In this program on "Julius Caesar," the filmmakers barely scratched the surface of uncovering insights into a controversial play. Much of the program was pure plot synopsis, and the so-called experts offered mundane remarks about this highly-charged drama of political conspiracy and assassination.
In 1977, Brian Cox played the role of Brutus, and, forty years later, he offers good observations about the play. But it was surprising that there was little attempt to frame the play in the time of Elizabeth I and to discuss how it would be conceivable for a playwright to portray assassination of a ruler in live theater. There were constant assassination threats against Elizabeth, and the first modern spy agency had been instituted under Francis Walsingham, in order to protect the Queen, a point that is lost on the filmmakers. How could this play not have been considered subversive in its time?
A second and related shortcoming was the failure to examine the modern inferences of "Julius Caesar," especially in American history. The visual choice of the filmmakers was to offer the scenic backdrop not of the Roman forum, but of contemporary Washington, D.C. throughout the episode. While we see Brian Cox driving through Washington, the only purpose appeared to be to demonstrate the intent of the original designers of the American capital to replicate the architectural style of ancient Rome.
The focus should have been on the cutthroat politics of Washington, D.C., as well as the actual assassinations of four American presidents. The only one examined in detail in the program was the assassination of Lincoln by actor John Wilkes Booth. When JFK was mentioned on a single occasion, there was no mention of the doubt that still exists about the official story of his assassination on November 22, 1963.
Another lapse in the film was the failure to examine the production at the Delacorte Theater in New York wherein an actor who was a lookalike for President Trump played the role of the doomed Caesar. While the filmmakers discussed the protest that followed the production, they never explored what was the production team thinking in the onstage depiction of the murder of a sitting American president. Even the actor Gregg Henry, who played the role of Ceasar, hemmed and hawed in describing the controversy.
Prior to the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus proclaims, "Let's carve him as a feast for the gods." For this fateful assassination that occurred 2,000 years ago, then was memorialized by Shakespeare in the late sixteenth century, this program was a disappointment in its failure to truly probe into the workings of political assassinations through the ages.
In 1977, Brian Cox played the role of Brutus, and, forty years later, he offers good observations about the play. But it was surprising that there was little attempt to frame the play in the time of Elizabeth I and to discuss how it would be conceivable for a playwright to portray assassination of a ruler in live theater. There were constant assassination threats against Elizabeth, and the first modern spy agency had been instituted under Francis Walsingham, in order to protect the Queen, a point that is lost on the filmmakers. How could this play not have been considered subversive in its time?
A second and related shortcoming was the failure to examine the modern inferences of "Julius Caesar," especially in American history. The visual choice of the filmmakers was to offer the scenic backdrop not of the Roman forum, but of contemporary Washington, D.C. throughout the episode. While we see Brian Cox driving through Washington, the only purpose appeared to be to demonstrate the intent of the original designers of the American capital to replicate the architectural style of ancient Rome.
The focus should have been on the cutthroat politics of Washington, D.C., as well as the actual assassinations of four American presidents. The only one examined in detail in the program was the assassination of Lincoln by actor John Wilkes Booth. When JFK was mentioned on a single occasion, there was no mention of the doubt that still exists about the official story of his assassination on November 22, 1963.
Another lapse in the film was the failure to examine the production at the Delacorte Theater in New York wherein an actor who was a lookalike for President Trump played the role of the doomed Caesar. While the filmmakers discussed the protest that followed the production, they never explored what was the production team thinking in the onstage depiction of the murder of a sitting American president. Even the actor Gregg Henry, who played the role of Ceasar, hemmed and hawed in describing the controversy.
Prior to the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus proclaims, "Let's carve him as a feast for the gods." For this fateful assassination that occurred 2,000 years ago, then was memorialized by Shakespeare in the late sixteenth century, this program was a disappointment in its failure to truly probe into the workings of political assassinations through the ages.