Review of Quo Vadis (1951) by Michael B — 06 Dec 2007

The intro to "Quo Vadis" tells its story. This movie is seeping with pretension, and I liked it. Here are some of my favorite lines:

"Nothing that I see is not perfection" As said by the hero, Marcus Vinicius upon first seeing his counter-part, the lovely Lygia. More: "I envy the roof that covers you, this one... or any other." More: "Lovely women don't have time to think of philosophy." And my favorite: â??That beggar-faced philosopher shouldnâ??t be stuffing your luscious little head with such nonsense.â?? But these lines, as tremendously appealing as they are, aren't what's to be appreciated. No, the real beauty comes from the reactions of those he says the lines to, and those around him: each person not only ignores these ridiculous utterances, they in fact love the guy more each time he says them!

Upon reflection, it seems quite obvious now that this movie was not for entertainment nor directly educational. A quick wikipedia glance shows that only second hand accounts give any credence to Nero burning Rome, and further, that physical evidence seems to suggest accidental causes. In addition, there were plenty of anachronistic phrases. At any rate, between the ego party for Marcus Vinicius on tape one, and the dramatic selfless sacrifice conclusion on tape two, the feeling of how good it feels to be Christian snaked its way in. And in that sense, in its method, the movie was extremely educational. Also, the scene where the dummy had its body folded funny style on the stairwell was quite awesome and profoundly hilarious.