Charlton Heston is my hero, and always will be. But this version of ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA does not belong in his highlights reel, even if he directed and saw it as the highpoint of his career.
There are some bright touches.
Jane Lapotaire as Charmian is absolutely irresistible -- with her energy, wit, and sense of fun, she steal the picture right out from under the vacant beauty posing as Cleopatra. It's no accident that Jane got to play Cleopatra herself a few years later, and she was sensational! (Colin Blakely was a better Antony, too, much more passionate and emotional than Chuck Heston.)
Freddie Jones is funny and poignant as the broken down has-been, Pompey. Historically, Sextus Pompey's father was the supreme ruler in Rome, long before Caesar, Octavian, or Antony. But by now the last of the Pompey dynasty has been reduced to scavenging on the fringes of the empire, running a "navy" that is really a ragtag fleet of pirate ships. Decaying, drunken, and falling to pieces before your eyes, Pompey is the saddest character in the play. Freddie Jones gets that, but still makes the man funny and even noble when it really counts. Great job!
Warren "Dim" Clarke will forever be remembered as Malcolm MacDowell's right hand droog in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It's a singular pleasure to see him shine in a brief appearance as Scarus, the bravest and most loyal of Antony's soldiers. Watch him emerge from the surf bawling curses at the cowardly Cleopatra, after her ill-timed flight has cost the forces of Antony everything. He projects all the energy, masculinity, and military valor that is missing from the rest of the film. Go Dim Go!
Now I love Charlton Heston. When he plays cold, aloof, cynical authority figures, he's the best in the world. But Antony is so many things that Charlton Heston doesn't understand and can't project on the screen. You never see the drunken Antony, the good-time guy who loves getting down and dirty with the soldiers, with the slaves, with whoever is around. You never see the vast appetites of the man, for food or drink or sex or laughter or anything else. You just see this dignified guy who suddenly loses everything in a murky battle scene. And when says the lines, "you knew, Egypt, you knew too well my heart was tied to your rudder," you think, yeah, but we didn't know. You didn't show us that, Chuck. Antony is a brave soldier, but he's also warm, impulsive, sensual, and charming, and those are things you just don't do well on screen.
Even the death scene suffers from Chuck's determination to stay in control. Shakespeare chose to show Antony bungle his suicide, so that in his final agony he could be helpless in Cleopatra's arms. But Chuck downgrades the agony to an absurd degree. Antony has been stabbed in the stomach but he just trots over to the monument to say hello!
The death scene in THE OMEGA MAN was a lot closer to the mark.
There are some bright touches.
Jane Lapotaire as Charmian is absolutely irresistible -- with her energy, wit, and sense of fun, she steal the picture right out from under the vacant beauty posing as Cleopatra. It's no accident that Jane got to play Cleopatra herself a few years later, and she was sensational! (Colin Blakely was a better Antony, too, much more passionate and emotional than Chuck Heston.)
Freddie Jones is funny and poignant as the broken down has-been, Pompey. Historically, Sextus Pompey's father was the supreme ruler in Rome, long before Caesar, Octavian, or Antony. But by now the last of the Pompey dynasty has been reduced to scavenging on the fringes of the empire, running a "navy" that is really a ragtag fleet of pirate ships. Decaying, drunken, and falling to pieces before your eyes, Pompey is the saddest character in the play. Freddie Jones gets that, but still makes the man funny and even noble when it really counts. Great job!
Warren "Dim" Clarke will forever be remembered as Malcolm MacDowell's right hand droog in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It's a singular pleasure to see him shine in a brief appearance as Scarus, the bravest and most loyal of Antony's soldiers. Watch him emerge from the surf bawling curses at the cowardly Cleopatra, after her ill-timed flight has cost the forces of Antony everything. He projects all the energy, masculinity, and military valor that is missing from the rest of the film. Go Dim Go!
Now I love Charlton Heston. When he plays cold, aloof, cynical authority figures, he's the best in the world. But Antony is so many things that Charlton Heston doesn't understand and can't project on the screen. You never see the drunken Antony, the good-time guy who loves getting down and dirty with the soldiers, with the slaves, with whoever is around. You never see the vast appetites of the man, for food or drink or sex or laughter or anything else. You just see this dignified guy who suddenly loses everything in a murky battle scene. And when says the lines, "you knew, Egypt, you knew too well my heart was tied to your rudder," you think, yeah, but we didn't know. You didn't show us that, Chuck. Antony is a brave soldier, but he's also warm, impulsive, sensual, and charming, and those are things you just don't do well on screen.
Even the death scene suffers from Chuck's determination to stay in control. Shakespeare chose to show Antony bungle his suicide, so that in his final agony he could be helpless in Cleopatra's arms. But Chuck downgrades the agony to an absurd degree. Antony has been stabbed in the stomach but he just trots over to the monument to say hello!
The death scene in THE OMEGA MAN was a lot closer to the mark.