Worldview Theater: Gladiator
Our movie of interest in March was Gladiator, winner of the 2001 Academy Award for Best Picture. Gladiator tells the heroic tale of Maximus (Russell Crowe), the general turned slave turned gladiator turned liberator of ancient Rome. His is a life marked by gruesome violence and agonizing grief. David Edelstein of Slate was “appalled” by the “combination of grim sanctimony and drenching, Dolby-ized dismemberings.” Roger Ebert says the film “lacks joy. It employs depression as a substitute for personality, and believes that if the characters are bitter and morose enough, we won’t notice how dull they are.” While I welcome your thoughts on the use of violence in Gladiator, I am more interested in hearing whether you agree with Ebert. Does the film “lack joy?”