Kubrick BFI Season -Spartacus
Another week, another Kubrick – tis the season to be jolly. Quite possibly the best of the cycle of 1950’s and 1960’s epic so-called sword and sandal pictures, ‘Spartacus’ is the tale of the mythical slave turned general who reluctantly led a revolution against the oppressive Roman state. Stan’s third and final feature on his native American soil, the lack of control over the script and regular interference from studio (Universal) and star Kirk Douglas drove Kubrick to England to shoot his next picture ‘Lolita’ and he never looked back, preferring the professionalism and quality of the UK crews to the politics and machinations of tinsel town.
Sentenced to death after assisting a fellow prisoner in the stone mines of Libya, Spartacus (Kirk Douglas in possibly his most iconic role) finds himself in the possession of the gladiatorial impressario Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov) who ships him to Capua to train and to fight. Excelling in combat, Spartacus fights for the pleasure of the Roman Noble Crassus (Laurence Oliver), a contest he loses and receives the obligatory thumbs down death sentence. In a moment of unexpected nobility his adversary Draba (Woody Stroode) spares Spartacus and instead makes a desperate effort to slay Crassus and is brutally killed for his insubordination. Inspired by his opponents sacrifice, Spartacus leads a successful uprising against his captors, gradually expanding his peasant and slave army as he liberates the enslaved people in the empire village by village, town by town whilst fleeing to the coast for freedom across the sea. Against this chaotic backdrop a flurry of political scheming emerges between the machievelian Sempronius Gracchus (Charles Laughton) and ambitious Crassus for leadership of the senate and control of the mighty Roman empire, using Spartacus as a pawn in their power struggle….
Seeing this three hour epic on the big screen was pretty exhausting, not helped by the fact that I was coming down with a bastard head cold. Nevertheless it was quite riveting, the epic three hour running time matched by the grandiose historical canvas and grand themes of freedom and oppression. The film’s production history is quite entertaining, then as today in most cases the star is at the top of the pecking order as it were and usually calls the shots on all aspects of the production. Douglas fired original director Anthony Mann after only a few days of work, finishing his efforts on the Friday with Kubrick essentially coming to work on the project the following Monday. As Scorsese has pointed out, to inherit the reigns of one of Hollywood’s more expensive (an unprecedented $12 million) and prestigious productions at the age of 30 must have been quite intimidating, this upstart Bronx kid directing stage and screen legends such as Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov (who steals the film, performance wise) not to mention some English dude called Laurence Oliver who I think it’s far to say will be regarded as one of the finest actors in history, stage and screen. All accounts have Kubrick standing his ground, fighting his corners and refusing to succumb to the orders of his elders. Right or wrong the results are up there on screen, certainly a somewhat neutered Kubrick vision – he had absolutely no influence on casting, script or editing – but still a commanding and impressive movie nonetheless.
The political subtexts are overt, not surprising given that the film was written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the more unrepentant members of the Hollywood Ten and a self proclaimed communist who was given the gig without resorting to a front, a brave action by Douglas which effectively broke the unspoken blacklist embargo that had destroyed the lives and careers of many film creatives over the previous two decades. The revolutionary allusions to certain events in Moscow in 1917 are not very subtle are they? Despite the film essentially being one huge vanity project for Douglas who essentially launched the project in a ego driven rage after being refused the lead in Wylers ‘Ben-Hur‘ the year earlier I must admit that after spending two and a half hours in the company of these people, once the classic scene arrives it is genuinely quite inspiring.
I was struck for the first time about some similarities between the opening gladiatorial training school and the Parris Island marine recruits in ‘Full Metal Jacket‘, similar montages in both detail the physicality of the indoctrination that both groups suffer. The films visual legacy is obvious, Peter Jackson evidently lifted ideas from certain battle sequences to instruct ‘The Return Of The King‘ not that I’m complaining, if you’re gonna borrow then do it from the best eh? I agree with Peter Ustinov from the DVD commentary that the film was all the stronger for being probably the only historical epic of that period that didn’t insert some ridiculous paean to religion that blighted some of its peers (‘The Robe’, ‘King Of Kings’, the aforementioned ‘Ben-Hur’, anything by Cecille B DeMille), the concept of overthrowing some autocratic state is far more timeless and unique for the period. Or if you want the final image of a crucified Spartacus weeping as his only son is spirited away to freedom can be considered having your cake and eating it.
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