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DONNA J. PLESH |
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"ROME" “Rome” premieres on HBO 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28 |
 CIARAN HINDS AS JULIUS CAESAR |
A mighty 12-part miniseries
is HBO's best show in years
of TheColumnists.com
Power. Love. Betrayal.
Greed. Corruption. Just another episode of “The Sopranos,”
right? Wrong. Right network (HBO). Right heritage (Italian).
But wrong show.
HBO’s wonderful new 12-part series “Rome” is great
drama, great soap opera, great television, and is not to be missed!
The story begins in 52 B.C., when the city was a teeming metropolis
of more than a million people. On his way back home after eight
long years of fighting and conquering the Gauls, is Gaius Julius
Caesar (Ciaran Hinds). Along with his battle-weary soldiers,
Caesar is bringing bountiful booty--gold and slaves--for the
coffers of Rome.
But all is not well on the homefront. Though popular with the
masses, Caesar’s pending return is not welcomed by the senate
and members of the aristocracy, who fear he will want to make
radical social changes and upset the balance between the “haves”
and the “have-nots.” The key to what the senate does
lies with Pompey Magnus (Kenneth Cranham), Caesar’s old
friend and mentor.
But friendship is thrown aside, when Pompey and the senate decide
to prosecute Caesar for war crimes if he enters the city. Realizing
they do not have the soldiers needed to keep Caesar from the
city, Pompey and his associates (and many of the aristocracy)
abandon Rome to re-group and leaving it to Caesar and his soldiers.
Thus the table has been set for the story, much of which is seen
through the eyes of two soldiers--the duty-bound family man Lucius
Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson), whose
lives are intertwined with Caesar’s after they successfuly
retrieve the unifying symbol of the legions--a golden eagle standard.
Simply put, “Rome” is the best thing to come from HBO
since “The Sopranos.” A co-production with the BBC,
the drama was filmed on location in Rome on a budget exceeding
$100 million. With a cast of mainly British performers, including
many familiar to U. S. viewers--Hinds, Polly Walker (”Enchanted
April”) as Caesar’s wily niece Atia; James Purefoy
(“Vanity Fair”) as Mark Antony; Kenneth Cranham
(“Chocolat”) as Pompey, and Lindsay Duncan (“Under
the Tuscan Sun”) as
Caesar’s mistress. Along with the top-notch cast, the first
three episodes were directed by feature film director Michael
Apted (“Coal Miner’s Daughter”).
Unlike ABC’s early summer “Empire,” “Rome”
is not a wishy-washy telling of this most interesting period
in history. “Rome” is raw, bloody, earthy and there’s
a lot of sex and nudity (both male and female).
Battles are brutal and bloody--heads go flying, limbs are hacked
off, and blood gushes in the dirty streets. This is not the nearly
pristine-looking Rome most of us probably grew up imagining when
we looked at drawings of the city in our history books. When
Titus is injured in a street attack, Lucius summons a doctor
who performs bloody
surgery on him on Lucius’ kitchen table....including pounding
a metal plate into his head to close a wound.
And then there's that sex and nudity--in beds...in baths...on
the road. A prime practioner of both is Atia, who uses her body
to gain advantages for her family. She’s not particular--she
has sex with one man because she wants a horse he has to give
to Caesar. She has sex with him again because she wants him to
kill her son-in-law. In her
mind, her daughter can make a better match with a husband out
of the way. She’s also having it off, as the Brits say,
with Mark Antony--her equal in the game of sex. She is, after
all, Caeser’s niece and he figures it doesn’t hurt
to keep the boss’ kin happy. Atia, on the other hand, sees
Antony as husband material and a potential future leade
should Caesar bite the dust.
The scope, color and grandeur of the production are on a par
with the great network miniseries of the past, such as ABC’s
“The Winds of War.” This is drama that hooks you from
the very first scenes of bloody battle between the Roman soldiers
and the Gauls, Caesar’s heartbreak at the news his daughter
has died, and the cheers of the average citizens of Rome when
he marches into the city.
TIDBITS
ABOUT 'ROME'
Here are some “Rome” facts or, in other words, what
$100 million can get you:
*
While some fictional liberties were taken (the addition of the
Lucius and Titus characters), series writer Bruno Heller’s
compelling stories are rooted in fact. One member of the production
team was the former head of the BBC archaelogy department, hired
to make sure the scripts are historically authentic.
*
“Rome” has a the largest standing set in the world--five
acres of backlot and six soundstages at Rome’s fabled Cinecitta
studios. The forum set alone is 60 per cent of the size of the
original forum.
*
Besides the actors and extras, the series employed a crew of
350.
* The first 12 episodes span the time period 52-44 B.C.
* It’s
the first English-language series to be shot entirely in a non-English
speaking country.
* All
of the fabrics used in the costume design and sets are authentic
to the ime--wool, linen, cotton and silk. They came from Italy,
India, Tunisia and Morocco.
* Prototypes
for helmets and other metal costume elements were handmade by
a metal designer and replicated in India.
* Forty
horses were used in one scene; 750 actors and extras were used
in the scene featuring Caesar's triumph; there are 4,000 pieces
of wardrobe worn--including 2,500 used in the first three episodes
alone; 1,250 pairs of shoes and sandals were made in Bulgaria;
the chain-mail tunics worn by soldiers each weigh 36 pounds and
were
handmade.
*
It took 14 months to film the 12 episodes. And, yes, there are
plans
for more episodes if the series does well.
©2005 by Donna J.
Plesh. The photo is courtesy of HBO. This column first posted
Aug. 22, 2005.
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