his mercy, it foreshadows Maximus sparing Tigris's life and his eventual title as "Savior of Rome". His armor is black, subverting the usual "black is evil" meaning, and is more elaborate than his provincial armor, representing how he's regained his rank of "general" among the gladiators, in keeping with their loyalty towards him.
Hi Felicity! I I also thought of the visual correlations between Maximus and Jesus, and noticed that light is used a lot in the gladiatorial scenes. It is even used after Maximus has been martyred, and the last shot the audience is left with is a shot of the Colosseum with the dawning of a new day, perhaps to show a new Rome.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed by both of your comments, Felicity and Olivia! Hadn't noticed the significance of the light myself before.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting about the scene is how it both parallels Draba's decision in "Spartacus" to spare Spartacus' life and the two times when Commodus has to decide about the fate of gladiators. Each time, Commodus does what the populace, "the mob that is Rome", demands with its chanting. Maximus, in contrast, consciously disregards the "Kill, kill, kill!" chants of the mob and Commodus' judgement to kill his former favorite Tigris. He does not care what the majority or even the emperor thinks, but does what he feels is right. Interestingly, he manages to bring the mob onto his side, something that Commodus later fails to do.
By the way, the black-leather muscle cuirass Maximus is wearing is the same he wore as a general and in which he was captured and sold into slavery. Proximo returned it to Maximus after he had agreed to go with him to Rome and fight in the Colosseum.
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