Monday, October 6, 2014
Review: Sign of the Cross
While The Sign of the Cross was definitely
good, it didn't stand out like other movies we have seen so far. Marcus
Superbus was admittedly one of the flattest characters I have seen so far in
class in terms of development; what solely defines him is his love for Mercia
and his willingness to do anything in order to have her. Mercia, on the other
hand, is defined not only by her feelings for Marcus but also by her devotion
to her faith and compassion for others. Granted, those are the only traits we
see, but it makes for an interesting subversion of the undeveloped female
character, as Mercia is better-rounded than Marcus, which is best illustrated
when she confronts him in his house during the feast. One part I think the
movie did really well was the emotional aspect. By focusing on Stephan and the
little girl, the Christians’ struggle is made more poignant and heart wrenching
because you know they're not going to survive. Little touches like the old man
covering the girl's face with his cloak made it worse. I also enjoyed the
scenes with Poppaea and Nero, their grandiose manner exemplified the excess
indulgence of Rome.
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I definitely agree about Marcus. At the end, his conversion seemed very quick and misguided. He converted to Christianity in order to be with Mercia for eternity, but he never really believes in the faith, in my opinion. One thing I would add would be to note the cutting between the lions ascending the stairs and the cowering Christians. This sequence took a huge toll on the emotions of the viewers. Overall, great review!
ReplyDeleteYes, the movie really pulls on the viewers' heart strings, and the children, Stephan (with his dog Bucco) and the little girl with her toy doll, definitely serve the function to make us feel the horrible fate all the Christians are suffering on an even deeper level. Although I sometimes wonder why it's less bad when only adults are eaten by lions. I certainly wouldn't want to be a lion's dinner. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnother way DeMille focuses on emotions and tells us how to feel about what we are seeing (or how to feel about the Romans watching the atrocities in the arena) are all the cross cuts to the audience that shows us their reactions in close-up, whether it's the audience jeering at the suffering Christians or laughing at the dwarf gladiator being pierced and held aloft by an Amazon, or the two women actually crying over losing gladiators.