Review of Spartacus (1960) by Tim G — 10 Oct 2011

While I have yet to view Kubrick's entire filmography, Spartacus is the least favorite of what I've seen. It took me a while to appreciate Kubrick in general--loved his visual aesthetic from the get-go, but wasn't sure about his ability to tell a story. Well I've come around on that and love each of his films (that I've seen--about half of his output).

Spartacus, however, seems to stick out like a sore thumb. Unlike everything else I've seen from Kubrick it is NOT a visual treat. While a part of that might be the poor transfer, just looking at shot composition and arrangements Spartacus looks very... standard. Nothing about its visual aesthetic separates it from other films set in that general era.

The story is decent--not quite strong enough to support 3+ hours of film--but not bad enough to make the journey unbearable. There are three main threads the movie follows--Spartacus as a leader of a revolution, the love story between Spartacus and Varinia, and the political state of Rome--both as a catapult for the revoution and as the ultimate reason behind the end result of the film.

Of the three main threads, the most engaging is the one I've termed "Sparticus as leader...". This is the story we've all tuned in to see. It is the story with the ups and downs--the one that makes Spartacus a legend. On the other hand, the romance is just bland and uninteresting. No surprises with how it develops. It seems that its sole reason for existing is to provide the final scene of the movie.

The most rewarding segments, though, are those that take place in Rome with the inner squabblings of the senators. It is the story thread that takes the most time to get up to speed--partly due my general duncery with politics--but Kubrick's chess-match with Senators provides the most thought-provoking moments of Spartacus.

Sadly, in a film that runs about an hour and a half too long, the whole Roman politics part of the film are the easiest to erase. And Kubrick SHOULD have left them on the cutting-room floor. (If the film was called The Roman Senators Respond to that Spartacus Issue, THEN we could cut out the more severely flawed romance section and the less interesting moments of the Spartacus story).

Spartacus isn't a terrible film. It is simply so-so. A standard trek through the underbelly of Roman gladiator culture and the ensuing revolt. Nothing Kubrick does allows Spartacus to rise above other, similar films.