1/22/2024 0 Comments Julius caesar movie questions(The art of subtext is somewhat lost on this documentary.) The story “reminds us of our own times,” Stewart says. Caesar is compared to Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi, Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump. But The Making of a Dictator seems desperate to make the case. It all feels a little neat, a little convenient. In fact, if Rome could be “overthrown by the ambitions of one man”, then who is to say whether “modern democracy could collapse” as we appease and yield to the bellicose demagogues of the current day? Now, as the world is beset by so-called strong men, and as populism looms – casting a long shadow over Europe – Caesar’s story should remind us how fragile our own institutions are. Caesar took advantage of the republic’s unwritten constitution – in essence, little more than a gentleman’s agreement – and in the process changed the entire fabric of the empire. Instead it attempts to fashion Caesar’s life into a parable. So why tell his story again? Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator seeks neither to unearth new material nor even offer a fresh perspective. The spectacular downfall of Caesar stands among the most famous tales of hubris. ![]() ![]() “Et tu, Brute?” – “Even you, my dear Brutus?” – is Shakespeare’s rendition of Caesar’s final words, after his colleagues stab him to death in the senate. From there we watch Caesar – painted as a louche and lascivious man – slowly chip away at the senate and the old structures of the republic, form unholy alliances with slippery moneymen such as Crassus and puffed-up generals like Pompey the Great, eventually seize power over the established order and then meet his grisly fate. We start in 63 BC as Caesar positions himself for the role of pontifex maximus, the chief high priest of Rome. It is also an argument: if we fail to heed the lessons of Caesar’s wanton iconoclasm and populism, then our own democracy hangs in the balance. But it is not just a biography, replete with favourite talking heads such as the A-list historian Tom Holland and the Tory MP turned podcast host Rory Stewart. A new documentary – sorry, “landmark” documentary – that charts Julius Caesar’s rise to power and his ultimate destruction of the Roman Republic landed on BBC Two on Monday. ![]() In any case, the BBC has clearly taken the warning to heart. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” according to the philosopher George Santayana, who was expressing a sentiment also attributed to Edmund Burke and Winston Churchill.
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