Alexander

Has anybody seen this film yet?

a review here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4154257.stm
says it is a bit pathetic. Although I was very amused at this:

"Portraying the king as a bisexual has provoked a furore of its own. Conservatives in America's Bible Belt, and some Greeks, wanted the gay references removed, while campaigners for homosexual rights complained that the director had been too timid."

First up - Alexander was Mecedonian, not Greek. He conquered the various Greek states. The Macedonians were called barbarians by the Greeks.
Second - homosexuality was very common culturally at the time. There is nothing to suggest that Alexander definately had homosexual tendancies, but I'd be a little surprised if he did not.
Third - too timid? He has cast a major historical hero in a commercial blockbuster as a bisexual and he is too timid??? :roll:

 

Ive seen Alexander, and to me its not a Movie,but, a Documentary..!!

I hate to say this,but , i found it quite boring at times.

I mean Documentary's are good, but they can also be to long !!

KBO

 

Michael Wood's classic documentary "in the footsteps of Alexander the Great" is being re-run by the BBC on Tuesday nights. If you are at all interested, don't miss it. It's by far the best thing on AtG that I have ever seen.

 

I actually liked the movie. What I think many people object to is that the combat scenes were too few, and too far apart, however I would have been greatly disappointed if a movie depicting Alexander the Great's life would be dominated by battle scenes. I find the inner conflict of Alexander as interesting as the military conflicts.

 

I loved this movie! Everyone must go see it. And I say this as a history student!

About Alexander being homosexual in the movies, I honestly don't know what the fuss is about. The only "gay" scenes in the movie basically show Alexander hugging (note, not kissing) his loyal friend Hephaistion. In no scene does the physical contact between the two go beyond hugs, whereas you do get to see Alexander having intercourse with Roxanna.

The battle scenes are indeed few and far between but no less impressive; that is definitely the best Gaugamela battle I've seen. Contrary to most historical movies it does not show you a bunch of guys hacking away at each other but it actually shows how the battle was won tactically, and what the Greek/Macedonian and Persian armies are like.

Oliver Stone of course wouldn't be Oliver Stone if he didn't have a message, and therefore it does indeed get a bit lengthy at times. Some elements are more or less pointless, like the entire figure of Ptolemaios played by Anthony Hopkins. But the story is, like Christian said, not about the battles but about Alexander's many inner battles, and how people are actually dominated by those around them instead of really making their own decisions.

 

A better discription of the Movie isnt available, Roel

 

Roel
There was, as far as I recall, a scene showing homosexual intercourse, but it was by no means explicit, and could easily be overlooked.

By the way, during the ancient olympics, women were not allowed as spectators, and the athletes performed naked - I wonder what critisism this would result in, if showed in a movie - the left-wings because of the sexist message, and the right-wing because of the nudity

 

I can imagine a lot of swinging between the far left and the far right in this potential movie :lol:

 

Probably so, after all it is impossible to realistically depict any kind of party in that time without it. But my point was that it didn't ever involve Alexander himself. It doesn't measure up to Roxanna's full frontal nudity.

 

True - and it's quite interesting that the subject of Roxanna's nudity hasn't been brought up at all. At the same time, it is interesting that Angelina Jolie showed no nudity at all, which otherwise has been a standard for all the movies I've seen, starring her (in one degree or another)...

Christian

 

For those who thought they had it figured out, no, Angelina Jolie does not play Roxanna, this role is played by Rosario Dawson.

You're right though, Christian, I've seldomly seen nudity that explicit in historical movies either, especially when one of the main characters is involved, yet nothing is said of it anywhere. Censorship is one odd thing I tell you...

 

And when a Dane and a Dutchman talk about explicit contents, you know there's something about it

 

Well, nobody seems to mind female nudity any more. It only seems to get a 15 certificate.
Male nudity, however, is still a little more hushed up, and always gets an 18, IIRC.
Surely all nudity should be treated equally?
*shrugs*

 

:lol:

But let us not have such a good movie spoiled by discussions on nudity. By the way, what rating did Alexander get, Ricky? Seeing as there was no male nudity but it did get a bit gory sometimes...

Here's a neat wallpaper. Hyperlinked from Cholbert's webspace!

 

Arrrrrggg! Lots of long spears! Fallos! Fallos! Gay porn! Arrrrrggg!

 

It got a 15 certificate, which generally means violence and/or female nudity.
Male nudity and /or swearing would bump it up to an 18...

 

Now that wallpaper is encouraging - a proper phalanx, and with proper leaf-shaped spearheads...

 

Yup, that's why I posted it. It is also embellishing my desktop at the moment.

I'm actually a bit surprised that miss Dawson was willing to go ahead with that scene. Usually actors are pretty touchy about self-exposure.

 

Yes, we all know how shy actors like Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry is when it comes to nudity

 

I don't like how this topic degenerated into a summing up of nudity in recent movies...