Review of Julius Caesar (1953) by Karin R — 24 Jul 2014

William Shakespeare, a man millions of people who love literature often refer to as a the primary example of literary genius. Whenever any play writer constructs a play and has actors star in that individuals play, it will always be compared to the genius of Shakespeare.

However, the name Shakespeare strikes fear into the hearts of 90% of High School students and those forced to study his plays in depth; why is that? Is it the complex storylines, the multiple characters; no.

The number one reason millions of High School students cannot stand the man is because of his old English vocabulary and dialogue. Shakespeare's old English style of writing and vocabulary is what makes reading his plays distressing for many young people, simply because it is incredibly difficult to understand at times.

While I personally don't feel Shakespeare is the best of the best, I can certainly acknowledge the brilliance of his historic tragedies. While there are dozens of Shakespearian tragedies one could pick as the best, easily my personal favorite is the masterpiece, "Julius Caesar".

Nearly every element of the play perfectly fits with one another and the tragedy itself is truly painful every time Antony sways the public against the justly noble Brutus. Surprisingly, the play Julius Caesar has been adapted to the silver screen an astounding four times, a true testament to the quality of the play.

While there are four films available to view, there is only one that stands as the absolute best adaptation and that is the 1953 Julius Caesar directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and starring James Mason as Marcus Brutus, John Gielgud as Cais Cassius and of course the great Marlon Brando as Marc Antony.

What is it about this particular film that makes it stand above the rest, simply everything for Mankiewicz Julius Caesar is a nearly flawless film that perfectly captures the tone and setting of the play.

Mankiewicz expertly balances the intimate character moments with the larger than life moments starring literally hundreds of extras. He makes sure to show off the bombastic sets with skillfully blocking and lighting his scenes; accompanying his shots with the films incredible score.

Nothing feels cheap in this film, wither it be the sets or costumes, everything is dealt with the utmost scrutiny. Overall, skillfully majestic direction by Mankiewicz effortlessly allows this adaptation of Julius Caesar to have marvelous direction.

Easily the best part of this Julius Caesar is of course the story, the tragedy itself, but the second best aspect of this film is the astonishing performances delivered from the main trio of Mason, Gielgud and Brando.

Cais Cassius, Marcus Brutus and Marc Antony are all incredibly complex characters and are some of the most difficult for actors to convincingly portray, yet thanks to the expertise of the cast, this is of course no issue.

Mason expertly portrays tragic valor, Gielgud venomous jealousy. Marlon Brando is simply epic in this film for not only does he have a commanding stage presence but also brilliantly delivers all of the plays famous soliloquy's and monologues; overall astounding performances from the main trio.

It is a tricky thing, naming one film as the best Shakespeare adaptation of a William Shakespeare play but Joseph Mankiewicz Julius Caesar does just that thanks to Brilliant direction, amazing sets and props as well as wondrous performances from the main trio of actors, truly a marvel of filmmaking.