Thursday, December 09, 2021

Cleopatra (1963)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on March 12, 1992

Egyptian queen takes Roman general Julius Caesar as lover; after he dies she replaces him with another Roman general.

Impressive historical drama, which makes use of modern concepts such as "romantic" (actually its roots go back to the Middle Ages, I think) love and psychoanalysis -- and a bit of modern dance too -- to weave its tale of love and politics. The result is not bad, though at times it becomes a little too melodramatic, like when Anthony abandons his fleet during a battle to follow Cleopatra, and then develops a guilt complex. The version I watched this time is certainly longer (4h06) than that of my earlier viewing; for a theatrical viewing that would be impossibly long, even with the intermission, but on streaming one can pause and resume at will. Also, I had possibly seen it in a Portuguese-dubbed version, whereas this time I saw it with the original audio. Too bad they cropped the frame to fit into a 16:9 TV.

Rating: 62 (up from 49)

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