"Dacii" is a mediocre contribution to the peplum (aka, sword-and-sandal) genre. Massive sets and a cast of (literally) thousands do not compensate for an awkward script, unimaginative direction, and (with some exceptions) wooden acting.
"Dacii" was a French-Romanian co-production, with the Romanians very much the senior partner, investing an enormous amount of money and resources in the project. In Communist Romania, as in all Communist countries, film production and distribution were government monopolies, and cinema was conceived primarily not as art or entertainment, but as propaganda. "Dacii" was the visual consecration of the Romanian Communists' rapid and paradoxical evolution from servile Moscow clients to maverick National Bolshevists. It would be followed by a whole string of historical films (known collectively in Romania as "The National Epic"), whose purpose was to construct a visual national mythology which would ultimately legitimise the Communist Party and its leader, the notorious Nicolae Ceausescu, as the modern incarnation of Romania's past mythical heroes.
The script is mostly static, rich in speeches and solemnities, but poor in action and weakly developed. The direction is rigid and conventional, lacking in rhythm or inspiration, unable to bring real interest even in the scenes involving a huge cast (eg, the siege of Argidava). Nicolaescu is clearly not up to the level of a Bondarchuk (or even an Aleksander Ford in "Krzyżacy").
No peplum would be complete without the dubbed foreign stars; in this instance, they are three nowadays almost forgotten French actors. Georges Marchal was a French star of the early 1950s and a peplum veteran, but here he delivers a stiff and unconvincing performance as Fuscus. Marie-José Nat as Meda has neither the sheer physical beauty, nor the screen presence or acting skills that would have allowed her to make something of a part which offered little to begin with. Pierre Brice (better known for his portrayal of an Apache chieftain in numerous Karl May-inspired movies) is conventionally heroic as Severus.
More notable are three Romanian performances. Amza Pellea as Decebalus displays remarkable skill, imbuing living depth to what seems to have been designed as a vehicle for nationalistic blather. Emil Botta is impressive in the small but significant part of the High Priest. And György Kovács is simply superb as Domitianus, managing to be effete and sinister without descending into outright camp.
"Dacii" is, of course, rife with anachronisms, anomalies, and inanities (eg, the Roman cavalry charging... a Dacian fortress!). But all these, as well as the defects outlined above, must be put into perspective. From "Cromwell" to "Braveheart" and beyond, anachronisms and inanities abound in historical epics of much greater pretension and reputation. Weak scripts, stiff direction and poor acting are par for the course in the peplum genre. "Dacii" was director Sergiu Nicolaescu's first feature film; the fact that he managed, on his first outing, to bring to completion such a complex project is perhaps more noteworthy than his failure to make it interesting.
What the Western viewer may perhaps fail to appreciate is that the film is loaded with Romanian nationalistic tropes and symbols. For instance, the scene of the human sacrifice is awkwardly framed with the so-called "Sfinx of Bucegi", a natural rock formation which, when viewed from a certain angle, looks like a human head. Photographs of this view of the "Sfinx" (which would re-occur in other episodes of the "The National Epic") were ubiquitous in Romanian media (and especially school text books), and thus instantly recognisable by the intended audience. Another example is the helmet worn by Decebalus in the final battle. This is a replica of the Helmet of Cotofenesti, shown erroneously with a flat top. The original helmet was ceremonial (not worn in battle), may not even have been Dacian, preceded Decebalus by about 500 years, and had a rounded or conical top; but a reconstruction with a wrong top was, again, ubiquitous in Romanian text books.
(Note for the history buff: Don't waste your time looking for the "falx dacica" in action in this movie -- it is most notable by its absence.)
"Dacii" was an instant success in Romania, where it remains to this day among the most popular native movies. But abroad, where its nationalist appeal was lost (as in France, where it was released in a slightly modified form as "Les Guerriers") it sank like a stone. It was never released in the US.
A bit of trivia: The massive sets and thousands of extras (courtesy of the Romanian Army) were re-used by Robert Siodmak in his last film, "Kampf um Rom". Nicolaescu, "Dacii"'s director, served as one of Siodmak's 2nd unit directors.
"Dacii" was a French-Romanian co-production, with the Romanians very much the senior partner, investing an enormous amount of money and resources in the project. In Communist Romania, as in all Communist countries, film production and distribution were government monopolies, and cinema was conceived primarily not as art or entertainment, but as propaganda. "Dacii" was the visual consecration of the Romanian Communists' rapid and paradoxical evolution from servile Moscow clients to maverick National Bolshevists. It would be followed by a whole string of historical films (known collectively in Romania as "The National Epic"), whose purpose was to construct a visual national mythology which would ultimately legitimise the Communist Party and its leader, the notorious Nicolae Ceausescu, as the modern incarnation of Romania's past mythical heroes.
The script is mostly static, rich in speeches and solemnities, but poor in action and weakly developed. The direction is rigid and conventional, lacking in rhythm or inspiration, unable to bring real interest even in the scenes involving a huge cast (eg, the siege of Argidava). Nicolaescu is clearly not up to the level of a Bondarchuk (or even an Aleksander Ford in "Krzyżacy").
No peplum would be complete without the dubbed foreign stars; in this instance, they are three nowadays almost forgotten French actors. Georges Marchal was a French star of the early 1950s and a peplum veteran, but here he delivers a stiff and unconvincing performance as Fuscus. Marie-José Nat as Meda has neither the sheer physical beauty, nor the screen presence or acting skills that would have allowed her to make something of a part which offered little to begin with. Pierre Brice (better known for his portrayal of an Apache chieftain in numerous Karl May-inspired movies) is conventionally heroic as Severus.
More notable are three Romanian performances. Amza Pellea as Decebalus displays remarkable skill, imbuing living depth to what seems to have been designed as a vehicle for nationalistic blather. Emil Botta is impressive in the small but significant part of the High Priest. And György Kovács is simply superb as Domitianus, managing to be effete and sinister without descending into outright camp.
"Dacii" is, of course, rife with anachronisms, anomalies, and inanities (eg, the Roman cavalry charging... a Dacian fortress!). But all these, as well as the defects outlined above, must be put into perspective. From "Cromwell" to "Braveheart" and beyond, anachronisms and inanities abound in historical epics of much greater pretension and reputation. Weak scripts, stiff direction and poor acting are par for the course in the peplum genre. "Dacii" was director Sergiu Nicolaescu's first feature film; the fact that he managed, on his first outing, to bring to completion such a complex project is perhaps more noteworthy than his failure to make it interesting.
What the Western viewer may perhaps fail to appreciate is that the film is loaded with Romanian nationalistic tropes and symbols. For instance, the scene of the human sacrifice is awkwardly framed with the so-called "Sfinx of Bucegi", a natural rock formation which, when viewed from a certain angle, looks like a human head. Photographs of this view of the "Sfinx" (which would re-occur in other episodes of the "The National Epic") were ubiquitous in Romanian media (and especially school text books), and thus instantly recognisable by the intended audience. Another example is the helmet worn by Decebalus in the final battle. This is a replica of the Helmet of Cotofenesti, shown erroneously with a flat top. The original helmet was ceremonial (not worn in battle), may not even have been Dacian, preceded Decebalus by about 500 years, and had a rounded or conical top; but a reconstruction with a wrong top was, again, ubiquitous in Romanian text books.
(Note for the history buff: Don't waste your time looking for the "falx dacica" in action in this movie -- it is most notable by its absence.)
"Dacii" was an instant success in Romania, where it remains to this day among the most popular native movies. But abroad, where its nationalist appeal was lost (as in France, where it was released in a slightly modified form as "Les Guerriers") it sank like a stone. It was never released in the US.
A bit of trivia: The massive sets and thousands of extras (courtesy of the Romanian Army) were re-used by Robert Siodmak in his last film, "Kampf um Rom". Nicolaescu, "Dacii"'s director, served as one of Siodmak's 2nd unit directors.