Monday, October 6, 2014
"Sign of the Cross" Review
I did not enjoy Sign of the Cross like I have other movies. The first part of the movie up to the scene where Marcus runs into the empress' cart I found really boring. I know scenes like where Marcus Superbus frees the Christians from being persecuted in the street are suppose to entertain me, but I really wasn't interested. I found that scene to be way to cliche. The mighty general shows cruelty to everyone until he sees a beautiful maiden and all of a sudden becomes nice. Then eventually Marcus runs into the empress' cart, and at that point I started to become more interested in the movie. Thus the scene occurs when the brute Romans start to kill innocent Christians. Though it was brutal to actually watch, I couldn't help but to feel disgusted and take pity upon the Christians. Thus the plot thickens and after that scene leads to the interesting Roman games. Though completely wrong historically, it is funny to make fun of what happens and how wrong it is. Though the downside to these scenes is that they are incredibly brutish and graphic. Though it is amusing, it does not change the fact that the majority of the movie I found boring and cliche. Nor could I relate to either character apart from the pity I gave to the Christians.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree that the Roman games is the best part of the movie, especially the little people versus the Amazon women scene, but the whole film was actually better than I expected. I can see that this film was more boring than other films we have seen, considering our last film was a comedy, but it is thirty years older so I would also factor that in.
ReplyDeleteI'd say what makes the movie far less interesting than it could be is that it's pious message is so predictable and rubbed in by means of one stereotype after the other. The first thing that we see the itinerant Christian preacher Titus do, for example, is that he gives alms to a blind beggar, which establishes him as an undoubtedly good guy. The evil Roman Christian hunters, in contrast, are clad in barbaric-looking fur, have super-hairy bodies, look unwashed, and act mean to a passer-by.
ReplyDeleteStill, there's a lot about this movie that I find very impressive. DeMille's decision to start the story "in medias res" is simply brilliant. He begins with swilling smoke in confusing close-up, then reveals that we are looking at a burning city, Rome, then cuts over to Nero singing his epic "Fall of Troy", and then to the Roman nobility cowering in fear at the foot of his throne and looking unhappily at the conflagration that is consuming their city. Similarly, the scenes outside the arena, panning down from the uppermost floor to the people buying snacks at the bottom and then focusing in on the poster that announces the games and the execution of the Christians (with a fade from the poster in the original Latin to its English translation) are phenomenal. I find the arena scenes similarly good, regardless of their laughable lack of authenticity. Even though I've seen the movie a number of times now, I still find myself waiting with suspense for every new outrage DeMille has devised.