In the early ’60’s, film studios must have started to feel up against the ropes. Television was growing in popularity and the wide adoption of color TV was around the corner. Perhaps if film were to remain relevant, it would need to play to its strengths—grow more elaborate, more epic, more sexy, more expensive, and more of a spectacle than ever before. Enter “Cleopatra”, one of the most expensive films ever made and the only #1 film in a year to run a financial loss!
"Cleopatra" is a simple story expanded into 4 hours of run time. In hour one, Caesar (Rex Harrison) arrives in Alexandria, navigates Egyptian royal in-fighting, thwarts an attack, and places Cleopatra (the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor) in charge. In hour two, Cleopatra seduces Caesar, bears him a son, and brings C.J. to Rome in a large parade. Meanwhile, Caesar grows more power-hungry and plots to become Emperor of Rome but is assassinated. INTERMISSION. In hour three, Mark Antony (Richard Burton, fresh in a spicy affair with Liz Taylor in real life) and Cleopatra meet and fall in love. Antony then marries for politics in Rome, returns to an angry-but-softening Cleopatra, and together they war against Rome. In hour four, Antony faces Rome (led by Octavian) at sea and loses. Octavian gives chase and our two remaining leads die.
I started on this film’s side. Though leery of the movie’s “56% Rotten” score, I eventually grew to enjoy the first act. Cleopatra was smart, devious, and sexy and Caesar was determined, disciplined, and ailing. This made for an interesting mash up/character study and, while long, a mismatched love story. But by the time we get to Act 2, the film collapses. After spending hours convincing us of Caesar and Cleopatra’s love, we are meant to accept her and Antony’s feelings after a mere meeting. The film then bases every other bad decision on this unconvincing romance and does so with a particularly exhausting and melodramatic drawl.
It is ironic to me that such a spectacle directly addressed the limitations of television and yet suffered from the limitations of film. This movie is unforgivably long and yet the story feels as though it was not given enough time to truly breathe. In fact (by today’s standards), one way to fix this shoehorned story would be to expand it into a 10-hour, 10-part television show. Seriously, it felt like an HBO series that wasn’t given its due. In the same way “Avatar” championed 3D tech to stay ahead of HD TV, “Cleopatra” was an interesting, colorful, sexual, and expansive epic but lacked enough plot-substance to sustain its runtime.