| Alexander | |
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Promotional poster for Alexander |
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| Directed by | Oliver Stone |
| Produced by | Moritz Borman Thomas Schühly Jon Kilik Iain Smith |
| Written by | Oliver Stone Christopher Kyle Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay) |
| Starring | Colin Farrell Angelina Jolie Val Kilmer Rosario Dawson Jared Leto Anthony Hopkins |
| Music by | Vangelis |
| Cinematography | Rodrigo Prieto |
| Editing by | Thomas J. Nordberg Yann Hervé Alex Marquez |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (USA) Intermedia (International) |
| Release date(s) | November 24, 2004 (United States) December 3, 2004 (Greece) |
| Running time | 175 min (theatrical) / 167 min (Director's cut) 214 Min (Final cut) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $155 million USD |
| Gross revenue | $167,298,192 |
Alexander is a 2004 epic film, based on the life of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell). It was directed by Oliver Stone, who contended that it was based on historical events.
The film is based mostly on the book Alexander the Great, written in the 1970s by historian Robin Lane Fox, who gave up his screen credit in return for being allowed to take part in the epic cavalry charge during the film's recreation of the Battle of Gaugamela.
The film proved controversial. It was critically derided upon its release and failed at the American box office, grossing only US$34 million domestically, while costing $155 million to produce. It did better internationally, however, grossing a total of $133 million in overseas revenue.[1]
The two earlier DVD versions of Alexander ("director's cut" version and the theatrical version) sold over 3.5 million copies in the U.S. alone.[2]
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The film is based on the life of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian Emperor who conquered Asia Minor, Persia and eventually Ancient India. It offers a glimpse into some of the key moments of Alexander's youth, his invasion of the mighty Persian Empire and his death. It also outlines his early life, including his difficult relationship with his father, Philip II of Macedonia (Val Kilmer), the conquering of the Greek city-states under the League of Corinth and the conquest of the Persian Empire in 331 BC. It also details his plans to reform his empire and the attempts he made to reach the end of the world.
The storyline begins in 356 BC with old Ptolemy I Soter (Anthony Hopkins), who narrates throughout the film. In lavish sets and images, Stone shows his vision of Alexander's daily life in the court of his father and portrays the strained relationship between his parents.
Alexander grows up with his mother Olympias (Angelina Jolie) and his tutor Aristotle, where he finds interest in love, honour, music, exploration, poetry and military combat. His relationship with his father is destroyed when Philip marries Attalus's niece, Eurydice.
After Philip is assassinated, Alexander becomes king of Macedonia and the rest of Greece. Having briefly mentioned his punitive razing of Thebes and burning of Persepolis, Ptolemy gives an overview of Alexander's west-Persian campaign, including his declaration as the son of Zeus by the Oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis, his great battle against the Persian Emperor Darius III in the Battle of Gaugamela and his eight-year campaign at Hydaspes against Porus in modern-day Pakistan.
The plot also illustrates Alexander's private relationship with his childhood friend Hephaestion (Jared Leto) and later his wife Roxana (Rosario Dawson). Before succumbing to an unknown illness or poison — it is never revealed which, yet both are suggested —, Alexander distances himself from his wife, despite her being pregnant, believing that she has killed his childhood friend Hephaestion.
The film accurately places Hephaestion in a far closer position to him than Roxanna. It is suggested in the film that Alexander died in part due to the loss of Hephaestion, which occurred less than three months earlier. Early in the film, Hephaestion compares Alexander to Achilles, to which Alexander replies that, if he is Achilles, Hephaestion must be his Patroclus (Achilles's cousin and supposed lover). When Hephaestion mentions that Patroclus died first, Alexander pledges that, if Hephaestion should die first, he will follow him into the afterlife — a promise that Ptolemy observes he apparently kept when he died shortly after his friend.
After conquering Babylon, Alexander admits that Hephaestion is the only person whom he loves. During the film, Hephaestion shows extensive jealousy when he sees Alexander with Roxana and deep sadness when he marries her, going so far as to attempt to keep her away from him after Alexander murders Cleitus the Black in India.
The film also focuses intensively on the close and warped relationship that Alexander shared with his mother Olympias, even though he never saw her after embarking on his long crusades.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Colin Farrell | Alexander The Great |
| Angelina Jolie | Queen Olympias |
| Val Kilmer | King Philip II |
| Jared Leto | Hephaestion |
| Raz Degan | Darius III of Persia |
| Erol Sander | Pharnakes |
| Tsouli Mohammed | Persian chamberlain |
| Annelise Hesme | Stateira I |
| Rosario Dawson | Roxana |
| Connor Paolo | Young Alexander |
| Gary Stretch | Cleitus |
| Christopher Plummer | Aristotle |
| Anthony Hopkins | Ptolemy I Soter |
| Elliot Cowan | Young Ptolemy I Soter |
| Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Cassander |
| Rory McCann | Craterus |
| Francisco Bosch | Bagoas |
| John Kavanagh | Parmenion |
| Joseph Morgan | Philotas |
| Ian Beattie | Antigonus |
| Neil Jackson | Perdiccas |
| Denis Conway | Nearchus |
| Marie Meyer | Eurydice |
| Nick Dunning | Attalus |
| Bin Bunluerit | Porus |
| Toby Kebbell | Pausanias of Orestis |
| Patrick Adolphe | Alexander's servant boy |
| Alif Shinobi | Indian Servant |
| Jaran Ngamdee | Indian Prince |
| Patrick Carroll | Young Hephaestion |
Oliver Stone's director's cut was re-edited before the DVD release later in 2005. Stone removed seventeen minutes of footage and added nine back. This, then, shortened the running time from 175 minutes to 167. The differences between the director's cut and the theatrical version are as follows:
Stone also made an extended version of Alexander. "I'm doing a third version on DVD, not theatrical," he said in an interview with Ropeofsilicon.com. "I'm going to do a Cecil B. Demille three-hour-45-minute thing; I'm going to go all out, put everything I like in the movie. He [Alexander] was a complicated man, it was a complicated story, and it doesn't hurt to make it longer and let people who loved the film [...] see it more and understand it more."
The extended version of the film was released under the title of Alexander Revisited: The Final Unrated Cut on February 27, 2007. The two-disc set featured a new introduction by Stone. "Over the last two years," said he, "I have been able to sort out some of the unanswered questions about this highly complicated and passionate monarch — questions I failed to answer dramatically enough. This film represents my complete and last version, as it will contain all the essential footage we shot. I don't know how many film-makers have managed to make three versions of the same film, but I have been fortunate to have the opportunity because of the success of video and DVD sales in the world, and I felt, if I didn't do it now, with the energy and memory I still have for the subject, it would never quite be the same again. For me, this is the complete Alexander, the clearest interpretation I can offer."[3]
The film is restructured into two acts with an intermission. Alexander: Revisited takes a more in-depth look at Alexander's life and his relationships with Olympias, Philip, Hephaestion, Roxanne and Ptolemy. The film has a running time of three hours and 34 minutes (214 minutes) and is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio. Beyond the new introduction with Stone, there are no other extras, except for a free coupon to the movie 300.[4]
Even prior to its release, there was controversy about the film's depiction of ancient Greek sexual mores or, more specifically, homosexuality. A group of 25 Greek lawyers initially threatened to file a lawsuit against both Stone and the Warner Bros. film studio for what they claimed was an inaccurate portrayal of history. "We are not saying that we are against gays," said Yannis Varnakos, "but we are saying that the production company should make it clear to the audience that this film is pure fiction and not a true depiction of the life of Alexander". After an advanced screening of the film, the lawyers announced that they would not pursue such a course of action.[5]
At the British première of the film, Stone blamed "raging fundamentalism in morality" for the film's US box-office failure.[6] He argued that American critics and audiences had blown the issue of Alexander's sexuality out of proportion.[7] The criticism prompted him to make significant changes to the film for its DVD release, whose cover characterises them as making it "faster paced, more action-packed". this film is the worst film ever
The Macedonians pointed to the ethnic confusion in the film: "We, the Macedonians, the descendents of Alexander’s Macedonians, want to inform you that we reject the movie as historically inaccurate for it is not a true story of Alexander as Stone claims it to be. We are particularly concerned by the “Greekness” that Stone has given to the Macedonian king," a letter sent to the movie critics read.[1] Throughout Oliver Stone’s film there is confusion whether the Macedonians were distinct people or just another Greeks. Ironically the original Synopsis of the film makes the clear distinction between Macedonians and Greeks. There we read: “Alexander led his virtually invincible Greek and Macedonian armies through 22,000 miles…His extraordinary journey begins when Alexander launches his invasion from Macedonia…”
With its attention to historical detail, Alexander also attracted critical scrutiny from historians due to its various factual errors.[8] Most academic criticism was concerned with the insufficient adherence to historical details.[9]
Major objections came from Iranian historians, who were upset by the film's renderings of Persians and Macedonians alike. As an example, Alexander and his troops defeat the Persian army in a single battle in the movie, but Farrokh holds that the real Alexander had to fight several fierce battles before he was able to defeat Darius III. Farrokh also observed that, in the film, the "Macedonian forces are typically shown [to be] very organised, disciplined, and so on, and what's very disturbing is, when the so-called Persians are shown confronting the Macedonians, their armies are totally disorganised. What is not known is that the Persians actually had uniforms. They marched in discipline and music was actually used such as trumpets and so on, to allow them to march in disciplined rank."[10]
In addition to what some critics perceived as the movie's downplaying of Persian imperial forces, King Darius is shown fleeing the Gaugamela battle and abandoning his troops when approached by Alexander, whereas a few historians have pointed out that, from the only known contemporary account, Darius tried to rally his army but was abandoned by his troops.[11] Most Greek historians, however, agree with the film's version of these events.
The final battle against Indian kingdoms, which is considered to have changed Alexander's life forever, is also inaccurately depicted. A famous story holds that, when Alexander won the battle, King Porus was captured and presented to him. "Tell me," said Alexander, "in what way should I treat you?" Porus replied, "Treat me, O Alexander, like a king."[12] Impressed, Alexander befriended him immediately.[13]
Similarly, Alexander is not (contrary to what the movie claims) severely injured by a poison arrow during this battle. This only occurred during a siege later that year against the Mallians in the city of Multan.
One of the principal complaints among US film critics was that Alexander resembled a history documentary more than an action-drama film. Roger Ebert wrote in his review, "[W]e welcome the scenes of battle, pomp and circumstance because at least for a time we are free of the endless narration of Ptolemy the historian".[14]
The kindest criticism came from Daily Variety Magazine, published on November 21, 2004, for which Todd McCarthy wrote, "Oliver Stone's 'Alexander' is at an honorable failure, an intelligent and ambitious picture that crucially lacks dramatic flair and emotional involvement. Dry and academic where Troy was vulgar and willfully a historical success." Manohla Dargis wrote in The New York Times that Alexander "brought out the best of the worst in terms of inaccurate storytelling that lacks planning."
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