TV-14 or PG-13 for violence and adult content
Other titles: JULIO CESAR (Spanish), GUILIO CESARE (Italian); JULIJE CEZAR (Yugoslavia)
Fan Review by Mari, July 2003
I read in some article on the internet that Jeremy is finished playing historical icons. One part of me says, "Aw, shucks, you're so good at it!!!" He has that exotic ethnic look that fits in with any historical icon, except, maybe Adolf Hitler!!! And he's proven he can definitely do a historical icon justice. So, aw shucks, I say. The other part of me says, "These TV networks cut out so much to fit in their darn commercials that oh well, Jeremy's right!!!" I DID think the little Taco Bell Stuft Caesar Burrito thingie was kinda cute (Remember??? "Seized by Caesar"???), but on the other hand, it was the kind of thing that I was surprised didn't appear in TV Guide's "Cheers N Jeers" page!!! So Jeremy, even if you change your mind later, I agree with you. You played Jesus, you played Caesar...you can't get much more "icon" than that!!!
Now on to the review. I don't remember CAESAR getting nearly the attention JESUS got, and I'm not sure why this is. Not to say I liked CAESAR better, but it could be that CAESAR is a better film than JESUS, simply because TNT didn't chop up this film as badly as CBS chopped up JESUS. But also, it seems that while Jeremy played a very human Jesus, fun, loving, playful, yet benevolent and serious about his calling in life, we all already KNOW Jesus Christ as the kindest, most long-suffering human being who ever lived.
So Jeremy Sisto, in my opinion, had an even BIGGER job of making somebody human and sympathetic in CAESAR. Julius Caesar is just as famous a name as Christ Jesus, but what the general public knew before this film aired was pretty limited. He was Emperor of Rome (or nearly was), he had an affair with Cleopatra, he was bisexual, his fellow Senators conspired to murder him, and after his death, Cleopatra and Marc Antony fell in love and committed suicide. All this had been covered in movies like CLEOPATRA starring Elizabeth Taylor and CLEOPATRA starring Billy Zane and Leonor Varela as Marc Antony and the Queen, respectively, and actor Timothy Dalton, playing the older (of course) Caesar. Sisto had the duty of making a man known as one with ruthless ambitions into a human being we can at least feel something for. True, Caesar wasn't nearly as cuddly or loveable or given to bubbles of laughter as Jesus was, but Sisto still made him human, a man not as ready to laugh, not as compassionate for his enemies, but one who was devoted to family and friends, very very human.
LITTLE CAESAR
As mentioned by many promotional articles, not much had been known about Caesar's younger years. After much research was conducted by the filmmakers of Five Mile River Films, the story came to light that Caesar had married very young and had already had an 8 or 9 year old daughter by the time he was barely 20. That would make him only 12 or 13 when he married. Well, I'm no authority on such matters, but remember, there is a very famous Shakespearean play about two young lovers who are about that same age. So...
Caesar is around 20 when we meet him. Lucius Sulla (Richard Harris) had returned from a war somewhere, and has broken one of the most respected Roman laws: Never cross the Rubicon River with armed men. Sulla muscles his way into the city and immediately tacks up a list of people he wants dead. Caesar's father in law, Cinna, is among the blacklisted. In spite of Caesar's bravery, Cinna is murdered and Caesar is arrested and is most surely headed for the death chamber himself. Sulla smugly offers Caesar a chance to save his own life; all he has to do is divorce his wife. But Caesar refuses, much to our surprise, and much to the surprise of Magnus Pompey (played by Chris Noth), Sulla's most trusted henchman. Impressed and touched by Caesar's devotion to his wife, Pompey secretly assists Caesar's escape to the land of Bithynia, which is near present day Turkey, I think. En route, he is kidnapped by pirates and held for ransom in Crete, and later reaches Bithynia, where he remains for 2 years.
While Caesar is gone, his wife becomes ill with some undisclosed disease. I've also entertained the notion that she just plain withered away from the stress of not knowing if her husband was dead or alive. Sulla also dies, and his reign of terror ends. Caesar is free to come home, and the Roman Senate is ready to begin a Democracy.
Cornelia (I like to call her Corney in fun!!!) dies not long after her husband's return from exile, and when Caesar holds a public funeral for her and describes her as one who lived for and loved Rome, he becomes a nearly instant celebrity in town. His daughter Julia becomes his entire life, and the interaction between them is wonderful. As far as romance in Caesar's life, there seems to be none for at least a decade following the death of Corney. As for his reputation as a bed-hopper, I believe the historians meant that later in life, after attaining some degree of political prowess, he probably had lots of lady friends. But as a young person, having loved Corney as he did, he probably didn't fool around a whole lot, if at all. I am kinda glad they didn't depict a lot of this aspect of Caesar's life, aren't you??? I mean, the three beautiful women that DID make it into this version were ENOUGH to give me a complex!!! LOL!!!
SEIZED BY CALPURNIA
Grateful for Pompey's kindness in the heat of Sulla's rage, Caesar helps Pompey get the support of the Senate for the assignment of going off to Crete and getting rid of the Pirates who are barring the distribution of grain into Rome. The citizens of Rome are hungry and angry, so off Pompey goes to fight. While he is gone, Julia grows into a lovely young woman and catches his eye upon his return. At this same time, during Pompey's triumphant parade, Caesar meets a woman named Calpurnia. He meets her in the most unusual manner, while he is having a grand mal epileptic seizure.
I am not certain as to whether or not historians dispute the fact that he had epilepsy, but, fact or fiction, Caesar's affliction seemed to add depth to the character. As Sisto said in TV guide, and I am paraphrasing most likely, "He had an emotional need for control [because he felt he could not] control his body." Calpurnia immediately captures your heart with her sweetness and completely un-fake compassion for Caesar. Later, they see each other at Pompey's party, and stare each other down until she spills a cup of wine all over the table. Not only is she beautiful, with her curly red hair and huge green eyes, she is funny and clumsy...Ah...a match made in heaven!!!
Alas, even after they marry, Caesar, who has been very ambitious since becoming a Consul for the Senate, gets to go to the land of Long Haired Gaul to fight and win their rich farmland for Rome. Most of the middle of the film is spent on the War in Gaul. Eight long stubborn years Caesar and his legions occupy Gaul, and while they are separated, he and Calpurnia keep in touch only by writing.
During this eight year period, Caesar's character undergoes a change, and not really for the better. The young lad we liked so much in the beginning, the one who was faithful and loyal to Cornelia has become even more ambitious, seized (excuse the pun) by a insatiable desire to expand Rome. He wants it "boundless".
It is during the war, too, that Caesar learns that his daughter Julia gave birth to a baby boy but that both of them died. Caesar is changed ever further by this tragic news, and after his victory, he returns only briefly to Calpurnia before deciding to chase Cato and Pompey, now enemies, to Africa.
In Egypt, Caesar meets Pothinus, a high priest who has an agenda regarding keeping 12 year old Ptolemy secured to the throne. Ptolemy's sister, Cleopatra, barely 17 or 18, has been feuding with her younger brother over rights to the throne for some while now. So we learn quite quickly that this young woman is just as hungry for political power as Caesar is. "We are alike," she tells him, and begs him to make her queen of Egypt so that she can do away with Pothinus and Ptolemy both. Caesar agrees, because Pothinus has brutally murdered his old friend/enemy Pompey. Pothinus mistakenly thinks Caesar wanted Pompey dead, but what Caesar might have really wanted was Pompey's apology, or a renewed oath of allegiance. Because you can tell Caesar is anguished to find out Pompey was killed.
Of course, Cleopatra being the cunning stunner she is, Caesar is seduced into more than just a political merger.I could certainly feel the pain of betrayal so vividly portrayed on Callie's face when she finds out that her spouse is cheating on her with a teenager!!! "It hurts to have to watch my husband PERFORM for Egypt every night in order to keep that land's riches flowing into Rome!!! Between you and Cleopatra, I don't know WHO IS THE CONCUBINE!!!"
In spite of everything Calpurnia tells him, Caesar goes on with his affair with the young Queen, and to add insult to Callie's injury, Cleo gives birth to a baby boy named Caesarion.
At this point, Caesar has sealed his own fate. The Senate, still angry over the deaths of Pompey and Cato (who committed suicide in Utica), plots an elaborate scheme to rid Rome of Caesar, whom they believe is the next wicked Sulla in the making.
Upon his triumphant return from Gaul, an older man had warned Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March!!!" Not much later, poor neglected long-suffering Calpurnia has a dream that her husband is stabbed to death. You know how it ends if you've seen the miniseries. Pretty sad. After Caesar's death, the Empire he helped create fell to pieces little by little. Augustus Caesar came to power, and declared Marc Antony and Cleopatra, now lovers, outlaws. Cleopatra committed suicide by allowing a poisonous snake to bite her, and Caesarion, the little boy, was killed by Augustus in a last gesture to prevent any decendant of Julius Caesar from claiming a right to the throne. In spite of every effort to maintain democracy, the Roman government crashed.
The Cast:
Jeremy Sisto as GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR
Chris Noth as MAGNUS POMPEY
Richard Harris as LUCIUS SULLA
Christopher Walken as MARCUS CATO
Valeria Golino as PISONIS CALPURNIA
Samuela Sardo as CLEOPATRA VII
Daniella Piazza as CINNALLIA CORNELIA
Heino Ferch as VERCINGETORIX
Nicole Grimaudo as JULIA
Christopher Ettridge as APPOLONIUS
Ian Duncan as BRUTUS
and Tobias Moretti as CASSIUS
Directed by ULI EDEL
From: Five Mile River Films
Original air date: 06/29/03 on TNT
DVD info
Region 1 DVD USA/CANADA from Good Times HE
Special Features: Making of featurette
Pix from CAESAR
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