Cabiria Review - Ben Webster

"Cabiria" was absolutely a step up from the film we first viewed a section of. The silent film used (at the time) groundbreaking camerawork to help tell its story. Pans, zooms, and extreme closeups all contributed to a much more intricate final product. It had unheard of special effects, like the volcanic eruption, the burning ships, and the dream sequence, turning the movie into a true spectacle. All this being said, there were some noticeable flaws in the film. Some aspects felt convoluted, and others rubbed in the face of the audience. For example, while the queen's motive of suicide was initially confusing to me, her death itself was incredibly overplayed and drawn out. This juxtaposition of complexity and simplicity was seen throughout the film, and while I would've liked the director to have closed the gap, it definitely did not ruin the movie for me. While this film is not for everyone, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone interested in film or in Ancient Rome's portrayal in it. 

Ben Webster

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plautus Plays - Ben Webster

"Casina" and "The Braggart Soldier" are old roman comedies written by Plautus. They each center around farcical and exaggerated relationships between masters and servants. They have similarly satisfying conclusions, with the main antagonist being beaten in each play. I preferred "Casina" over "The Braggart Soldier" as I found the plot of "The Braggart Soldier" to be convoluted and confusing at times. I think this more complex plot would "The Braggart Soldier" would make a better movie, as film is a medium suited to telling complex stories.   
Read more

Basil Allen - "Casina" vs. "The Braggart Soldier"

  “Casina” and “The Braggart Soldier”, both by Plautus, are similar in many regards. They are both comedies that explore dynamics between slaves and their masters, with plenty of schemes and trickery. I enjoyed “Casina” more, with its biting, crass humor and horrible (in the sense that they are all terrible people) characters. The translator used very colloquial, modern language which I thought was really funny and relatable. I did think it was interesting how Casina, the person practically the entire cast of characters is fighting over never once even spoke. I feel as though “The Braggart Soldier” would make a better movie, however, due to the satirical nature of the play and a far more complex plot that would translate to film well. Overall, both plays were an enjoyable read (despite the length) and they were definitely not as hard to understand as I thought they would be. 
Read more

Plautus Casina vs Plautus The Braggart Soldier - Michael Kachanyuk

Casina and The Braggart Soldier are two plays written by Plautus. Both plays are comedies and share some similarities, but they also have some differences.  Casina is a play about a young man named Euthynicus who is in love with a slave named Casina. However, Euthynicus's father Lysidamus, is also in love with Casina and wants to marry her himself. So he sends his son out of the country and uses his slave Olympio to marry Casina so he could secretly have an affair with Casina while being married to his wife Cleostrata. Cleostrata finds out about her husbands attempt and tries to marry Casina to her slave, Chalinus, who would be stand in for Euthynicus until his return from the country. The play revolves around the various schemes and plots that the characters come up with to try to get what they want.   The Braggart Soldier, on the other hand, is about a soldier named Pyrgopolynices who is boastful and arrogant. He has kidnapped a young woman named Philocom...
Read more