Bruce Payne as Domitian in Apocalypse
"The Royal Emperor Domitian" by Steffi
Roman Emperor Domitian (51- 96 AD or CE) was not exactly what you'd call popular, but then, if you know your Roman history, what Emperor was? He was quite a narcissist but then, what Emperor wasn't? But in the film (though not necessarily according to the historians) Domitian went a tad further than some and proclaimed himself Dominus et Deus, "Master and God." To do this before you were dead was considered quite bad etiquette and Domitian was eventually assassinated in 96 AD. The Romans didn't take kindly to bad manners, apparently, or maybe they just got tired of yet another autocratic emperor. The bad news. Bruce is only in three scenes in the first 10 minutes. The good news. Bruce packs more drama and emotional expressiveness into those few minutes than most actors do in a whole film. In yet another unique and delicious performance, Bruce plays  Domitian
with the haughty and regal bearing that befits a Emperor of the Roman
Empire but adds a twist of intense madness, as only Bruce can do so
well. In
the space of these few minutes, his expression goes from overbearing
imperiousness to sly craftiness
to madness through gratuitious cruelty and back again to supercilious
hauteur.
Whew. Talk about riveting intensity. But Bruce
doesn't just
act with his face and words, he acts with his whole body. Not
only is
his stance as haughty as his demeanor, his gestures are haughty and
imperious too and are perfectly in tune with his words. And have
we mentioned
that the director knows how to show off Bruce's magnificent profile to
glorious advantage? Not
even to mention the Roman bath scenes. Oh goodness. When Domitian
proclaims himself a god, we are almost tempted to join the
congregation. Amen and hallelujah, sisters. Pass the palm
fronds, we're
feeling just a bit warm here... |
R
|
As to
the rest of the film--yes, we
are
going to comment on the rest of the movie--we happen to think it was
interesting and well-done but also think that what you get out of it
depends on what you take into it. It
is a
Biblical tale, make no mistake about it. If you are a
Christian (the film was made by Italians and is dotted with Catholic
symbolism), you may eat up this story of John, the Apostle,
author of
the Book of Revelations from the New Testament. Some of you may recall
that wonderful gospel choir in the Blues
Brothers 2000 movie, singing
"Who's that writing? -- John the
Revelator...Wrote the Book of the Seven Seals." Yeah, that
John.
But even if you are of another religious persuasion or no persuasion at
all (as one of us is), it is still possible to view this as a moving
story of courage and conviction. And the European-style
special effects (quite different than typical American graphics) when
John has his Revelations are pretty trippy too. But if Biblical
drama is not your cup of mocha latte, you can always stop the DVD after
Bruce's three scenes. We'd gladly pay the $14.95 price tag for
the
DVD just to see Bruce in a Roman toga and haircut. Not to
mention the Roman bath scenes. Oops, sorry, our minds wander...On a more serious note, we have added more comments about the movie and John's Revelations below. |
