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Ny Times Review Of Hbo's Rome

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NY Times August 21, 2005

HBO's Roman Holiday

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY

 

See the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/dbn8j

 

LIKE science fiction, the allure of ancient Rome is that it promises a society that is just like us, only more so.

 

Ever since Robert Graves' historical novel "I, Claudius" was turned into a hugely successful BBC series, screenwriters have reveled in the possibilities of an empire with mail delivery, dental work and plumbing, but no Christian inhibitions or Senate subcommittee hearings.

 

HBO is the latest network to fall under the imperial spell with "Rome," a 12-episode series produced jointly by the BBC and HBO at a cost of $100 million. Filmed at the Italian film studio Cinecitt�, it features if not a cast of thousands, at least the television equivalent of Cecil B. DeMille extravagance.

 

HBO is the ideal place for such imaginative play. The Sopranos, after all, are mobsters with Prozac, flat-screen television sets and social slights. (We sulk or sue, they slaughter, but otherwise, the discontents are eerily the same.) No other network, cable or broadcast, has a stronger mandate to update the rivalry of Julius Caesar and Pompey or the filial strains between Octavian and his mother Atia. Certainly no other network has more license to depict sex, violence and family intrigue (all premium cable gall is divided into three parts.)

 

...

 

From the very beginning, "Rome" follows the historic record too dutifully, making reference to famous events and real-life figures from Brutus and Mark Antony to Cato, Cicero and Calpurnia. Everybody knows something about ancient Rome, if only from Shakespeare or even just the matchbooks at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Few remember all the historic details exactly. They don't matter...

 

Continued at: http://tinyurl.com/dbn8j

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I'll quote one line to tell you why the critics don't like it...

 

From the very beginning, "Rome" follows the historic record too dutifully, making reference to famous events and real-life figures from Brutus and Mark Antony to Cato, Cicero and Calpurnia. Everybody knows something about ancient Rome, if only from Shakespeare or even just the matchbooks at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Few remember all the historic details exactly. They don't matter.

 

 

The very thing that makes me excited to watch this...a recreation of some of the most significant events in human history... and the critics would prefer it be more fictional.

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I'll quote one line to tell you why the critics don't like it...

 

From the very beginning, "Rome" follows the historic record too dutifully, making reference to famous events and real-life figures from Brutus and Mark Antony to Cato, Cicero and Calpurnia. Everybody knows something about ancient Rome, if only from Shakespeare or even just the matchbooks at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Few remember all the historic details exactly. They don't matter.

 

 

The very thing that makes me excited to watch this...a recreation of some of the most significant events in human history... and the critics would prefer it be more fictional.

 

Yeah I caught that too. I almost emailed the critic concerning that very line, I was going to say the dumbing down of TV applies to critics as well as viewers. I thought I'd watch it first before emailing anything.

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OOO I wish I had HBO so I could in good conscience curse that critic out!

 

That is one of the most horrible statements I've seen reguarding TV...

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These critics are all asses who love to hear themselves talk. The conservative bent San Diego Tribune also did a review of it and said it wasen't that great because it did not have the same flare as I, Claudius somehow. They probably just don't like the sex involved.

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If it were just HBO I might be worried, but BBC is a partner and they's been known to do some quality work.

 

American production values and British eloquence would be a marriage made in heaven.

 

Since I don't get HBO I'm going to ignore any further discusssion of the topic until I can get my hands on some tapes of the miniseries.

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I have HBO on demand as part of my cable subscription and on Rome, there were as many as 4 or 5 separate documentaries covering 'Making of', Women of Rome, Slavery in Rome and so on.

 

I found these short films pretty interesting overall and if you want to get HBO, this may be a good time to begin your subscription, particularly if you are fascinated with everything Roman (with me, it's mostly the pre-Empire period but I will definitely watch a show set in the late Repubic). Caesar vs Pompey ? Who can resist this? The sets and costumes look good and I do think a lot of research went into the production. There were interviews with a couple of historians (I can't recall their names readily) who explained how they researched the time and period and the pains that were taken to ensure an authentic recreation of those times. I thought a few shots of the Subura which were featured were pretty much 'on the money' and as I imagined it.

 

This is not a clean, pristine city like in some of the earlier films of the Hollywood era but a dirtier, grimier Rome, with a lot of the confusion and the unsanitary conditions that were pretty common throughout the city, except for its more affluent sections. Conditions in the Subura must have been horrendous with the cramped quarters and the towering insulae that lined its narrow streets.

 

I wouldn't really put much stock in what the critics say and you'll have to ultimately judge this on your own. I'm sure there will be parts which you may disagree with but I think this comes with the territory.

 

As for me, I can't wait for this series to begin and am looking forward to it eagerly, much more than Empire.

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another opinion, this time from the Detroit News....

 

It ain't "The Sopranos," but HBO's new epic series "Rome" packs the same punch as the network's Mafioso melodrama. "Rome" is co-produced and presumably cast by the BBC, because of its plethora of British acting prowess. Like Titus, fortune once again smiles on HBO helping the cable giant deliver this captivating and undeniable classic.

 

full article at DetNews

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