Nero (2004 film)
This article is written like a encyclopedic style . (December 2009) |
Nero | |
---|---|
Directed by | Paul Marcus |
Starring | Hans Matheson Laura Morante John Simm Matthias Habich |
Theme music composer | Andrea Guerra |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Italy Spain |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 197 min |
Nero is an Italian-British-Spanish television film, part of the Imperium series; it was made film available on DVD as of November 2005 in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by EOS Entertainment and Lux Vide for RAI and Telecinco.
Plot
As a young boy, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus witnesses the
The movie in many ways tries to show Nero as a good soul gone mad, beginning as a brilliant young prince enduring injustice, then hailed enthusiastically at the beginning of his reign, implementing much-needed reforms and enjoying immense popularity. Half the film concentrates on Nero's teenage years and his love life with Acte.
Historical flaws
His relationship with Claudia Acte is altered, and its influence on his divorce from Claudia Octavia exaggerated. In fact after Nero's divorce from Octavia he married his pregnant mistress Poppaea Sabina who had married twice before marrying Nero (Rufrius Crispinus and the future Emperor Otho). Poppaea Sabina's death is portrayed differently than how it reportedly occurred. According to the historical sources, she was kicked to death by Nero in a vicious rage. The film also omits Nero's other reported attempts to kill his mother Agrippina the Younger, first by poisoning. In his second attempt he had his mother's mattress fixed so that when she lay down, a decoration on the ceiling would fall onto the bed. A third attempt involved sabotaging a ship Agrippina was traveling on, but she managed to swim to shore. The fourth attempt, in which a soldier killed her on the spot, is shown in the movie as Agrippina walks toward the soldier and tells him, "Strike the womb that bore him". In the film Nero is shown to have a fixation on playing the harp, which is only partly true. In a late part of the movie Nero is shown playing his harp in the center of a Roman Theatre as Emperor around 62 A.D. This is fiction, because Nero never played his harp in front of a large audience. He usually played it in isolation or within a small group of friends.
At the end, Nero escapes from the city by himself and slits his wrists where he is embraced by Acte. In reality, Nero escaped from the city in disguise to the house of one of his loyal freedmen; there he committed suicide by stabbing himself in the neck. However, he botched the job and had to have a slave finish him job off.[1]
The Emperor
were eliminated.The film's budget was around €800,000. It was filmed on location in Sicily and Tunisia in late 2004 and early 2005.
Cast
- Hans Matheson - Nero
- Laura Morante - Agrippina
- Rike Schmid - Acte
- Simón Andreu - Porridus
- Sonia Aquino - Messalina
- Maria Gabriella Barbuti - Licia
- James Bentley - Young Nero
- Marco Bonini - Rufus
- Gaius Silius
- Philippe Caroit - Apollonius
- Todd Carter - Senator # 1
- Massimo Dapporto - Claudius
- Maurizio Donadoni - Burrus
- Emanuela Garuccio - Claudia
- Matthias Habich - Seneca
- Klaus Händl - Pallas
- Jochen Horst - Etius
- Ruby Kammer - Marzia
- Domitia
- Tigellinus
- Vittoria Puccini - Octavia
- Ian Richardson - Septimus
- Paolo Scalabrino - Senator # 2
- John Simm - Caligula
- Liz Smith - Soothsayer
- Elisa Tovati - Poppea
- Paul of Tarsus
- Francesco Venditti - Britannicus
Crew
- Directed by: Paul Marcus
- Teleplay by: Paul Billing & Francesco Contaldo
- Produced by: Luca Bernabei
- Director of Photography: Giovanni Galasso
- Production Designer: Paolo Biagetti
- Edited by: Alessandro Lucidi
- Costume Designer: Paolo Scalabrino
- Music By: Andrea Guerra
See also
- List of historical drama films
- List of films set in ancient Rome
References
- ^ Suetonius, Life of Nero
External links
- Nero at IMDb