Abstract
Quo Vadis is a
great movie worth watching because every minute is dedicated to developing the characters,
interesting dialogue, and impeccable array of camera shots. This movie will
keep you watching, laughing, crying and cringing, in the best ways.
The main
characters and minor characters are constantly evolving and showing another
facet of their personality. For instance we see the transformation of Marcus
over the course of the movie. In the beginning of the movie Marcus is the definition
of a very masculine and womanizer Roman general. We begin to really see his
character when he tries to persuade Lygia into his bed with his somewhat crude
pick-up lines which makes the audience slightly dislike him. This distasteful
behavior and attempts of seduction continue and eventually lead to Marcus
requesting Nero, the emperor, to put Lygia who essentially is a prisoner of
war, into his custody so he she can
“love” him. The audience gets a better image of him as he saves the Christians
and Lygia from the fires set by Nero by helping them escape and ordering the
blockade to move allowing the Christians so fun away from the fire into the
safety of the emperors court yard. The audience also gets to see Lygia’s
development and internal struggle with her love for Marcus. Even the scene when
Lygia’s caretaker has to fight off a bull in order to save her, it shows his
true dedication to protecting her.
The unique
shots, angles and editing make the movie pleasing to the technical viewer and
even those with less trained eyes. The transitions are not abrupt and the
interesting use of different shots make the movie easy to stay focused and
interested in. In the party scene alone there are unique shots through a green
and red looking glass as well as a shot that is through the trickle of a
waterfall to a view of a women dancing as entertainment for the party. In this
scene alone one can notice numerous different camera techniques that use
transitions well and allow the story to flow.
The dialogue in
Quo Vadis also keeps the audience’s attention with its uses of irony and other
comical devices. For example during the dinner party Nero is throwing Marcus
asks Lygia whether she has even been this close to “the emperor and god” before
and she simply replies with a “no I have never seen Nero this close before”.
When interpreting this one can see that due to her Christian background she
does not view him as a god or even the all ruling emperor but as just a man. The
use of sarcasm is also abundant in this film. Its use in many scenes keeps the
audience laughing and constantly interested.
Quo Vadis stands
out with its interesting dialogue, multi-faceted characters, and unique shots.
These traits make it a movie worth watching because it keeps the audience’s
attention.
While he does eventually save all those people from the fire isn't his initial plan to only save Lygia and no one else? Does that not make him a rather shallow person unchanged really as he is technically only protecting his property?
ReplyDeleteYour abstract promises that this will be a real treat of a film review. I love the sentence "This movie will keep you watching, laughing, crying and cringing, in the best ways." It would not only make me want to see the movie if I had never seen it before but also to read the rest of the review.
ReplyDeleteYou also give great examples for what makes this movie so interesting. Lygia's sly refusal to acknowledge Nero's divinity or even that he is "her" emperor is a wonderful example of the witty dialogue that makes this movie so enjoyable, and I am sure you can find two more similarly effective scenes.
You are also right to focus on the interesting characters and their development over the course of the film. Both Marcus Vinicius and Lygia are good examples. If anything, I'd say, though, that you all reacted more negatively to Marcus at the beginning than with a "slight dislike" when we watched the movie. I had the impression that none of you could at first believe that someone as sweet and nice as Lygia could be interested in a jerk of Vinicius' magnitude.
By the way, are other characters developing in unforeseen ways as well? What about Nero? Petronius?
BTW, make sure to have someone prrof-read your paper:
ReplyDelete"allowing the Christians so fun away from the fire"?