The fall of the Roman empire (1964)

	Also Known As: La chute de l'empire romain
	Year of first release: 1964
	Director: Anthony Mann
	Actors: Alec Guiness, Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Christopher Plummer, James Mason
	Country: USA
	Genre: Epic, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 26.12.2016, TV Arte, French version
Synopsis: The death of Marcus Aurelius (Guiness) leads to a succession crisis, in which the deceased emperor's son, Commodus (Plummer), demonstrates that he is unwilling to let anything undermine his claim to the Roman Empire. The other siblings of Marcus Aurelius, Livius (Boyd) and Lucilla (Loren) have his confidence confirmed by his favourite philosopher Timonides (Mason).
Review: The Hollywood Ancient Rome historical epic has been a subgenre in trend in the USA and in Italy (subset of the so-called Peplum subgenre) in the 1950s and 1960s. The fall of the Roman empire focuses on the end of the Marcus Aurelius era supposed to be a good emperor in the Roman history.  Actually the story is more telling about the rivalry of Commodus and Livius than on the big History. As often in Hollywood historical epic, the History is modified. There was no Lucilla. The rivalry may have existed but with thousands kilometers distance. This does not make the story of the movie worse. Actually it transmits better the idea of political rivalry and murders who was typical of the period after Marcus Aurelius.  The acting of Plummer and Mason is quite good. But I have not been impressed by Sophia Loren nor by Stephen Boyd even if they both had good roles. Not impressed neither by the story line.  One scene is remarkable. The pursuit with the horses through the woods! This was impressive for its directing. I find that programming this movie nowadays is perfect. At a time when many politicians try to build walls and defeat people instead of talk and collaborate with them (as in the movie). This can be seen as an artistic warning that needs to be reminded time to time.
Rating: 5 /10