SPARTACUS

(October 1960, U.S.)

Stanley Kubrick's SPARTACUS may be the most anti-Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick film of his glorious career. No long tracking shots, no intense stares from its characters, none of that "Kubrick touch" that made his style of filmmaking so unique. SPARTACUS is pretty much a pure textbook Hollywood product in which Kubrick didn't have complete creative control over filming, initially resulting in his leaving the Hollywood system to exercise the rest of his career in England. SPARTACUS, despite being a huge box office success in the world of epic historical dramas, as well as gaining four Oscar awards, was considered a disappointment by Kubrick. The film was also released at a time when American blacklisting was coming to an end, thus allowing screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (a film was made about him in 2015 starring Bryan Cranston) to receive his proper credit due to Kirk Douglas' insistence. Even future President John F. Kennedy went to see and praised the film, despite a public outcry and demonstration against his doing so.

In the time of the first Century BC, the ancient Republic of Rome is in its highest period of strength and glory, its hard labor performed by armies of helpless slaves. One of these slaves is Spartacus (played by Douglas), whose insubordinate behavior leads to a sentence of crucifixion. However, he's saved from death when he's, instead, sold to unscrupulous businessman Lentulus Batiatus (played by Peter Ustinov) who runs a school for training gladiators for public display and entertainment for those of Rome's royalty and power. Spartacus' trainer Marcellus (played by Charles McGraw) is constantly taunting and abusing him. Even when Spartacus is given the opportunity to have sex with the slave girl Varinia (played by Jean Simmons) and he refuses to molest her in any way, he's mocked from above as being "less than a man". This abuse finally goes too far one day, and the slaves violently revolt against their masters and escape their bondage into the Italian countryside.

As leader of the revolt, Spartacus and his fugitive army of former slaves elect to leave Italy and return to their homes. Along the way, the overtake the estates of other Roman slave owners and leaders, thus establishing their power and strength. Accumulating the money they need, they elect to hire the dreaded pirates of Cilicia to take them out of the country by sea. One of the new slave arrivals turns out to be Varinia, whom Spartacus eventually falls in love with. Another slave is the "singer of songs" Antoninus (played by Tony Curtis), who fled Rome when his master Crassus (played by Laurence Olivier) tried to seduce him. As life develops among the slaves and Varinia is soon pregnant with Spartacus' baby, the cloud of an inevitable battle between the slave army and the armies of Rome is imminent. Despite feelings of inadequacies, Spartacus proves to be an effective leader and organizer of what will be a powerful army of his own. Not powerful enough, unfortunately. By the time the epic battle has concluded, many slaves are dead and those that lived have been captured again, including Spartacus. This re-capture is followed by one of the film's most memorable moments when every captured slave refuses to allow Spartacus himself to be identified to Crassus, each of them boldly and proudly declaring, "I'm Spartacus!"

Unlike many other films of this genre, the rebellious heroes don't remain heroes for too long. In what almost feels like an unfair resolution, true or not, those who stood up against the power and mighty force Rome's tyranny are ultimately placed right back where they were as helpless slaves. Spartacus is condemned to slow and painful death by crucifixion. The only victory at the end of all this is Varinia's exit out of Rome with Spartacus' newborn son, whom she comfortingly places in front of his dying eyes, declaring that the child is free and will someday learn about his father's legacy.

As a Kubrick film, SPARTACUS stands alone for not only reasons mentioned above, but also in its love story. Look at any other Kubrick film, and you'll see that love and romance wasn't exactly his strongest point. General Buck Turgidson didn't exactly love his mistress in DR. STRANGELOVE (1964), Redmond Barry wasn't too much head-over-heels with Lady Lyndon in BARRY LYNDON (1975), and Jack Torrance certainly didn't offer his unconditional devotion to Wendy in THE SHINING (1980). The love and romance between Spartacus and Varinia, however, seems natural and unspoiled under Kubrick's direction. Was Kubrick a love-struck sentimentalist at heart, or was he simply just doing what the Hollywood big shots behind the production told him to do? We may never really know, as the disputes and controversies behind SPARTACUS were just as infamous as the film itself. And speaking of controversy, it's almost no wonder that the body servant bath scene between Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis, in which homosexual tendencies are more-than-bluntly applied through the analogy of "eating oysters" and "eating snails", was removed from the final print for a time, until it was finally restored in 1991. Actually, it wasn't a genuine restoration, to be truthful. The dialogue had to be re-dubbed by Curtis, who was now sixty-six years old, and Anthony Hopkins had to provide the voice-over for Crassus because Olivier had been dead for two years already (nice mimic job, Anthony!). In a world of cinema where many classic films are restored through the use of modern technology, this is actually one of the more impressive stories I've heard in the history of Hollywood.

In the grand spectrum of the Kubrick library, SPARTACUS is, indeed, no DR. STRANGELOVE, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY or A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It simply doesn't fit the director's style or technique. However, it becomes necessary to ignore the who and concentrate more on the what in this case. The film stands among some of the greatest biblical and historical epics of the era, alongside with THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956), BEN-HUR (1959) and EL CID (1961). Let's also not forget that without SPARTACUS, we likely never would have enjoyed Russell Crowe in GLADIATOR (2000). Let's at least be grateful for that!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Lentulus Batiatus (to Spartacus after he refuses to rape Varinia): "Perhaps you may not be an animal, Spartacus, but this sorry show gives me little hope you'll ever be a man."