The Last Days of Pompeii The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was a real tragedy of the ancient world, already filled with numerous destructive wars and conflicts. As a result, much of the history of that distant era is forever lost to us, and what we know is only a small part of an amazing, tragic and at the same time heroic era. The novel of one of the most famous writers of his time, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, which formed the basis of the script of the film, reads easily and effortlessly, like an exciting fairy tale with all the attributes of the adventure genre (here you and the sorceress with a magical potion, a secret conspiracy and passionate love, boundless courage and treachery). The author describes the world and life of the city, which, by the will of fate, has only a few days left until a thick layer of ashes buried this magnificent city, shows Roman life in miniature. Here you will find a description of the houses and forum in Pompeii, the amphitheater, the Pompeii slums and the lives of the heroes of the arena, the temple of Isis and the way of life of its priest, miniature likenesses of Roman baths and the entertainment of their visitors. Only chance helped us to rediscover this amazing world of Pompeii, which, along with the discovery of the legendary Troy, became a real archaeological sensation.
However, I note that the film does not convey the entire content of the book, many storylines were omitted, some were completely rewritten. For example, according to the plot of the picture, a blind girl Lydia fell in love with one of Glavka’s colleagues, with whom she found her end, although according to the book Bulver-Lytton, like her friend Elena, she loved Glavka himself, and could not transfer her unshared feelings. The main focus of the film is on the confrontation between Romans and Christians, and presents the eruption of Vesuvius as just retribution. In the novel, the main one is still the love line.
Anyone interested in such a topic would be advised to read the detective novel of the modern author Harris Robert (Pompeii), as well as the adventure novel of the outstanding English writer of the XIX century Edward Bulver-Lytton (on which this film is staged). And, of course, few people do not know the famous eponymous picture of the Russian artist Karl Bryullov, who inspired, by the way, Bulver-Lytton to write his novel.
7 out of 10