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Spartacus
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L[I]ke the corrupt and venal Rome it portrays, Spartacus was borne from the struggle of many creative and powerful people working against and in collaboration with each other. It’s an epic in every sense of the word, and it arrived in a period when the epic motion picture dominated American movie-going much as the summer blockbuster does today. For a Hollywood film, Spartacus has an unusually high artistic pedigree, including not just director Stanley Kubrick, but ... its supporting cast (mostly British stage actors turned movie stars) and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted writer. All of this makes what went on behind the camera as interesting if not more so than the movie itself. The Criterion Collection has recently released Spartacus in a two-disc DVD set; the movie has been digitally transferred from the restored print used in the 1991 re-release. As breathtaking as the movie is, it’s fair to say that the extra features, which include several audio commentaries, interviews, and short documentaries, are the main attraction here.
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Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is a rebellious slave purchased by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), owner of a school for gladiators. For the entertainment of corrupt Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Batiatus' gladiators are to stage a fight to the death. On the night before the event, the enslaved trainees are "rewarded" with female companionship. Spartacus' companion for the evening is Varinia (Jean Simmons), a slave from Brittania. When Spartacus later learns that Varinia has been sold to Crassus, he leads 78 fellow gladiators in revolt. Word of the rebellion spreads like wildfire, and soon Spartacus' army numbers in the hundreds.
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In the autumn of 72BC, when the revolt was at its height and Spartacus had about 120,000 followers, the Senate voted to grant imperium to Marcus Licinius Crassus. Crassus was the wealthiest man in Rome, a noble from an old plebeian family. He was given command of six new legions plus the four consular legions. When Mummius attacked Spartacus with two legions, against orders, Spartacus soundly defeated them. Crassus ordered the punishment of decimation to the most cowardly cohort, then used his combined forces to defeat Spartacus, who retreated to Rhegium. Spartacus tried to cross the straits into Sicily, but the Cilician pirates who were to provide transport betrayed him.
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Spartacus may have had the same plan, or an even better one, because he collaborated with the Cilician pirates. To them, a base on Sicily would be a great asset, because the Romans had not much naval experience and the Cilicians could loot and plunder the Italian coast without meeting opposition.
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Spartacus is now available on DVD from The Criterion Collection. This double-disc set includes a new widescreen transfer of the 1991 restored Super Technirama version (which has been enhanced for 16x9 TVs). The discs include audio commentaries by producer-actor Kirk Douglas, actor Peter Ustinov, novelist Howard Fast, producer Edward Lewis, restoration expert Robert A. Harris, and designer Saul Bass. Special features include scene-by-scene analysis by Dalton Trumbo; additional Alex North score compositions; rare deleted scenes; 1960 promotional interviews with Jean Simmons and Peter Ustinov; 1992 video interview with Peter Ustinov; behind-the-scenes "gladiatorial school" footage; original storyboards by Saul Bass; hundreds of production stills, lobby cards, posters, print ads, and a comic book; sketches by director Stanley Kubrick; and the original theatrical trailer. Suggested retail price: $49.95. For more information, check out The Criterion Collection Web site.
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Spartacus gained life (if you can call it that), and much of the attendant baggage--goals and fears and loves and hatreds. It watched as first Benedict, then Osric and Finndo walked the pattern and ventured beyond the lands it could reach. Jealous, it taught itself to go places. And it hid this power from the King. It was a tiny rebellious act, it did not interfere with Oberon's goals for it. Still, Spartacus learned a little treason. Only, after all, because it made him more valuable to the King.
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Spartacus