All I really knew about “Spartacus” going into it was its iconic and oft-parodied “I am Spartacus” denouement. For this reason, I think I expected the flick to be campy, bloated, or overdramatic, like some of the other ancient-civilization films I’ve seen (I’m looking at you “Cleopatra”). But instead, I encountered a witty, complex, and well told story with believable characters and exciting moments. I know it’s probably sexier to chose one of his more iconic films but (other than Dr. Strangelove), this might be my favorite Stanley Kubrick film.
The movie picks up when Spartacus, a Thracian slave, is spared from execution and selected to be a gladiator. When forced to fight, the enslaved gladiators find a moment to escape and begin pillaging Roman villas. Spartacus is chosen to lead the group and they begin liberating slaves, seizing wealth, and searching for a path out of Italy. This whole time however, political infighting in Rome has allowed Marcus Crassus to seize the army and he attacks Spartacus’s group. Most of the former slaves are killed and the survivors, refusing to turn over Spartacus, are crucified. It’s a real pick-me-up film.
For being nearly 60 years old, this film had a ‘modern’ feel to it, like an episode of “Game of Thrones” (pre-season 8 #petty). While other epics have matched this one’s scale, “Spartacus” was shot with a depth of field (both narrative and cinematographic) that really brought the characters and expansive sets to life. I was impressed/shocked by the film’s use of violence, as well as its racy innuendo (snails v. oysters) and nudity (covered exquisitely with depth of field, of course).
But I think what impressed me most was the superior storytelling. A 3 hour, 10,000 cast member epic, shot on two continents is not easy to boil down to an interesting and coherent storyline. This film does just that while beautifully weaving in B, C, D, and E plots (likely more!) in an effective way. For example, contrasting Spartacus’s kindling love with Varinia against his training to kill, or his unifying leadership against Roman politicking, Kubrick and editor Robert Lawrence succeed at striking balances between sub-stories in a way that served the overall story. So well told, in fact, that the "I am Spartacus" scene still plays. Great flick.