Sophia - Cleopatra

Cleopatra was very surprising to me! Going into a 4 hour movie, I didn't have high expectations, but it turned out 
to be fairly entertaining the entire time. Yes, there were definitely some horribly slow moments, but even those 
helped to make the story and plot meld together better. Important facts cannot be left out for the sake of the 
viewers, so slow scenes are necessary. The thing that helped the most was the new technology, filming techniques 
and editing.

In this scene, Cleopatra is experiencing the death of Caesar which we are being shown simultaneously. 
The fact that we see both scenes happening at once and we can see real-time reactions is really impressive. The 
intensity of Caesar's death along with the fierce devastation from Cleopatra ties everything together nicely, making 
the audience feel the impact of Caesar’s death in a different way. 

The lighting between the two scenes helps to make the contrast more noticeable. The bright spot and more vibrant
colors from Cleopatra’s side help to contrast with the darker and seemingly unhappy side which belongs to Caesar. 
Cleopatra’s side is much closer to her face so we can see her emotions clearer, but it’s also somewhat wide because 
we can see the smoke and color on the sides. Caesar’s scene is much wider. We can see more people as well as the 
set giving us a more holistic view.

Comments

  1. DrKSeptember 14, 2023 at 4:49 PM

    This scene is a great example of double exposure used to portray two levels of reality simultaneously. On the one level is Cleopatra, on the other, superimposed one her vision of Caesar's assassination. This technique is often used in dream sequences, e.g., in Sophonisba's dream of Cabiria escaping from the Moloch in "Cabiria", although there the dream sequence is not superimposed over the entire frame, but just a small part of it. What I hadn't noticed before I read your description is that here, too, the assassination scene is actually wider than the scene of Cleopatra's face in close-up.

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