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By
WADE GOSSETT
The BBC must have improved
sales of its documentaries when it decided to make
them into docudramas and infuse them with the sort
of drama that usually comes from fiction. So,
instead of the professorial talking head from
Oxbridge throwing information at its audience,
recent documentaries, especially on the ancient
world, have dispensed with the learned narrator as
protagonist, and instead tell a story through the
eyes of a contemporary.
Just like with "Building the Great Pyramid,"
"Colosseum - A Gladiator's Story" is essentially
the diary of an individual from the period, though
which we get a sense of what it must have been
building a pyramid or fighting in the Colosseum.
The feature borrows its narrative from the only
gladiatorial battle to have been recorded for
posterity, by the poet Martial in 80 A.D. As far
as we know Martial was describing a real fight,
one that apparently impressed the Romans. And
while an ever-present narrator sets the scene for
us, the personal aspects of the story overwhelm
information: We follow the fortunes of Verus
(played by muscular Robert Shannon) as he starts
off a slave in a quarry and though will power and
skill he becomes a gladiator. The finale is
particularly riveting as he ends up facing his
best friend Priscus (equally muscular Derek Lea).
The special effects are impressive, recreating
ancient Rome and the Colosseum; and the story is
engrossing. It plays like a mini movie. But, I
miss the Oxbridge talking head. "Colosseum - A
Gladiator's Story" will give you a cinematic sense
of the gladiator's life and does puncture several
myths, but whichever way you slice it, it is light
on information.
Also included on the DVD is "Pompeii: The Final
Day" which chronicles the last 24 hours of the
town as it was destroyed by the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius on August 24, 79 A.D. Like "Colosseum" it
is based on the descriptions of an ancient Roman,
in this case Pliny the Younger, and it is
similarly dramatically engrossing, but left me
wanting for more data. |
