The Streets of Rome
Outside the palace, in the city of Rome, Director Scott also seeks an honest portrayal of Roman life. In the early scenes of Rome, he shows massive avenues peopled by Roman soldiers. He films these through a dark lens, giving a sense of foreboding, power and doom. Interestingly, this approach undercuts his effort to portray authentic city life. The darkness of this part of the film is artistic, but not authentic. One might argue that simply filming the streets does not constitute an advancement but when we compare the street shots in Gladiator we see that the shots are much more detailed than prior movies. In contrast, the film Quo Vadis largely ignores city scenes outside the palace. Similarly, in Spartacus there are few Roman street scenes and those that are included feel contrived and too antiseptic. In contrast, aside from the dark scenes described above, Gladiator reveals in its street scenes, that life was tough and gritty.
A portrayal of every day life in Rome
Interestingly, in Gladiator the houses, and various stores and markets on the streets of Rome all look as though the crew of Gladiator constructed them. However, the majority of these structures were computer generated. Additionally, Director Scott portrays the inhabitants of Rome realistically: they aren’t Hollywood films stars with their hair recently styled, and their clothes recently washed and pressed. This contrasts with the well fed and healthier looking inhabitants of the ancient Rome of Quo Vadis or Spartacus. The female characters in those films were dressed particularly unrealistically, with hairstyles and clothes inspired by styles of 1950’s and early 1960’s America. Scott mostly avoids this look for Gladiator, except for the character Lucilla who appears in far better health than an aristocrat of her era would actually have been.
