Midterm Review CLT3510 Cinematic History The ancient world has been popular in cinema from the start 1890s 1900s Why the appeal o Ancient warfare with its crashing chariots and hand to hand combat make a magnificent spectacle Along with the seductive royalty like Cleopatra and Salome The Silent Era of Film Last Days of Pompeii 1908 Italian o Eruption of Mount Vesuvius Quo Vadis 1912 Italian o Where are you going Christian element Cabiria 1914 Italian o Fiction but about Rome s war with Carthage Intolerance 1916 o Big scale production Ben Hur 1925 o Most expensive film of the silent era 1920 s biblical themes ruled the day Cecil B DeMille American filmmaker Made silent and sound films Acknowledged as a founding father of the Hollywood film industry o First biblical epic The Ten Commandments 1923 was both a critical and financial success Some features of Early Ancient Films Technologically they are at forefront o Feature excess and spectacle big cast big sets big budgets Subject matter is familiar historical novels biblical themes some myths Post WWII Golden Age 1950 s Quo Vadis 1951 The Robe 1953 Spartacus 1960 o Inspired by the life story of the leader of a slave revolt in antiquity Spartacus and the events of the Third Servile War Some General Features Romans are fascists autocratic villans Heroes are simple virtuous underdogs usually Jews slaves Christians Traditional gender roles Spectacular productions expensive action skin but no nudity violence but without too much blood 1960s 70s 1970s 80s Different type of film made differently No blockbusters during these decades but cater to certain niches artsy prono etc Jesus of Nazareth 1977 TV miniseries o A reverent depiction of the life of Christ using the Gospel acoounts I Claudius 1976 TV miniseries o The history of the Roman Empire as experienced by one of its rulers 1990s Resurgence Hercules The Legendary Journeys 1995 1999 TV series Xena Warrior Princess 1995 2001 TV series The Odyssey 1997 Movie o Odysseus hardships trying to return to Greece after his victory in the Trojan War A New Millennium Gladiator 2000 Troy Alexander 300 Greek Mythology word story tale Myth Stories with deeper meanings o The gods and their powers o Explain natural phenomena o Relate origins of beliefs customs practices Greek mythology The Greek Gods collection of such stories from ancient Greece o Zeus king of gods o Hera his wife and sister o Poseidon brother of Zeus god sea o Hades another brother god of the underworld o Demeter grain agriculture o Athena daughter of Zeus goddess of war and wisdom o Aphrodite goddess of love o Thetis a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water one of the 50 Nereids daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus Greek Heroes o Cycles of myths dealing with Historical Events o Perseus archetypal hero Mythical founder of Mycenae important Greek city He is known from multiple sources not a single source no single work is devoted to him His story is broken into four discrete parts I Birth Youth o Perseus and his mother Danae are banished and sent out to sea by Perseus Grandfather King Acrisius after an oracle told the King that one day the son of his daughter would kill him Perseus is the son of Zeus Danae and Perseus landed in Seriphos where Polydectes was king Perseus grew up into a fine strong young man One day Polydectes asked Danae for her hand in marriage and she refused If not for Persues Polydectes would have made Danae marry him by force So he sent Perseus on a quest to get rid of the young man o Polydectes sends Perseus on a quest to get the head of Medusa a Gorgon Medusa had snakes growing out of her head and anyone who looked into her eyes would be petrified While feeling hopeless on his adventure Perseus comes across Athena and Heremes who offer to help him II Perseus and Medusa since they are siblings they are all a children of Zeus They give him a magical cap winged sandals a kibisis wallet pouch and a sickle With the help of Athena Perseus is able to behead Medusa And Pegasus the winged stallion is born from the decapitated Medusa III Perseus and Andromeda o On his way back to Greece Perseus stops in Ethiopia kingdom of Cepheus The kingdom is plagued by a terrible sea monster the Kraken due to insult of Queen Cassiepea claims she s more beautiful than Nereids Andromeda daughter fof Cepheus must be sacrificed to the monster to save the city Perseus kills the monster saving Andromeda and takes her with him back home so they can be wed Phineus the former fianc of Andromeda is mad and wants her back Perseus stones Phineus and followers with Medusa s head IV Perseus returns home o Perseus returns to Seriphos and stones Polydectes Perseus then returns to Agros his birthplace with Danae and Andromeda P finds King Acrisius and kills him Perseus takes the throne of Tiryns and later moves to Mycenae Perseus Myth Some Features Features some typical gender features o Perseus hero is over attached to mother females o He has poor relations with male father figures Arcisius Polydektes and Phineus o Some of his main obstacles are in female form Medusa Clash of the Titans 1981 tells the story of Perseus and his quest Incorporates supernatural elements through special effects Tries to stay true to the feel if not all the details of ancient myth Movie also illustrates several factors typical of the genre of ancient film Throwback to ancient wolrd films of 1950s 60s Critically mixed reviews but commercial success All star cast at least among the gods The Clash of the Titians Perseus and Opening scene of movie based on story of Danae s impregnantion Perseus s birth and their exile by Acrisius punishment of Acrisius More background details sullpied in council of gods when goddesses discuss Zeus s Hence movie starts off with faithful adaptation of the myth But variations from the myth appear soon after opening scene o They re not mistakes but artistic decisions to feature highlight special effects o Changes also made to appeal to modern sensibilities it becomes a love story Most significant feature of Clash is use of stop motion animation to depict monsters villains The Trojan War in Myth and History Best known and most popular myth of ancient Greek culture But o Myth varied in different telling s o Homer s Iliad and Odyssey most famous versions but others existed o Basic outline is the same but some details changed from author to author work to work To the Greeks Trojan war was history Dated it ca 1200 BC 1180 BC Zeus and Thetis