The last of the Samuel Bronston films I've been watching during the last week, and my personal favourite.
Plot: Livius, a Roman general, is the heir designed by the emperor Marcus Aurelius to succeed him. However, when he dies he feels his obligation is to support Commodus, the emperor's son. Soon he proves to be a mediocre ruler, and Livius is pinned between his duty towards Rome, his loyalty to Commodus and his love to Lucilla, Commodus' sister.
Samuel Bronston Productions was shortly dismanteled after the comercial failure of this film, and it's really a pity. The last of Bronston's films to be shot in Spain (although "Circus World" would be released the same year), this one is also the best by far. For once, Bronston's megalomania met with a story that benefited from it, and the result is a sword and sandal film epic in scope, grandiose in its ambition and magnificently filmed by the late Anthony Mann, who had already worked with Bronston in "El Cid".
Surprisingly, and despite its epic scope, "The Fall of the Roman Empire" is by far the most introspective of Bronston's epics. My guess is that Mann was given here a more free hand than in "El Cid", a great film often jarred by its constant use of crowd scenes. This is specially clear in the film's first segment. Just right after the credits, accompanied by the mournful score by Dimitri Tiomkin, the action of the film is basically confined within the walls of a Roman fortress in Germania, where the main characters, Livius (a wooden Stephen Boyd), Lucilla (Sophia Loren), Marcus Aurelius (Alec Guinnes) and Commodus (Christopher Plummer) stablish their characters and their roles in the plot.
It's probably the strangest beginning to a peplum ever, but it fulfills its purpose very well. Later, however, after the death of Marcus Aurelius, we get to see Rome and Persia, as Rome is endangered by Commodus' ambitions and weak policies and Livius must command his army against the Persian troops.
It is fair to acknowledge that "The Fall of the Roman Empire" never reaches its full potential, as Stephen Boyd is a poor choice for a hero. He is way too wooden, and his bleached blonde hair is simply ridiculous, but Mann and the writers are clever enough to cast him in a role in which his woodenness is not much of a problem. Simply put, he plays the hero of untarnished honour and integrity, as opposed to Commodus misguided intentions. Anyway, as the plot develops the film becomes more choral, which also diminishes whatever damage Boyd's performance could cause.
This film is not big, it's grandiose. And I don't mean that the characters are bigger than life, the sets stunning or the battle scenes epic. It's all that, for sure, but it's also a complete radiography of the last good days of the Roman Empire before it started its long decline. Compared to this, even "Ben-Hur" looks pedestrian and narrow-minded.
And the eye candy... It's just mazing how great this film looks, and how amazing his visuals are. Just take a look, in the first section of the film, at those wonderful outdoors images packed with real snow, specially in one of the film's greates scenes, Marcus Aurelius' funeral, or the dusty, bright images of the battles in Persia, or the breathtakingly lavish Roman palaces.
And although one could argue the ample scope of the film weakens its dramatic intensity, the film still offers plenty of memorable moments in this sense. Maybe my favourite was the opening scene, in which Marcus Aurelius consults his fortune-teller, only to conclude his last days approach, or another scene later where he wanders alone in his room, feeling death in every corner.
"The fall of the Roman Empire" is arguably the last truly great peplum, and even its revamped 90's remake "Gladiator" should kneel in front of him. It's an absolutely must see for peplum and History buffs, and regular cinema goers shouldn't avoid it either, as it surpases in quality far more popular films, such as "Ben-Hur" or "Quo Vadis", even if it doesn't mind stealing some scenes from the earlier one.
See, Livius, not only I got the empire, but also the only snow proof torch in Germania. Eat your heart out!
