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By
WADE GOSSETT"
In this Oliver Stone
rendition of the short life of Alexander the
Great, Irish actor Colin Farrell assumes the title
role. The film tries to explain, taking almost
three hours, how a young king from an otherwise
undistinguished part of ancient Greece (Macedonia
was neither Athens nor Sparta in the 4th century
BC) managed to conquer what was then the known
world by age 32. Indeed, Alexander defeated armies
from Greece through Persia and all the way to
India, establishing a short-lived Hellenistic
empire stretching from Eastern Europe to Asia. Had
he lived longer, the Roman Empire may not have
existed, Christianity may not have found fertile
ground in Asia Minor, and so on and so on.
The battle scenes are spectacular, definitely on
an epic scale. And Stone's attempt to provide
historical perspective, by not shying away from
the culture of the period (bi-sexuality was
accepted, for instance) is commendable. Where the
film stumbles is in its attempt to "understand"
Alexander's motivations. In theory that's fine,
but when Angelina Jolie shows up as Alexander's
mother, setting up some heavy duty Oedipal
undercurrent, she's both miscast and misused.
Looking at historical records Alexander was no
more complicated -- although militarily far more
competent -- than your average dictator, a staple
of history ever since men discovered armed
conflict.
The two-disc version contains a commentary by
Stone, a couple of featurettes ("Resurrecting
Alexander" and "Perfect is the Enemy of God" on
the filming and "Vangelis Scores Alexander"),
interviews with the cast, and theatrical
trailers.
Panned by critics during its theatrical release,
Stone's excesses even confounded and exasperated
his champions -- Michael Wilmington of the Chicago
Tribune, who liked the film very much, still
marveled at how madly audacious it was. Bottom
line, if you're not a Stone fan, steer clear. |
