When our actor says, “I will kill Caesar,” I see that he knows exactly what he’s talking about.
From an interview with the Taviani brothers
The Taviani brothers filmed their 20th film in an Italian prison for especially dangerous criminals, Rebibbia. Their semi-documentary film tells about the production by the director, who devoted his whole life to the development of Shakespeare’s prison performances “Julius Caesar”. All the actors in this play are sentenced to terms ranging from 13 years to life in prison for murder, drug trafficking and belonging to the mafia. We've got some hardened criminals. But how they play! Who would have thought that these tough men can so emotionally, sincerely and deeply convey the feelings of their heroes. The idea to make a movie about them came to the Taviani brothers after they accidentally got into Rebibbia for a production of Dantovsky’s Hell. One of the actors then began to improvise and addressed the audience with the words that they can hardly, like the prisoners, fully feel the poetry of Dante, as they are unfamiliar with neither imprisonment, nor long-term separation from the beloved woman, nor every second oppressive feeling of longing and hopelessness. At the end of the performance, the eminent directors realized that they had received the strongest impression in the last few years, and they should make a film about it.
The same Taviani experienced feeling of encounter with something deeply original and sincere is experienced by the audience of their film. After all, in Shakespeare’s tragedy we are talking about a conspiracy against Caesar of his closest military entourage – people who repeatedly participated in battles, robberies and other harsh realities of ancient Rome. Many of the inmates playing Shakespeare were themselves mafia-affiliated and must be familiar with the clan-based gang fights. Several times during the game we see how the play echoes their own stories, and how conflicts between ancient Roman commanders reveal internal frictions in their prison team. But don't expect the squabbling of discussing how best to stab Caesar or who the best killer is. Before us, people who committed serious crimes in their youth, but during their time in Rebibbia and their annual participation in theatrical productions, they have clearly changed. Looking at them today, it's hard to picture them as real gangsters. One can say (and even if it sounds pathetic and banal!) that the ennobling power of art has done its job for them. In this case, it really is. The performer of the role of Brutus, Salvatore Striano, was released early and became a successful professional actor. Actors who played Caesar and Cassius published autobiographical books.
Reading the materials for the film, I found a note in which a connoisseur of Shakespeare’s work claims that the play in Taviani’s film is the best of the many productions of Caesar that he had seen. For some reason, I willingly believe that. How many modern actors and viewers can feel the bloody twists and turns of fate in the tragedy of the great classic as the former mafiosi? Often we see a high wall that separates both the audience and the performers from what is happening on stage. In reality, our lives are ruled by very different ideas and other problems. Theatre and cinema have largely lost their vitality. It's a national theater, especially a prison theater.
Finally, I want to share my personal experience of watching Caesar. In one of the final scenes of the film, one of the actors, sentenced to life imprisonment, returning to his cell after the premiere, utters an improvised phrase: “Since I discovered art, my cell has become a real prison.” To be honest, I was impressed by his words. In part, when I am free, I feel the same as the author of these words. My prison is routine work, daily petty household chores and chores. And every time you open a new book or watch a good movie, you feel a lot slipping away, passing by, and perhaps never opening your eyes. From this you want to escape from the gray ordinary, trying to escape from the walls of philistine existence. A good movie is one of the windows to do that.
After filming was over, one of the actors fervently told the directors, “Paolo, Victoria, now nothing will be the same for us.” As I mentioned above, this is what happened to some. And if there is still the magic of art that changes something in the inner world of people, then the film of the Taviani brothers is just such a rare case in modern cinema.
After watching the Taviani Brothers film, I was infinitely fascinated by the storytelling I had to see when I saw the film. I was really excited about this movie because I saw more than I expected.
The plot of "Caesar Must Die" is that the camera captures a grand experiment on the production of the play by director Fabio Cavalli with prisoners, many of whom are serving life sentences. The universal language of Shakespeare helps new actors to understand their roles, to rediscover friendship and betrayal, power, deception and violence - first in the play, and then in their lives.
In the film, it is impossible not to pay attention to the fact that they had tragedies in their lives like Shakespeare. And when they played, they knew how to play to demonstrate, because they'd met someone like that in life. The timing doesn't matter, because Shakespeare wrote about eternal values. Thanks to Fabio Cavalli telling them to speak their own dialects so that they would try not to be like Shakespeare’s characters, but to be themselves, and how we see what the characters of Julius Caesar and the prisoners in prison have in common. But it is important that not only prisoners, but all of us, because the characters of Shakespeare are eternal, in the sense that they do things that any of us can face.
The film deserves the award because it reflects deep human nature. At the end of the film, we see how one of the prisoners became a real prison. The world used to live in four walls, but after he discovered art, it became difficult for him to be in this “stone cube” inside. They opened up to themselves and others.
We are first shown the play, and the audience does not really understand what and how, but then they return us to 6 months ago and we see the formation of “Julius Caesar”. By the end of the film, he understands better what preceded him and sees the result. All the actors-cons played and gave very much being unprofessional actors, but experienced something similar in their lives.
The film cannot be ignored positively. Because he talks about serious universal and timeless ideas and themes. The end also illustrates how people change by discovering something new that they didn’t notice before.
So it's a very interesting movie. Certainly not for everyone. But it is worth watching if you want, as the film is worth watching very carefully while watching, looking at every movement of the faces of the main characters.
I don't think it's important in this film that it's about educational projects to ennoble criminals or that "they're people too." I don’t think there’s any “depth” or “idea” of its own besides Shakespeare’s. Even the absolute, inescapable allusion to Shakespeare and all the relevant Roman history is more or less secondary. In fact, this is why there is nothing more to say about it than this in the description: “Prisoners play Shakespeare’s play.” The main thing in it is the style that crushes the whole plot.
The film is so reserved that it does not allow itself emotions. It is no coincidence that all conflicts are introduced into the plot of the play itself, all steps and emotions are inscribed in the canons of theatrical gestures, how witty and skillfully Shakespeare’s play is written into the prison play. The film is almost devoid of sentimental humanistic tantrums. It is a pure theatrical act, using with despotic confidence even such seemingly inappropriate material as actors from prisoners. The eternal plot (and after all, we deify both Shakespeare and the ancient Roman stories in general - "The Eternal City") despotically and unperturbed goes through its random prison incarnations.
Therefore, prisoners do not just boil their own experiences in the tact of Shakespeare’s drama (as one might infer from the description of the film): on the contrary, only thanks to it, these experiences crashed into their own being with a pathetic enough not to be ordinary “chamber” prison storms. Strict black color emphasizes this “stable style”. The ending - the cutting - of the plot, together with the end of the play itself - is the penultimate confirmation of this. The last is the final tirade: “Since I learned art, prison has really become a prison for me.” The finale of Shakespeare's play (Bruth's suicide) puts an end to the "life" of the prisoners (that which can be called life). Biographical reports about actors (most of whom did not mark their post-stage existence with any change) are like an obituary. This is due to the fact that the actors were only spectators of their own play, that is, how the plot played itself with their help.
The film does not have its own “depth” or “penetration”. Nevertheless, its stylistic clarity, restraint and restraint, just as elegant, albeit unobtrusive, composition should not disappoint either Shakespearean gourmets or aesthetes, who like the idea that art is stronger than the prison.
7 out of 10
“Caesar Must Die” is not a film, it is art. There are no expensive sets, actors are not professionals, and Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar is rarely taken by theaters today. But this is a real movie. And this is the real theater.
About the production. I love William Shakespeare and Julius Caesar is one of my favorites. I guess that was the impetus for watching the movie, but I never thought that I would see a better production of this tragedy.
I must say that I am quite strict about the film adaptation or theatrical production of the work. For me, everything is important: the appearance of the actor (forty-year-old woman, for example, is not suitable for the role of young Natasha Rostova), and his lines, and even his thoughts. However, in Caesar Must Die, one of these canons was broken. Neither Caesar, nor Brutus, nor Cassius, nor Antony are at all like the valiant Roman citizens of the last days of Julius Caesar’s dictatorship. But they don’t need it: yes, they don’t wear Roman togas, but they are clothed in their talent. And as I watched that movie, I realized it was more important. I looked at the prisoners in an Italian prison and saw them as heroes of Roman history. Salvatore Striano was the best Mark Brutus for me, Giovanni Arcuri was Caesar, Cosimo Riga was Cassius and Antonio Frasca was Antony. It was a real reincarnation. The power of their talent turned the prison courtyard into a Roman forum, the wooden daggers in their hands became steel, and the blood on Caesar's toga was real. It's very difficult to describe in words. It was really a theater.
It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re wearing, but if you’re talented, everything around you will change. Therefore, I can say with confidence that the Taviani brothers did not lose their choice of actors. These people would overshadow any Hollywood star with their sincerity, their experiences and their ability to feel the character so accurately. I think Shakespeare would have liked it.
It’s hard to describe how powerful this production is, it seems to have become an independent part of the film, and it deserves such a huge attention (at least mine). However, it is necessary to say a few words about the picture itself . Julius Caesar, the rehearsals of the play, its staging and triumph, are only a screen for one of the main human questions. We have created art, but it can also create man. It takes us beyond the limits of reality, it educates our soul, and whether we look at the stage or read a book, we are purified. And when you're sitting in the four walls, you're only seeing the sun at certain hours, when you're not sleeping at night and you're looking at the ceiling, you might be in another world. You can try on another role. Prisoners (real prisoners, actors not invited to the Italian prison) look at themselves from the outside: they remember their sins, dream of a better life. They feel free, not because they have been released from their cells, but because they have finally understood what it means to be unfree. You know everything by comparison, right? You may be physically constrained, you may be in prison for ten or fifteen years, but you know this prison only when you know the power of freedom. This power is expressed in art. I think it is really right that prisoners are given the opportunity to show their talent, to move away from their previous lives. Just how hard it is to go back to the camera and wait for the next production.
Thank you to the Taviani brothers for Shakespeare, thank you for the stories of these people. Bravo.
In my view, prison is something gray and boring.
with daily repetitive actions. It would seem that the film fully reflects the definition I introduced, but there is one “but” that is not to call art boring, and in this film it probably plays a major role. It fills the whole space, blurs the boundaries and boundaries so thoroughly that throughout the film you don’t feel the prison itself. In the atmosphere there is freedom, liberation, inspiration. There is a feeling of another reality, inaccessible to the ordinary person.
An interesting coincidence is that inmates play criminals, essentially who they are. However, the form in which the crime is presented is so decorating that it does not allow me to see all the cruelty of the crime, and therefore erases the very fact of the crime.
I never thought prisoners could play like that. This fact was a pleasant discovery for me. I would call this acting presentation one of the best (perhaps the best) in recent times.
The end of the film is the moment in which I found the missing hue, a detail from my definition mentioned at the beginning of the review: "boring." This word is enough to cut it all off and end the film, because there is no point in continuing and so everything is clear.
If you draw a line under all the above, then I can safely say that the film deserves the attention of people who love cinema. In my opinion, the film falls into the category of “amateur” and therefore acquires value in my eyes. I can’t say I’m crazy excited because I lacked some kind of disclosure, or maybe I didn’t see the hidden message. Heroes play roles, but what are they really? Is it possible that the roles of prisoners are their prototypes? Does the identity of the offender not matter?
9 out of 10
I came across this movie by accident. I watched the film-journey Posner in Italy, became interested in the fate of the former member of the Camorra from Naples and decided to watch one of the films with his participation. And here you also have ancient history, and Shakespeare, and passions, and theater.
Sometimes, when the author of any work (not necessarily cinematic) is taken in one text to link together several genres, styles and techniques, it turns out a wild vinaigrette. About the latest of the existing films Taviani brothers this can not be said. Here everything is ordered, verified, put with taste. But at the same time, this orderliness does not prevent one genre from penetrating another (for example, documentary is included in feature films and vice versa). The frames here are tangible, visible, but at the same time and permeable.
There is some genuine charm in the fact that for Shakespeare, for “Julius Caesar” are not professional actors (excluding Striano, who by this time has already served his time and even successfully began to act in films) and the real bandits convicted of all kinds of crimes for severe terms – from 15 years to life. There is no falsehood in the roles they perform - they do not show off, do not overplay - they live these roles, finding in the fate of their characters exactly what they went through themselves. This is most evident in the case of Striano, who happened to play Brutus. You can see how it breaks, burns, hurts this difficult role.
It is quite strange, but only now, after watching this picture, did I think for the first time not about the tragedy of Caesar, but about the tragedy of his murderers. Among them were truly worthy people, people who decided to take this step not because of pathetic and vicious vanity. They really thought they couldn't do otherwise. Maybe you really can't. And not just in the case of Caesar.
I really liked the scenery and costumes. At first glance, it is only prison walls and prison worn clothes, but at the time of rehearsals, both gray prison walls and gloomy clothes flash pulsating colors. They become the arena of historical actions, real togas, robes and other decorations. This moment of transition from an ordinary prison to ancient Rome without changing the scenery is impressive.
How impressive is another technique used by the Taviani brothers. The tape begins with the final, and then the viewer is shown in detail the process of preparing the general performance. During this process, the actors rehearse, BUT (!) and at the same time already play their roles in the play, which will end with a repetition of the already seen finale. Only now, thanks to the acquaintance with the inner kitchen of this prison play, the finale will be perceived brighter, more emotionally.
It is amazing how prisoners, not actors, bring their life and experience in prison to Shakespeare’s production, but even more striking how Shakespeare enters them, how theater (and more broadly art) enters them and changes them once and for all: “Since I discovered art, this cell has really become a prison.”
8 out of 10
Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar." On the small stage of the theater, the last scene of a great tragedy is played out. Tormented Brutus asks his faithful comrades to end his earthly torments, but none of them is willing or able to do so – their affection for a friend is too great. Until, at last, one of them, through pain and tears, sews through Brutus’ body with a sword and he falls dead. A small pause - and the hall explodes with standing ovations, the actors bow together, the performance was successful, a genuine delight is written on the faces of the actors. But here, the audience disperse, and instead of cozy dressing rooms, just shone on the stage people, bred in solitary cells. They are prisoners of the Italian prison for the most dangerous criminals, and with the end of the play, one of the most exciting stages of life ends for them.
Showing the opening scene of his film "Caesar Must Die" in color, the Italians Taviani Brothers, abruptly switch to black and white tones. There is a flashback – and now, we see how 6 months before the events of the opening scene, sullen, tall men are transformed into inspired actors. Prison director Fabio Cavalli, in the new year, decides to stage Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." And, as the theater is being renovated, the new actors begin to rehearse wherever possible – in the dining room, corridors and even the prison courtyard. “Caesar Must Die” is essentially a documentary that carries a message similar to Burgess’s “Clockwork Orange.” We are all human, and none of us is alien to the sense of beauty. Not yesterday, but quite today, real convicts, sitting on terms from 15 to life, find in Shakespeare a source not only for leisure, but also material for identifying themselves with the heroes of the play. Looking at these people, it is hard to believe that most of them are actually serving sentences for cruel and serious crimes. Each of the heroes, the Taviani brothers show first from their marginal, and then from the spiritualized, in something sublime, side. And looking at how these people, for a little more than an hour, pass through themselves the emotions and words that came from the pen of one of the greatest playwrights, it is difficult not to feel the power of high art. Real, genuine, something that inspires and improves anyone, whoever they are and who they will be.
Most of the main characters are sentenced to life imprisonment, but even such people find themselves engaged in theatrical production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Thanks to the new program, prisoners can learn the basics of art and feel themselves part of our vast world. Learning the texts of the literary classic, criminals begin to be completely imbued with the events of that era and even try to draw parallels with modern reality. At rehearsals, the new actors go even deeper into the images of their characters and try to hone their lyrics in any convenient place, even if it will be regarded by the neighbors on the camera as complete nonsense. Many people involved will even have to step over their past unpleasant memories in order not to let others down and successfully perform on the stage. This will be one of the few chances to show that they are capable of anything more than murder or drug trafficking.
An unusual idea, which is more suitable for the term "experiment", famous Italian directors Taviani brothers, succeeded in fame. I don’t know how they came up with such an unusual idea and film it on their cameras, but I can only praise for the resourcefulness and quality of the film. Caesar Must Die may be a slightly clumsy and monotonous film, but because of its specificity and unusualness, it is also very sincere, soulful and bright. Although, the last point is more related to the main idea, since for a good amount of time the picture is predominantly black and white. By itself, the plot idea and its execution are good, but even more attention is drawn to the fact that all the actors involved are real prisoners serving their terms in real Italian prisons. In fact, this is not a staged film, but an almost documentary about how even in the darkest and most inaccessible places people can free themselves from reality.
The language of one of the most famous authors in the world is so universal that even not very educated convicts headlong into their roles as Roman conspirators, according to the plot of the play killing the arrogant Caesar. In the process, they still manage to compare the tragedies of that time with the current situation and even try to look for parallels with their own lives. One of the characters said, “It feels like this Shakespeare lived in my city.” I remember the statement of the performer of one of the main roles that in school it all seemed boring and boring nonsense, and now it is the source of his delightful inspiration. For most of the participants of such an atypical project, this is not only an opportunity to feel part of this bright world, but also a chance to find yourself in some new sphere. And apparently, they succeeded, as every performer of the role of a cunning ruler or a fearless warrior, enjoyed every minute spent on the stage.
What was also surprising was the short duration, just over one hour. And what is even more surprising is that this time is absolutely not felt when watching. That is, there is no sense of transience and understatement. Everything the Taviani brothers wanted to tell and show, they managed, but the timekeeping seems almost twice as long. In summary, Caesar Must Die is a painfully realistic film about human relationships achieved through the study of a classical literary work. A very unusual and powerful movie, memorable for a long time due to its non-standard basis and sincere characters. What you see leaves a warming hope that any person is not alien to art and the subsequent realization of his own wrongness.
This film is definitely very interesting. Emerging interest is more connected not with its artistic merits, but with the social role. It's a very bold idea to set up a film in prison. And make all the prisoners actors.
Moreover, the filmmakers immediately “insured” by including in the script the preparation of theatrical performance. It was always possible to smooth out acting mistakes on a planned concept of the picture, which initially assumed acting failures during rehearsals.
The prison entourage was just perfect for the play about Caesar. Who knows, maybe the story of Caesar, who is betrayed, is not just in the center of the story. Too many powerful people have been imprisoned in Italy in recent years.
However, I have little interest in thinking about what the Taviani brothers wanted to show and hinted at. They took a chance and the painting succeeded. You can take her to the festival and get a prize. You can drive to prisons all over the world. But is it interesting to watch?
Hardly for me. I am sure that now the aesthetes will laugh, but a few scenes from the play in the zone, staged by Evgeny Serov in the TV series “The Fighter”, look much more spectacular. You understand my preferences.
But preferences are preferences, and Taviani’s painting deserves attention anyway. I am sure that this direction in cinema will continue.
To begin with, this picture is not intended for a wide audience. The film is designed for the viewer of a patient and reasonable, versed in art, and, due to many uncertainties in the film, quite naive. One who would take everything presented by the directors at face value, but at the same time considered both tails and eagles in it. Apparently, this is what the jury of the Berlin Film Festival turned out to be, since the Taviani brothers received the Golden Bear for a black and white canvas, unkempt faces of jailers, a script borrowed from Shakespeare and a budget of 5 kopecks.
At one time, the Berlin Collegium surprised many with its choice. From a colorful range of promising applicants, she chose a nondescript “Caesar”, which is difficult to call a “cinema”. Maybe that’s what his genius is all about? Shakespeare said that the best word is simply said. The film may not be as simple as it seems at first sight. Let's try to understand it from the second:
Coloristics. The only color shots in the film are only a few minutes of the stage episode, the rest of the footage has to be contemplated in black and white. In the age of high film technology and crazy competition in the field of their application, the more successful the creator is, the more he is ahead of competitors in the race for picture quality. To give up not only special effects, but color in general, is to have a higher goal than to get more box office.
On the one hand, Taviani has always admired his dedication to the arts and his independence from crowd opinion. Paolo and Vittorio must be the last classics of the Italian cinema that the world admired in the 20th century. And they still cling to the old image of the director: grayish, educated and intelligent. It is clear that this approach is harmonious for them. However, on the other hand... we, the audience, are too weaned from the black and white frame and perceive it as a backward technology, something old-fashioned (and after all, such shooting surpasses color in mimic-emotional transmission).
Tricks to work with the image. In addition to color, the Tavian "Caesar" uses a whole bunch of camera techniques: "close angles" , creating a sense of amateur (even in something home) shooting; "i> ragged episodes, which hints at the absence of editing intervention; and the reception image destabilization - just the same time it brings the footage to the chronicles as close as possible." Taviani filmed real convicts in the real-life Roman prison "Rebibia" and made a big bet on the realism and "vitality" of his film. Therefore, they try to do everything that would make it easier for the viewer to believe in them. But, I am afraid, a little overdone, bringing the tape to the point where it begins to raise the opposite questions: if everything is really so true, why try so hard to convince the audience of the truth?
It was this aspect of the film that caused me the most disappointment. Not every viewer can appreciate such a complex technical work.
Pseudo-prisoners or pseudo-actors? The situation is the same with them - since we are talking about prisoners, we will also shoot real convicts. However, people caught in the frame, ordinary and random can not be called. It is worth understanding that five people who got into the cinema were selected from thousands of prisoners, which suggests that on the screen we see clearly not the first people caught in the corridor. It is impossible not to notice a real, genuine acting talent, quite pure in its form. They are put in difficult working conditions: no costumes, no props, no scenery, no lighting, no millions of fees are offered to them. But in their Caesar, Brutus, Lucio, Cassius and others believe, even if they are in jeans and prison jackets.
However, I did not like the complete absence of logical transitions between the roles of Romans and prisoners. They make their prison fights in the same manner as the Roman senators, and the monologue of the convict sounds like a speech of a Roman orator. Thus, it is difficult to know where the conversation of the Romans ends and the conversation of the noble boys begins. Even if it was intended by the authors as a demonstration of how close to the heart criminals take their roles, the viewer can get confused.
Ideology - that's why this film is worth watching, that's why it deserves awards. It would seem that there is nothing new either in the re-education of criminals, or in the fact that prison becomes a scene. Shakespeare said that the whole world is a theater. But something catches in this film: some kind of humanism, some kind of faith in man. With the help of an opposing plot - the contact of the lower classes of society with high art - we see how in their cells the prisoners begin to distribute the actors of the tragedy on "their own and not their own boys", argue on the concepts of whether Brutus acted and compare the heroes with themselves. Criminals who received the role of criminals now have the opportunity to look at themselves from the outside, to reconsider their views on life. The theater made them feel the freedom they lack.
Script adaptation. At first it seemed that to film Shakespeare in this way - somehow unethical and even vulgar. But Shakespeare’s script is so dissolving in Rebibia that the cemented walk-ground has become Roman Square, and the prisoners watching through the bars at the rehearsal have become a crowd of Roman people. Actually, it's very exciting! And in the end you realize that it was not Shakespeare who was lowered to the level of convicts, but the convicts who rose to Him.
My conclusions. The Taviani brothers in a single directorial figure tried to sit down on two chairs at once: the chairs of a cinematographic and theater director. From the hunt for two hares, Taviani returned with game, namely the Golden Bear. But, unfortunately, such prey served only as spiritual food and a reason for pride. This picture remained in the shadows, despite the success in Berlin, and got fans only among some connoisseurs of cinema, which I can not include myself. I certainly liked Taviani’s philosophy, but in its incarnation on screen, I lacked the attention to the modern audience and respect for today’s canons of cinema.
Continuing to talk about films that restore the connection of times, we turn to the work of the brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, recognized Italian filmmakers. Fans of L. N. Tolstoy Taviani this time turned to the tragedy of Shakespeare. Despite the fact that in the center of the image are prisoners of prison, the filmmakers managed to get them to speak the language of Shakespeare for real. Of course, the film can scare off its long art-house middle, but the beginning of the film is bright, and the ending is such that you can talk about it separately. The last words in the film raise the theme of the transformative power of art, only for them you can watch this film to the end.
How many times have we told the world about the value of personal freedom? But man is a stupid, stubborn animal, and with donkey persistence continues to run around the field with rakes and stuff cones on his own. A lot has been said about the unlucky adepts of this sport, who have come into conflict with the law. Books and films about hard or not very prison life, about ruined fates and pursuits of happiness, successful and unsuccessful escapes and forgotten taste of freedom, there are countless, but the Taviani brothers present their own vision of the famous drama about the checkered sky.
One day, a new man appeared in a psychiatric hospital. This stranger easily trampled on the laws that previously seemed unshakable, gave the chronicles a fresh wind, a boundless sea blue and a sense of flight, reminding them of their own aspirations and dreams, almost invisible through once and for all diagnoses and the veil of medicinal delirium. He just could not otherwise, the spray of this fountain of desire to live flew far to the sides, forcing even those who, it would seem, are completely incapable of it. The ending of that story was tragic, but it is not without reason that fate likes to repeat its scripts, but does not like to repeat itself.
In "Caesar Must Die," McMurphy's place was taken by a director who came to the maximum-security prison "Rebibia" to stage a Shakespearean play there. But the focus is not him, but those very chronicles - prisoners convicted of especially serious crimes, acting in an unusual role of actors. They are astonished to discover the world of theatre, the world of poignant words and precise metaphors that describe such familiar yet new images. The destinies of invented imperfect characters and really existing imperfect people are intertwined so closely that it seems that the characters of this play in the play themselves hardly feel the difference between the present, lived in the framework of the production and in reality, but this contrast with their past is felt especially acutely. However, to plunge into someone, not your own life, albeit for a while, is not so easy. There is too little space in the cave of the soul, especially if a dragon has long settled there, stopping any attempts to go beyond the narrow, but in its own way cozy world. Of course, a drug dealer, a murderer or a mafia is unlikely to think in such categories, and it is not necessary. They just feel like something is in the way. Having truly lived, having missed someone else’s drama, each of them involuntarily kills his animal lizard, but his death agony cannot but affect the worldview of the owner. It is then that the eyes open and the eye falls on the gray walls, on the bars on the windows, on the blue sky, to which for the first time in my life I wanted to reach. And there is a bitter sigh of understanding – the momentary freedom in self-expression on the stage, this suddenly colored world, is lost forever.
But Julius Caesar is not just about politics or betrayal. This is a story about the confrontation of individuals who can lead the people. The crowd is faceless, it with equal readiness and fervor approves and condemns the new leader, harboring illusions about the independence of their own choice. The world is ruled by individuals, and this simple idea of a virus penetrates into the subconscious of the performers of the main roles in the play. They are prisoners convicted by the court, and therefore by society, forever rejected. However, even in such circumstances, they are always faced with a choice that they had not thought about before, expressed in the words of another Shakespearean hero, where "to be" and "not to be" means not just biological existence, but awareness of themselves as a person. This path is thorny, but there are always brave people who are not afraid to step on it. The names of the brave men of Rebibia Prison will be credited. Those who managed not only to defeat the inner dragon, but to declare it to the world, defending the right to their own existence.
Skillfully mixing the genres of documentary and feature films, deftly juggling the bright contrasts of the actors’ temperamental speeches and halftones of their emotions outside the space of improvised theater, the rhythmic sounds of the music of prison life and the silence of everyone’s emotional experiences, the Taviani brothers give the viewer the opportunity to embrace the immense. The simultaneous presence of external and internal emotions, social and intimate, helps to look behind the scenes, while remaining in the auditorium, to separate the really important from the allotted, to understand the reason why these rebels, locked in four walls, so desperately ask for the storm. They're just looking for peace. Peace is not a way of detachment, but as an opportunity to look at oneself and see the right holder, who is already strong enough not to decide the fate of trembling creatures. The one who found tiny wings in the far corner of the cave. Don't let him fly on them. But at least he will.
Almost a documentary story about how real prisoners stage a Shakespearean play in prison.
The two ladies who were sitting behind me in the cinema could not tell me what motivated them to choose this movie. It should be noted that of the seven spectators at the session, only I was male. Perhaps, when choosing the audience was guided solely by intuition. And she didn't let them down. Such a concentrated presence on the screen of real men, I confess, have not seen for a long time.
What's more, I've developed a strong belief that all the real men you can't find in Italian cinema today are in prison there. And if Italian directors are seriously concerned about bringing the national cinema out of the crisis, then after this film they simply have to walk through the doorsteps of the Rebibbia prison. Local convicts will close all the gaps that were formed as a result of the permanent gay evolution that occurred in recent decades in Italian cinema and led to an obvious shortage of the male element.
The Taviani brothers, who have already exchanged their ninth decade, were inspired by Fabio Cavalli’s “Hell”, staged in a maximum security prison with prisoners serving sentences of varying lengths, up to life. They suggested that Cavalli put “Julius Caesar”, for the creation of which they decided to observe. As a result, the play and the film acquired a clear therapeutic value, as they helped the convicts to find a sense of existence. Such interest, involvement and dedication in the cinema, especially today, you will not meet often.
The film unwittingly calls into question the entire system of acting as a profession. Against the background of these Italian convicts, absolutely adequate to the scale of Shakespeare’s tragedy, flimsy young men who come to this profession and flood the media space with “faces with unclear expressions” look at best fake imitators who have learned to depict a dozen template emotions.
And everything true, everything real, is concentrated elsewhere, apparently in the prison "Rebibbia", as this film convinces. Moreover, as soon as Taviani takes their characters outside the play and begin to play with them in the movies, they immediately begin to replay. Acting without inner living, which, apparently, Cavalli managed to pull out of them as a result of multi-day rehearsals, in itself is not worth much.
But this does not detract from the merits of the Taviani brothers, since their film unwittingly drew attention to the imperfection of the world: while long-established cultural forms deteriorate and lose their former importance, great and real art finds new niches in order to manifest itself.
In 1994, Louis Malle saved from oblivion the performance of Andre Gregory “Vanya” (guess what Chekhov’s play), whose premiere on the stage never took place. Bringing his cinematic vision to the already created stage action, Mal presented the film Vanya from 42nd Street - a kind of experiment that pushes the boundaries of cinema. In 1998, Lars von Trier staged the scandalous “Idiots”, where he proposed an extreme form of therapy: the characters pretended to be mentally ill, thereby getting rid of the restrictive framework imposed by society.
The film Caesar Must Die in a sense synthesizes this search, suggesting that in the conditions of an overlimited existence, the possibility of comprehending the scale of Shakespeare’s passions increases. And where Mal experimented to save a good performance, Taviani "calls for mercy to the fallen" - saving once stumbled people and giving them a chance to change their lives.
As a result, some of the convicts involved in this project were released early, someone began to engage in creativity, and playing Bruta Salvatore Striano generally began to make a serious career in film. So the wise Taviani brothers, in a sense, crossed the boundaries of art here, becoming peacemakers and mediators between the two forms of existence, freedom and non-freedom.
In Russia, they are still solving their utilitarian tasks and prefer to use the services of Fabio Capello, not Fabio Cavalli.
Rome is a maximum security prison. Convicted drug dealers and members of organized criminal groups are each sentenced to long prison terms. On endless nights, their gaze is stared into a gray ceiling, loneliness in a confined space, the noisy streets of the Eternal City are very close, but metal doors and the endless sound of locking bolts are even closer. Time moves differently here. But everyone got a chance to show themselves from the other side. And for them, this is not just a play of Shakespeare, it is something more, an opportunity to have time to abandon the shackles, and live a new life of their heroes. The squalid chambers turn into the nooks of Roman palaces, the walking room becomes the Senate. And the whole prison is covered with the atmosphere of the Roman Republic. And now you are no longer a prisoner, but Marcus Junius Brutus, ready to decide to kill his colleague and friend. Intrigues and conspiracies, repentance and reckoning surrounded by walls. From camera to camera, through corridors and ventilation, Shakespeare’s quotes echo. Curtain... Applause... Probably the strongest moment in this picture. A return to reality and a gray ceiling again. And outside the walls are no longer conspirators.
The film is about those reserves that are in each, an incredible effort of will and desire in the absence of any coercion. The passion played out by the heroes came primarily from their hearts.
Unusual, but boring, deep, social, but humanly wrong.
An unusual documentary film of the original concept. It tells about a fairly famous prison theater in the Roman prison Rebibbia maximum security. The film is sketches based on the real casting of actors-criminals and woven from rehearsals for the production of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Not only are all actors real criminals, in fact serving in prison (from 14 years to life) and the film is interested in this one, but also from rehearsals as a result, a full-fledged production of Shakespeare’s play is formed, which is undoubtedly useful for general development. Also interesting is the idea of discoloring the rehearsal part in order to separate the production from real life.
However, behind all this originality and documentary realism lies a rather boring and monotonous action, which constantly drives to sleep.
The main idea that convicts are also people, and perhaps previously undisclosed talented actors, was thrown into my head by the fact that in our tolerant time, we are ready to applaud murderers and drug dealers who have taken the right path, completely forgetting that they are behind bars not just and perhaps their victims would also not mind being theater stars and not having a dirty past.
In the movie "Caesar Must Die," there's very little art. The only technique used by the director is to play with color. Moreover, it can be argued that the picture sought to make as close to reality as possible, but why even introduce this technique, when the whole life of prisoners, except the moment of presentation, is shown in black and white.
I want to point out that this is what causes me the most rejection. Well, one cannot call a person’s whole life, before and after imprisonment, black and white boredom, and give reality and colorfulness only to this super-stage. It smells like the egocentrism of the director, who assigns too much of a role to his participation in the lives of convicts with whom he was brought by the incident. I would still understand if at the moments of the prisoners’ story about their lives before prison, colors appeared and thus only prison life would be gray, but so it is.
As for the play, which occupies a central place in the film (although in my opinion it would be more interesting to pay more attention to the personalities of prisoners, their fate), it is depicted very sluggishly. Reading and reading on paper would be more exciting.
The idea is clear – every convict must reveal his role, through which we must understand his soul. But whether the director is weak, or the convicts are still criminals, and not the geniuses of the acting game, but I did not see anything and did not understand anything (those who will attribute this to my problems with vision and perception, please refrain, as I write honestly, and do not try to praise the film critics appreciated).
Resume. There are criminals in prison, although there are exceptions. But the characters shown to us in the film clearly do not deny their guilt. So why should we embrace their lives, which have a roof over their heads, food, and entertainment in the form of a Shakespeare production? For me personally, this whole concept caused a lot of negativity. Especially at the end, when we were told heartfeltly that some convicts had also published books about their lives. Everything turned upside down in our fake world. This movie is a clear indicator of that.
We have all heard that a person who is passionate about this or that kind of art does it, not because it is his work, but it is his life. Art can really open our eyes to our existence and help us understand internal conflicts. Often, art invades not just life, but even the soul of a person, thereby provoking him to unusual deeds. A similar situation happened with the characters of the unusual semi-documentary film “Caesar must die”
Plot
The administration of one of the Italian prisons decides to stage one of the plays of William Shakespeare “Julius Caesar”, the role in which will be performed by prisoners of this prison. Reluctantly, several people agree to participate in the production. However, they could not expect that they would become one with their roles.
Director
Of course, I can safely say that the Taviani brothers made a very unusual movie. The very realization that real prisoners take part in the film and in some places in the film is not acting, but real life can confuse you. As you know, the characters must perform roles in the play based on the play “Julius Caesar”, but for this they diligently rehearse, gradually not just getting used to the role, but turning into their heroes. I want to say how amazing it is to see a hero who is connected to art change his priorities in life.
Scenario
As mentioned earlier, the main idea of the film is the influence of art on the lives of ordinary people. Someone can be receptive, and someone does not pay any attention to what is happening. In the film Caesar Must Die, prisoners agree to take part in the production of the play for various reasons: someone wants to become popular in this way, and someone wants to diversify their monotonous life. However, the game in the play turns into a real life for them, which will end as soon as the curtain drops.
Result
Without a doubt, Caesar Must Die is an unusual painting, but the art house is an art house. The picture, of course, makes you think about many questions, including the problem of what a person can lose by committing a bad deed. I highly recommend the film to watch, I hope you will not regret it.
10 out of 10
A few years ago, Euronews’ Learning World featured a delightful report on education in prisons and, broadly speaking, the hope that knowledge and the arts bring to people who are marginalized. Among the plots of this program was the story of a drama circle in an Italian prison, where every year prisoners under the direction of theater director Armando Punzo stage a new performance. In comparison with the Russian penitentiary system, which will create a complete nothingness out of any decent person, the artistic amateurism of Italian convicts seems to be the pinnacle of humanism. It seems that Rome still believes that a criminal can be corrected by appealing to his immortal soul. Believe this and the Taviani brothers, who received in 2012 the “Golden bear” of the Berlin film festival for a similar semi-documentary film “Caesar must die”.
For filming, they are sent to the maximum security prison “Rebibia”, where prisoners, drug dealers, murderers, mafiosi, must prepare for the stage of “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare within six months. From the play itself in the film, only the final excerpt remains, when the curtain falls and the actors are escorted to the cameras. Caesar Must Die is dedicated to endless rehearsals unfolding in every conceivable corner of the prison. Thus, the Shakespearean play acquires a completely new sound. We are no longer the scenery of ancient Rome, but the Roman prison, not actors who “reincarnate” as criminals and victims, but those who relive greatness, power and betrayal.
Cinema inexorably slips into postmodern games with the viewer demanding more and more authenticity of what is happening. The framework of documentary and feature film is blurring, forming a new continuum of halftones and mysteries. There are fewer and fewer opportunities to complain that this does not happen and this is another fairy tale played out on the screen, and, consequently, the acuity of sensations from viewing increases. Reality as such is not so artistic, and it in turn needs the hand of a master who will correct it with skillful strokes. So the Taviani brothers don't film all the rehearsals as they are. The actors, of course, the real criminals, but they can play their most successful take in front of the camera, and the operator put the camera so that the inner courtyard of Rebia will look more majestic than the Roman forum.
“Caesar Must Die” is a kind of conceptual production of Shakespeare’s play, designed to help illuminate not only the problems of ancient Roman history, but also the problems of modern Italy. For example, the amazing organicity with which the convicts live the roles of Cassius, Brutus, Decius and Caesar casts a shadow on the sad reputation of Italy as a country bound in mafia clutches. You can look at the film as a reflection on the nature of democracy and the choice between public good and internal ethics. Not alien to “Caesar” and the interpretation of the healing role of art for twisted souls. For the characters of the film, the production turns out to be a real breath of freedom, which cruelly reflects their current situation - from fourteen years to life imprisonment. They open the vastness of the spirit, the endless way up, but perhaps physically they will never get out of the bottom. Freedom, is it inside or outside?
The Taviani brothers, receiving the prize of the Berlin Film Festival, did not fail to remind that even a prisoner remains a person. It is time for them to tour the Russian colonies with their film. When fifteen-year-olds behind bars let water through their veins to stay in hospital for a week, escaping the horrors of prison, what kind of humanism can we talk about?
As practice shows, in the modern world there is still the concept of “magic of cinema”. It is almost impossible to describe it in words, but it still lives in the heart of the cramped viewer. It is not about charm or any particular concept, but about a spiritual charge that is transmitted on an energetic level. This is the main idea of the painting by the Taviani brothers – “Caesar must die.”
In essence, this tape is an extraordinary and very worthy experiment. In the film are not professional actors, and the real criminals who after filming go not to a luxurious mansion, and straight back to the camera. In fact, quite “original casting” laid the main essence of the film, and Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” became fertile ground for the plot. It would seem that then, what is the merit of the Taviani brothers, if the cinema was built almost independently, albeit with the right filing? The answer is simple: working with actors. Due to the fact that real criminals are filmed in the film, without any knowledge and experience in cinema, it is very difficult to get them to create. In order to do this, they must feel their own image, experience all earthly feelings again, and become one step higher in their daily situation. I think it’s no secret that only the most powerful and cruel authorities survive in prisons, who, by their status, cannot express any emotions or feelings (except aggression). Here, we are shown how people who are dangerous to society, remove the shackles of their prison image and transfer inner experiences into the immortal work of Shakespeare. It is worth noting that the play “Julius Caesar” was chosen for a reason, because it combines almost all human qualities and characters of the characters. Moreover, it is not so easy to adapt to the modern viewer. The task was set very, very difficult, but strangely enough, it was completed with a grand scale. The production of the play turned out to be really lively and extraordinary. If a person does not know that prisoners are filmed in the picture (although this has been mentioned more than once), then he can easily count that there are real masters of their craft on the stage.
“Caesar Must Die” is not for everyone. First of all, it can be easily recommended to all lovers of Shakespeare, because before us, not an adaptation of his work (like Romeo + Juliet), but a full-fledged classical production, albeit with a double meaning. But fans of Hollywood "conveyor" business, the picture may seem boring and absolutely not interesting. However, the experiment of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani should be considered a success. Incredibly high-quality work and an extraordinary approach have done their job. Contemporary criminals have proven themselves to be incredibly talented actors... and their lives could have been very different. Everyone has their own path in this world and their name is destiny.
10 out of 10
On the prison stage plays "Julius Caesar" - the immortal work of Shakespeare. Although the roles of the tragedy are divided between non-professional actors and criminals, this does not prevent them not only to understand the language of the writer, but to truly feel it and convey their feelings to the audience.
“Caesar must die” will seem too boring to an unprepared viewer: the monotonous action is only sometimes diluted with the “unusual” play of actors, directly bringing joy to all fans of the writer, and the theater circle will be limited to practically not a performance in colorful scenery, but only rehearsal in prison walls.
The brothers-directors showed a true author’s view not only on the problem of understanding the language of literature and theater, but also demonstrated an interesting idea in the guise of prison hopelessness. How new it is is to be judged by trained filmmakers, as I do not think of any such film.
When the whole world is a big prison,
Where do you spend your life for your sins?
The person is going crazy, or
Or write poetry from boredom...
(someone Schweik)
On the next scene, according to the word of Shakespeare, another Caesar dies, shredded with sham knives, not forgetting to blame Brutus with a sacramental phrase. Traditional staging based on the tragedy of the great Englishman is not surprising in anything, except that the truncated version, but grateful viewers arrange the artists unheard of applause. They were impressed by the fact that the actors, having removed Roman togas after the play, would dress up in prison robes and go accompanied by guards through the cells that have become their home for many years. The Taviani brothers were so interested that they made a semi-documentary film about how inmates of the Italian maximum security prison “Rebbia” rehearsed a historical murder in the cramped prison corridors, as they pondered the events of the tragedy, falling asleep on narrow hard beds, correlating what happened in ancient Rome with their life experiences. And one day, the theater painted their black and white lives with bright colors of real feelings, making it possible to forget about the lack of external freedom, instead of which it gave inner freedom.
Paolo and Vittorio, as usual, hid the psychological and social behind the historical drama, which apparently bribed the jury of the Berlin Film Festival. Forty years ago, in their film St. Michael Had a Rooster, a prisoner was already pushing the walls of the prison, realizing that the spirit blows wherever he wants. The brothers returned to thinking about the limitations of the will. However, I would not see the masters of the Golden Bear, if not for the educational resonance of the picture. How, how - hardened criminals, murderers, drug dealers and members of the Camorra are read by the immortal William and overestimate their actions, embodying his play on stage. Here she is the healing power of art on her face. This is an example of how to turn associalists into conscious citizens. But it is impossible not to notice that the actors from the criminals turned out not so much. Where it is necessary to show the depth of the characters and the emotions that dominate them, the prisoners simply break down to pathetic cries, demonstrating a lack of imagination. In the film, there is only one strong scene. Brutus and Mark Antony practice their performance in front of the Romans after Caesar's death in front of occasional spectators leaning out of their cell windows. What is striking is not the power of their speeches, but the reaction of listeners, like a weather vane, who change their point of view with a change of speaker. People's will in action. So why should we admire a very amateur performance? It is possible to applaud only the courage of the idea.
Shakespeare did not write for geniuses or exemplary boys, because he is a lump, because after centuries everything he noticed is relevant, and the passions that boil in his works are understandable to everyone, for human is very much. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that people who have a lot of forced free time, grabbing the opportunity to occupy it with something like a straw, imbued with the most talented context. Just as the Italian neorealists, respected by me, did not try to demonstrate the changing world around artists, allowing color to appear in the frame only on stage or at moments when the characters are immersed in thinking about the role, the notorious “I do not believe!” and tears from lips. And listening to the final remark of one of the prisoners that he understood where he was only after contact with art, I want to cynically correct it, noting that after the head fell unexpected fame, it is difficult to realize that you have not ceased to be re-educated.
Film performance with real criminals as actors, the main prize of Berlin 2012
On the stage is a production of “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare. The final scene: tormented by passions Brutus throws himself at his sword, the lights go out, the actors bow, the hall greets them with a stormy ovation. After all, everyone disperses, and the guards take the actors to the cells - the action takes place in the Italian prison "Rebibia", and all the persons involved are really convicted criminals.
Italian classics Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, both in their eighties, received with their semi-documentary film Caesar Must Die the main prize of the Berlin Film Festival in 2012. Like most similar festival films, this tape will not receive the attention of the general public, it is difficult to find in cinemas and its lot is a purely narrow and prepared audience, ready to take serious author's films. The very fact of the existence of a professional theater troupe in prison for especially dangerous criminals may seem surprising to the Russian audience, accustomed to the realities of the domestic penitentiary system. However, this film is not based on fiction, the main roles are real prisoners serving from 15 years to life imprisonment. This changes the perception of the film.
"It's amazing how in school I could think William Shakespeare was boring?" one inmate asks himself. Throughout the film, we watch, from the casting, and ending with spontaneous rehearsals on a day walk, as in an Italian prison is preparing another production of the classic work of William Shakespeare. At the same time, each of the actors more and more getting used to the role, no matter how pathetic it may sound, discovers the magical power of art. The theme of the influence of art and creativity on people placed in artificial conditions of isolation, in particular, serving a sentence, may well serve as the basis for some serious research in the field of psychology. The Taviani brothers, on the other hand, do not so much investigate these questions as capture in a realistic manner the amazing changes that take place in reality. In the limited conditions in which these people find themselves, it is very difficult to count on a normal life, it is difficult to have any purpose in life, it is difficult to continue living at all when you know in advance that you may never have another life. You can lie down all day and look at the ceiling, which is what most prisoners do, but as soon as they are given the opportunity to prove themselves in something real, no one spares himself, and the production itself becomes for everyone the meaning of life. Living the lives of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cassius and other great personalities, the criminals themselves are transformed. This performance for each of them is not just another role, but an opportunity to live a different life, feel different emotions and, most importantly, give your emotions to someone else, share them with the world. But the more honest the ending of the film looks, because having once experienced its importance, having learned its possibilities, a person begins to realize more clearly what he lost. A criminal will always remain a criminal even when he plays Julius Caesar.
If I have the moral right to do so, I would like to say a few purely formal words. It is clear that the author’s cinema does not seek, and in many cases even shuns, to please the viewer, sometimes forcing them to wade through their own film language. However, it seems that if Taviani made his film a little more artistic, give it a little drama, he would only benefit from it. In fact, “Caesar Must Die” is such a performance in the film, played in prison conditions and in itself is of little interest. The very life of both actors and those who help them is almost nonexistent. But they make this film worthy of attention, thanks to them it rises to the highest level noted at the Berlinale. Alas, the directors gave the audience the opportunity to think about all this, limiting themselves to the function of documentary filmmakers.
"His death will open their eyes to their lives" is a good slogan for the movie, isn't it? And most importantly, convincing. But nothing was revealed to anyone by his death.
The idea is brilliant - to show the reincarnation of prisoners during preparation for the play - but it remained an idea. And, to be honest, it is far from directorial. This is a truism - art ennobles a person. And anyone who has ever played a role other than Kolobok knows that there is no way to do without reincarnation.
The film, according to the request, was supposed to reveal the relationship between the prisoners during rehearsals, instead, in the middle of the film, Caesar retreats from the script and all of a sudden begins to clarify the relationship with his partner on stage, and all the disclosures ended there.
What became completely incomprehensible to me was the purpose of the film, its super-task, in other words, why was it shot? I don't know.
On top of that, the movie's dynamics are absolutely planted. And only individual scenes could save him if they were filled with all sorts of techniques, which is not the case. There are only depressing music and long-lasting shots, which are depressing - maybe this is a good director's move, which creates an atmosphere of dreary life in prison, but this also made our life in the hall dreary (boring), so is it good?
But, despite all the shortcomings, there are also advantages in the film. Sometimes it is interesting to look at actors, especially during casting for roles, there are a couple of interesting phrases that remain in memory: “we should not be called prisoners, but – looking at the ceiling” or
“Since I discovered art, my cell has become a real prison for me,” and the rest, dismiss me, was Shakespeare’s.
After watching this movie, I find it hard to call it a movie. To me, this is just a sketch, a vague bid for a movie. But it is worth watching, if only to know what is happening in the world or that during the film you will get some brilliant idea, because against the background of absolutely monotonous music you think or sleep very well, which I saw when looking at the neighbors.
The film, more than half of which consists of documentary filming, tells about the production of Shakespeare’s play in a Roman prison.
The prison-criminal theme is quite popular in the current cinema, but the Taviani brothers showed it from a new angle. At first glance, “Caesar Must Die” is a film about Shakespeare – most of it is occupied by dialogues of ancient Roman heroes, and the passions are caused by the fates of Caesar, Brutus and Mark Antony. However, the epilogue reveals the true meaning of the tape: through classical characters to show the personalities and fates of actors – fates, sometimes no less complex and interesting than those of the heroes of the play they perform.
Throughout the film, we see the performers trying to understand their characters, passing their actions through themselves. “Oh, if it were possible to end the spirit of Caesar without blood!” exclaims the actor and the next second, shocked, embraces his face with his hands. After all, this is his own story: once he too could not do without blood.
“Since I discovered art, my camera has become a prison for me” – in this film, the actors play selflessly and vividly. Their own lives, with memories of the mafia and the drug trade, are intertwined with the drama of ancient Rome, and in a mixture of emotions, “Caesar must die” is born.
The Traviani brothers made a very noble film, whatever that means.
7 out of 10
No stone towers, no cast walls,
No dungeons are stuffy, no chains.
They can't keep their spirits down.
Life, if the gates of the world are close to it,
He will always be able to free himself.
William Shakespeare. "Julius Caesar"
The cinematic career of Italians Paolo and Vittorio Taviani has lasted for almost sixty years. All this time, the brothers consistently shoot good pictures, perhaps without revolutionary breakthroughs in form, or exceptional revelations in content, but without crises and failures. “No longer young guys”, as the directors themselves call themselves, are favorites of various film screenings and deservedly have some awards. Their latest film, Caesar Must Die, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival this year. Presumably, the jury was bribed by a masterful interweaving of eternal questions and modern social problems, a combination of Shakespeare’s high poetry and the prison theater scene.
An enthusiastic hall applauds the artists who completed their performance. Slowly, the audience goes home, and the speakers ... on camera. In semi-documentary fashion, the Taviani brothers will tell us how inmates of an Italian maximum security prison prepared to stage Shakespeare’s political tragedy Julius Caesar. How they went through the casting, taught the roles, rehearsed, finally inspired to play on stage. And all this is framed by chamber walls, bars on windows and loyal, but no less severe security.
In the image of legendary historical figures, Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Antony and others are drug dealers, mafiosi and murderers. Some of them are never destined to breathe the air of freedom. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t human. All of them are colorful characters, each has a unique character, and some really place is not behind bars, but, at least, on the Broadway stage. They, as they can, bring their own experience, talent and worldview to difficult roles, and at the same time rethink their fate through the tragedies of the heroes of the great poet. It turns out that both Shakespeare and Caesar were not much different from the Italian criminals of the twenty-first century, because they asked the same insoluble problems of conscience and morality, and faced the same damned questions of life and death.
Watching the rehearsals of prisoners, we kind of inadvertently learn about the underlying real conflicts between them, about the universal anguish experienced by each of them at night from endless staring at the ceiling, about the fact that they have stomach problems from the prison balanda, and how hard it is for years to do without a woman. But Taviani deliberately prefers not to dig too deep. The circumstances accompanying the preparation of the performance they note only with light strokes. Without giving the plot development to everyday everyday everyday problems, they emphasize their ephemerality, elevating the eternal lines of Shakespeare above everything mortal.
The directors try to capture the complex, long, almost invisible process of rebirth of criminals. Of course, this manifests itself best when reading the verses of the tragedy, when murderers and smugglers rise to the scale of giant historical figures and are filled with noble passions that once determined the fate of the world. The wise elders of Taviani, of course, have no illusions about the miraculous powers of art. Using the example of prisoners playing Shakespeare, they show that art can elevate a person above his mortal existence, but only for a short time. Art does not destroy the walls of the chamber, it does not remove the bars from the windows, but it can lift a person above these inconveniences. Art can't make you happy, quite the opposite, as one of the prisoners says in the finale. But art expands our world by filling life, even if it is life behind bars, meaning and meaning.
Of course, Taviani’s prison isn’t just an institution where people are detained for their transgressions, it’s also a powerful metaphor. A metaphor for the limitations of each of us. We're all a little trapped in our vices, our domestic problems, and someone's external will. We cannot break beyond the limits determined by fate, but within them we can do a lot. Even in prison, the characters of the film Taviani discover a huge new world.
9 out of 10
Since I discovered art,
My cell became a real prison for me (c)
Literature is immortal. It's an undeniable fact. Literally every literary work can be projected onto contemporary reality. Directors Taviani filmed "Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare on the prison stage with non-professional actors and a minimum budget.
Prison inmates are invited to undergo a casting for a theatrical production. All of them will be in prison for the rest of their lives. They are so imbued with their roles that they begin to perceive their heroes as themselves.
Taviani put a picture that makes the audience think. The creators do not give answers, but throw clues for the attentive part of the public, which, if desired, can be unraveled.
The script of the directors is interesting idea, but its embodiment is far from ideal. The brothers begin to ask questions, but as if frightened and leave their beginnings halfway. But the final, overturning on the audience, does not leave anyone indifferent and puts everything in its place.
The camera work is too inconspicuous, the film itself is slow and inactive. Operators had to try to speed up the picture, and could only amplify the effect of "emptiness".
The choice of color is one of the best decisions of the creators of the picture. The color scenes in the film show only real life - either outside the prison scenes or when the prisoners themselves feel alive.
Actors - the acting force of the picture. Despite their lack of education, their desires and aspirations did their job. Heroes do not seem cardboard, but rather have a past, their own opinion of the present and the desire to live on.
The soundtrack adds so much depth to the film. Almost indistinguishable melodies are superimposed on long episodes, helping viewers empathize with the characters of the picture.
“Caesar must die” is a picture so subtle that it is best viewed in the original with subtitles, so as not to miss a single emotion that actors put into their play and speech.
“The whole world is a theater, and the people in it are actors,” wrote Shakespeare. The brothers Taviani embodied this idea in the cinema. Despite the fact that the picture turned out to be somewhat monotonous and little emotional, their attempt can be considered very successful.
After this film, you sit still for some time in the hall - you watch the credits, your heart beats - you calm down. And there is nothing special to say to the person who asked, “How do you like the movie?”
I definitely liked the film, the film amazes with its idea and production. The modern production of Shakespeare’s Caesar + the life drama of every actor-prisoner, and each actor played himself, namely the prisoner of the Rebibia prison.
Art transforms everyone, everyone finds himself in his role, in each production his life, with his chaos and his drama with his tragedy.
I was struck by the acting skills of ordinary prisoners. I could not believe that the film involved prisoners, especially dangerous criminals, and not professional actors.
If you ask "what is the meaning and idea of the film" - of course, here you can answer - in the emotions caused by the picture, but not only. After all, it seems that the main meaning is precisely in the greatness of Art, as a healing, opening eyes, heart and soul. A film that, like many real movies, will live for a long time inside the beholder!
The film, both fiction and documentary, tells about the theatrical production of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar in one of the prisons of Rome. All roles are played by real prisoners who play themselves and the heroes of Shakespeare’s tragedy, many of them sentenced to life imprisonment. The film’s tagline: “His death will open their eyes to their lives,” and that’s what it’s all about – during rehearsals and preparations for the play, prisoners think about the meaning of their existence, freedom, betrayal, friendship, etc., that is, in essence, about things they hardly thought about before. Touching art has a huge impact on them, forcing them to look at the world in a different way, while the film does not clearly reveal their thoughts about the past life, we can not know for sure whether they regret the crimes committed or not, one can only guess from the context, but during watching I somehow felt sympathy for them. Many may argue that murderers, gangsters and thieves don’t deserve it, but this is a different kind of sympathy, because they feel sorry not because they are in prison for their crimes, but because they discovered too late what might have deterred them from these crimes, namely, love, in this case, for art that can make people better. At least I believe that.
The film is worth watching for the sake of one original idea, and, of course, for the sake of acting - I would never think that thieves, drug dealers and mafiosi can feel Shakespeare so subtly and be such good actors, despite the fact that they have no special education, of course, there is only talent by nature.
I highly recommend everyone to watch this movie as soon as possible.