Ezra's Cleopatra Review

     I really liked a lot of cleopatra, despite its absurd length on the day where I have the most classes (at the end it was hard to stay awake). of all is massive setpieces and the years of time production spent crafting its world, the place that stuck out to me the most was Cleopatra's garden in Rome, it only appears for two short scenes, when Cleo talks to Caesar in Rome for the first time and when she warns him not to go to the senate on the ides.

        Its the place where Cleo last sees Caesar alive, at least in person. in all the excess of Egypt or Rome this garden is muted and dead, and it seems like an odd place for Cleo to say farewell to one of the great loves of her life, and the shot above in particular has the two of them tiny in the center of the frame. It feels like a reminder that these two emperors descended from gods are only human, and that they'll both die a human death, memento mori and all that 

Comments

  1. DrKSeptember 14, 2023 at 5:12 PM

    It is indeed striking how small and frail the two look! They also represents the only specks of color in surroundings that are mostly grey and dead brown. The gloomy mood of looming death is neatly symbolized by the fallen leaves around them. They really should be something you can see only in the fall, with doesn't fit Caesar's death on the Ides of March (March 15). But as a symbol of death and doom, the crumpled brown leaves do an amazing job.

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