FORGOTTEN GEM? Alexander the Great (1956)

                Most people do not realize that Oliver Stone’s “Alexander” was not the first biopic about Alexander the Great.  “Alexander the Great” was released in 1956.  The historical epic was written, directed, and produced by Robert Rossen.  Rossen, who had been a member of the Communist Party, was caught up in the Red Scare of the 1950s.  He was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and took the 5^th.  This resulted in his being blacklisted.  Later, he changed his mind and named names.  “Alexander the Great” was made after the blacklist was lifted.  He wanted Charleston Heston for the lead, but Heston was dubious about the potential of an epic biography.  The movie was made with the cooperation of the Spanish military which provided 5-6,000 extras.  The technical adviser was His Royal Highness Prince Peter of Greece.  That credit was the first signal to viewers that there might be problems with the veracity of the film.  For this review, I have decided to concentrate on the historical accuracy of the film while critiquing it.  I do not think anyone who reads this will watch the movie so I am not going to worry about spoilers.  We will treat this as an exercise in examining how Hollywood of the 1950s dealt with a historical biography of one of the most famous men in history.  It ain’t pretty.

                The movie opens in 356 B.C.  with Philip of Macedonia (Frederic March with both eyes – Philip had lost an eye to a slinger) threatening Greece.  Demosthenes argues for standing up to him.  This is a bit early as Demosthenes did not deliver his first philippic until 352 B.C.  Philip is informed of Alexander’s birth and Olympias (Danielle Darrieux) insists he is a god.  She did claim Zeus was his father.  The movie jumps to Alexander as a teenager with the 29 year old (but looking older) Richard Burton looking ridiculous in an embarrassing training montage.  Philip puts Alexander in charge of pacifying a revolt fomented by Olympias.  This is basically true except Olympias had no role.  Philip remarries to Eurydice and the break with Olympias is complete.  Alexander is on the outs with his father over the break, plus gossip that he is illegitimate and possibly out as heir.  This is true.  Philip and Alexander fight the Battle of Chaeronea against the Greeks.  The opposing armies face each other across a river.  In the battle, Alexander saves his father’s life.  Nothing about this battle is accurate.  There was no river and Alexander did not save his father.  The reenactment is a simplistic mess.  The movie stages a high school play version of the wedding banquet incident where Philip tried to stab his son.  The scene is true.  Olympias plots with Pausanias to kill Philip.  Pausanias stabs the king as he enters a temple and then is killed by Alexander after being captured.  Olympias may have been involved in the assassination, but there is no proof of this.  The murder was similar to as depicted, but Pausanias was killed while fleeing by Alexander’s friends.  The army proclaimed Alexander the new king.  True.

                Alexander invades the Persian Empire.  He throws a spear when he comes ashore in Asia Minor.  This was based on a supposed incident.  The first battle with the Persians is at the River Granicus.  Alexander attacks across a river.  His life is saved by Cleitus (Gustavo Rojo).  The battle ends with the massacre of Memnon’s Greek mercenaries.  Again the battle is ridiculously reenacted, but the basic events are accurate.  Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot in an acceptable rendering of the incident.  The movie skips the Battle of Issus and moves on to Gaugamela.  Alexander refuses to attack at night while Darius III anticipates a surprise attack and keeps his men awake.  Alexander handles the scythed chariots by opening lanes for them to pass through.  Alexander leads a cavalry charge and spears Darius’ chariot driver.  Darius flees.  The movie shows no infantry fighting.  Most of this is accurate except Darius fled from Issus in a chariot.  He was on horseback at Gaugamela.  Alexander captures Darius’ family and later marries his daughter Roxanne.  Darius is killed by his own men but leaves a will that offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to unite the cultures.  Darius’ death is competently handled, but the will is crap.  He did marry one of Darius’ daughters, but the movie is obviously confusing her with his first wife Roxana who he met in India. 

                Barsine (Memnon’s wife) instigates the burning of Persepolis, but Alexander puts a stop to it.  The actual instigator of the burning of the Persian capital was a concubine named Thais and Alexander was on board for it due to alcohol.  A montage of conquests gets the Macedonians to India.  Alexander executes Philotas for plotting, but the movie spends no time giving background on this.  This incident actually happened before India.  As did the murder of Cleitus.  The movie does not clearly explain why Alexander kills him other than it was a dispute over Alexander’s adopting Persian culture.  The death scene is fairly accurate except that Alexander did not spear Cleitus in the back.  It was in the front.  The movie has Alexander turning back from India due to the murder.  This is ludicrous because it does not include the Battle of Hydaspes nor cover the actual cause which was a mutiny by his soldiers brought on by low morale and exhaustion.  Alexander marries Roxane in a mass wedding involving his men and Persian women.  The mass wedding did occur, but Alexander was already married to Roxana.  Alexander did marry Darius’ daughter Stateira (and the daughter of the previous Persian ruler) at the mass wedding.  The movie concludes with Alexander’s death after he collapses at a banquet.  It does not go into the cause(s) of his death.  The movie does not show the excessive drinking at the banquet, but does get the famous last words “to the strongest” right.

                As you have read, the movie is a mixed bag historically.  It manages to hit some of the iconic moments like the cutting of the Gordian Knot.  But then it leaves out Bucephalus and Hephaestion.  There are definitely some head-scratching decisions about what was included in the script and how some of the battles and events were handled.  Some of this may be due to the studio insisting on a shorter cut than what Rossen intended.  This may explain why some of the scenes seem truncated and poorly edited.  It is not surprising the movie does not even hint at Alexander’s homosexuality.  We are talking about 1956 here.  But why would the movie not play up Alexander’s charisma and genius?  Or even hint at his ruthlessness?  His relationship with his soldiers is not covered.  His relationships with the various women in his life are totally screwed up.   Although Chaeronea is a joke, the Battles of Granicus and Gaugamela are satisfactorily done – for a movie.  In sum, the movie has some tutorial value.  You would be better off watching any of the excellent documentaries on Alexander.  Plus the acting is better in the documentaries.

                Nothing about the production is above average.  The acting is poor and Burton is terribly miscast.  It is distracting watching him play Alexander, especially as a teenager.  The sets look fake and the backgrounds are unrealistic. It is painfully clear that you are seeing a painted backdrop on a sound stage. The score is second-rate so it matches the overall vibe.  The dialogue is abysmal.  But as a war movie, the biggest flaw is the laughable battle scenes.  For a supposed epic, the battles are too brief and simplistic.  They are also small scale. This is one of the reasons the movie is boring.  I hate to imagine what Rossen’s directors cut of over three hours would have been like to sit through.  But I still would like to see it.

                “Spartacus” came out just four years after “Alexander the Great” so it was possible back then to do an entertaining epic biopic.  Rossen’s pic is not even close to Kubrick’s.  Both tell the story of charismatic historical figures, but that is the only similarity.  Rossen botches the job and has only himself (and possibly the studio to blame).  After all, he wrote the screenplay and he chose Richard Burton. “Spartacus” had an advantage of a cleaner slate to write on because Spartacus’ biography is sketchy.  But on the other hand, Alexander’s life is well-chronicled and has numerous film-worthy anecdotes.  It should have been more entertaining.

GRADE  =  D

Alexander (2004)

       “Alexander” was Oliver Stone’s (“Platoon”) endeavor to bring an epic biography of Alexander the Great  to the big screen.  You have to admire his commitment to the project.  It could be argued that there was no great demand for this biopic.  The box office receipts tended to confirm that.  The movie cost a whopping $155 milllion and although it eventually covered them, it was not a box office success.  Stone was man enough to admit that the finished product was flawed, so he made three more finished products.  First, there was the “Director’s Cut” which amazingly was shorter than the original.  Say what?!   The second was called “Alexander Revisited:  The Final Unrated Cut”.  The third is the one I am reviewing here.  It is entitled “The Ultimate Cut”.  It clocked in at 3:26 as opposed to the original’s 2:55.  I assume that for the twentieth anniversary he will issue the “Absolutely Ultimate Final I’m Not Kidding This Is Really the Last Cut Cut”. 

                The movie opens with a quote from Virgil:  “Fortune favors the bold”.  If you had to choose a quote to exemplify Alexander (Colin Farrell), that is an appropriate one.  Stone chooses to flashback from Alexander’s death (a common biopic opening) so we immediately know that this is going to be a tame Stone movie.  Not the gonzo movie maker that he sometimes is.  He also uses the narration technique with Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) reminiscing from post-Alexander Alexandria.  This is an immediate clue that the movie will not be anti-Alexander.  Ptolemy was a friend of Alexander and owed him a lot.  The flashing goes back to Alexander’s childhood.  Stone establishes the dysfunctionality of Alexander’s family by portraying Philip (Val Kilmer) and Olympias (Angelina Jolie) as two wolverines in a burlap sack.  Oh, and the young Alex is in the sack, too.  Could this have affected his personality?  Stone thinks so.

                Stone hops through key moments in Alexander’s life to get to the Battle of Gaugamela.  These include his tutoring by Aristotle, his acquisition of his horse Bucephalus, and his contretemps with his father at Philip’s wedding banquet.  From that falling out, the movie makes an eight-year leap to his last battle with the Persians.  Gaugamela is the movie’s big set piece and it is epic.  Alexander and his generals discuss the plan the night before.  There is a spirited debate on whether and when to attack.  Alexander talks to individual soldiers before the battle and then gives a Braveheartesque speech about free men versus slaves.  The battle itself is large scale with graphic violence.  The recreation is simplistic, but satisfactory unless you are obsessed with accuracy.  Stone uses an eagle eye’s view (literally) to show the battlefield.  However, for those unfamiliar with the battle, there is a lot of “the fog of war”. 

                From Gaugamela, we return to some anecdotal hopping to reach India and the last battle.  Some of the scenes are soap operaish as Alexander meets his wife Roxana (Rosario Dawson), but does not completely jilt his longtime BFF Hephaestion (Jared Leto).  The film definitely come down on the side of the historical debaters that argue that Alexander was bisexual.  Alexander and Roxana reenact what Philip and Olympia’s wedding night must have been like.  I guess you could make the case that the movie has three battle scenes.  Meanwhile, outside the bedrooms, Alexander has to deal with dissension amongst his men.  Alexander is going Persian on them and not everyone is obsessed with seeing what’s on the other side of the next hill.  For reasons that defy the otherwise linear nature of the narrative, Stone throws in a flash back to Philip’s death.

                Since it’s time for more fighting, the movie suddenly arrives at the Battle of Hydaspes in India.  There is not even enough time for the name of the battle or any other background, for that matter. The money shot comes with Alexander and Bucephalus facing off with a war pachyderm.  Stone uses a red tinge to the cinematography because a second battle needs to be different.  Hymnal music tells the uninformed that the conquering is over.  It’s full circle back to the death scene.

                “Alexander” deserves a better reputation. It did not become this generation’s “Spartacus”, but it is superior to that film is some ways.  No doubt it does not have the charisma of the earlier epic.  This may be due to the fact that Stone shows uncharacteristic restraint.  The only pizazz is in the red-tinged scene.  Stone also does not dig deep into the controversies of Alexander’s career and personality.  He is timid on the homosexuality angle, but he does take a firm position backing the bisexuality theory.  Stone clearly means for the movie to present the positive Alexander.  The movie spends little time on the ruthless Alexander.  This is not “Patton” where audience members left the theater arguing over whether the director was pro or con toward his subject.  Stone made a decision to come down on the side of most historians.

                The movie is epic in its casting.  For the most part the actors do a fine job.  Jolie is stunt casting, but she probably is the closest to an Olympia as Hollywood has.  She does not get to do much.  She reminded me of Marlon Brando in the first “Superman”.  By the way, she is about the same age as Colin Farrell.  Val Kilmer chews scenery as Philip, but you get what you pay for.  He gained 50 pounds for the role so kudos for that.  Farrell gets the personality right, if not the accent.  The character development is commendable and considering the size of the cast an effort was made to develop Alexander’s officers. 

                The movie is a blend of action, exposition, and battles.  The battles are well done.  The combat is of the new variety.  Frenetic mixed with slo-mo.  The CGI is seamless and the elephants are remarkable.  Stone also took advantage of many Moroccans to give the Persian army some size.  The battles are the highlights and the other scenes are a mixed bag.  Most attempt to reenact famous moments in Alexander’s life.  These are fun to watch if you are already familiar with the stories.  The dialogue does not stand out, but the movie excels in the discussions between Alexander and his generals. 

                The movie comes off as “Alexander’s Greatest Hits” as it hits almost all the stories a teacher would tell to make a unit on Alexander interesting.  And the truth is that, unlike Hannibal for instance, we have a trove of memorable anecdotes about Alexander.  It’s cool seeing them acted out.  Just covering those high spots took over three hours of screen time.  To truly do Alexander’s life justice and not just cover the hits, the movie would have to be mini-series size.  As it is, Stone has had to compress time and combine events.  Some events and characters are out of place in time.  None of this is historical deal breaking.  The movie is actually above average in accuracy for a biopic.  Better than its closest equivalent “Spartacus”.  The reason “Spartacus” is the superior film is partly due to the fact that because we know so little about Spartacus, Dalton Trumbo could construct a thoroughly entertaining epic.  Plus he had a cast that makes “Alexander” blush.

                Alexander is the most famous figure in Ancient History, so he certainly deserves a movie.  In fact, two.  Considering that the Richard Burton 1956 movie did not do him justice, Stone was justified in revisiting him.  Although his film is not perfect, it is as good as we could expect in our modern cinema that is averse to historical epics.  Now let’s move on to “Hannibal” please!

GRADE  =  B-

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  “Alexander” was based on historian Robin Lane Fox’s biography.  His Alexander the Great is considered one of the best. Lane acted as an uncredited advisor on the film and was paid by being allowed to participate in the Companion cavalry charge in the Battle of Gaugamela dressed as a Macedonian officer. Having read extensively on Alexander (I role play him in my Western Civilization course), I feel I can weigh in on the accuracy of the movie.  I have decided to take the major scenes and briefly critique them.

1.       Olympias was a maenad which means she was a member of the female cult of Dionysus.  The cult was associated with snakes so it is appropriate to have her with one. 

2.       Although the relationship of Philip and Olympias was dysfunctional, it is a stretch to have Philip trying to rape and strangle her.

3.       The line “It was said later that Alexander was never defeated, except by Hephaestion’s thighs” is attributed to Diogenes, but it may have been “fake news” from back then.  There is no proof that Alexander and Hephaestion were lovers.  I (and most historians) personally think they were, so the movie is not out on a limb with this depiction of their relationship.

4.       The movie has Aristotle discouraging the conquest of Persia which is the opposite of the truth.  Alexander’s tutor, in fact, had a grudge against Persia for the sacking of Athens and passed this on to his student.

5.       The acquisition of Bucephalus conforms to most versions of the story.

6.       The Battle of Gaugamela is a blending of Issus and Gaugamela (with a bit of Granicus thrown in).  The numbers are acceptable.  The debate between Alexander and his generals is realistic.  The battle was a complex one that is adequately reenacted.  Some historians propose the mouse trap tactic for dealing with the scythed chariots, but I am of the opinion that the phalanx opened lanes for the chariots to go through and did not try to block their path.  The incident where Cleitus severed the arm of an enemy that was about to kill Alexander actually happened in the Battle of Granicus.  Alexander did not get off his horse and did not hurl a spear at Darius III.  The chariot escape was from Issus.  Alexander did get a request for support from Parmenion.  Alexander was not wounded in this battle.

7.       Darius daughter did mistake Hephaestion for Alexander.

8.       Roxana did do a sexy dance that caught Alexander’s attention.  Most likely he married her out of lust rather than any political, cultural, or heir reason.  Their relationship is not well chronicled so the movie is able to be imaginative.  It seems likely that she was jealous of Hephaestion and that Alexander quickly lost interest in her.

9.       The Page Plot is blended with the supposed plot by Philotas.  Philotas was executed for not revealing a plot and his father Parmenion was murdered to avoid his attempting revenge.  Alexander’s resident historian Callisthenes was executed for encouraging the page plot.

10.    It is conjecture as to whether Alexander and Bagoas were intimate.  It is reasonable for the movie to imply it.

11.    The murder of Cleitus comes too late as he was killed before the army reached India.  The circumstances and cause is accurate by most accounts.

12.    Philip’s death is accurate.

13.    The withdrawal from India combines two incidents.  Both occurred after the Battle of Hydaspes, not before.  Alexander actually backed down when his men mutinied and grudgingly returned home.  Weirdly, the movie shows the monsoon, but does not link it to the lowering of morale that contributed to the mutiny.  The execution of the mutineers was a separate incident.

14.    The Battle of Hypaspes (hey movie, that was the name) is poorly handled.  It was not in a forest but along a river on a plain.  The enemy was led by King Porus and did use war elephants, but Alexander’s infantry was never in trouble.  In fact, the cavalry was troubled by the elephants so Alexander would not have ridden to the rescue.  It is debatable if Bucephalus was still alive at this battle.  Most likely he was, but too old for Alexander to have ridden him in combat.  He certainly was not wounded in the battle and neither was Alexander and certainly not by Porus.  That was a low moment in the movie.  Then the movie doubles down by implying that the reason for the return home was due to Alexander’s injury. 

15.    The crossing of the Gedrosian Desert is screwed up.  It was not the quickest way home.  Alexander choose this extremely difficult route to punish his men for their mutiny.

16.    Hephaestion did die of a fever, but Alexander did not blame Roxana. 

17.    Alexander’s death is accurate.  His last words are usually recorded as “to the strongest”.

ACCURACY GRADE  =  C+

Alexander

              In 2004, Oliver Stone released his take on Alexander the Great.  Historians and other intelligent people feared what the “JFK” director might do to another historical topic.  It turned out “Alexander” was closer in integrity to “Born on the Fourth of July”.  I would hate to think that was a reason why “Alexander” was a flop.  Perhaps people prefer outrageous raping of history as in “JFK” to bland retelling like in “Alexander”.

                The movie opens with a quote from Vergil – “Fortune favors the bold”.  However, the movie makes a stronger case that fortune favors the sexually dysfunctional.  The movie opens like many a biographical epic by depicting the death of Alexander (Colin Ferrell), thus preventing the terrible shock to the audience if the hero was to die at the end.  An old man, Alexander’s friend Ptolemy, narrates from here.  We find out that Alexander was the product of squabbling parents.  Philip (Val Kilmer) and Olympias (Angelina Jolie) are in lust, but definitely not in love.  Poor little Alex.  On the plus side, he does have the greatest tutor in history (Aristotle) and the best horse (Bucephalus).  After hitting these three points, the movie suddenly jumps to the final battle with the Persians – the Battle of Gaugamela.  Ptolemy uses a map to get us there, but neglects to mention that two major battles and a famous siege proceeded Gaugamela.

                The Battle of Gaugamela is the big set piece.  It is epic in scale as seen literally from an eagle eye’s view.  The battle is a mixture of accuracy, inaccuracy, and accurate, but wrong battle. The phalanx (portrayed by 1500 trained Moroccan soldiers) is authentic as are the weapons and equipment.  Philip’s scythed chariots are dealt with tactically using the disputed “mousetrap” tactic.  The movie shifts from right, center, to left so it can be confusing,  especially for a battle that is confusing even for military historians.  There is a lot of “fog of war” here, or I should say “dust of war”.   Alexander experts will sniff that he did not fight on foot, his life was not saved at this battle by Cleitus (that was Granicus), Alexander does not throw a spear at Darius III, and Darius escaped on a horse instead of a chariot (that was Issus).  Still, its an acceptable rendering of a complicated battle.

                From this peak the movie grinds to a halt in Babylon with a lengthy discussion between Alexander and his more than BFF Hephaestion (Jared Leto).  Hephaestion is less than thrilled when his boyfriend marries a seductress named Roxana.  The movie has Roxane working hard to kindle Alexander’s heterosexual urges when the reality was that Alexander was more asexual than anything else and lost interest in Roxane soon after the marriage.  She was more of sad lamb than the determined tigress of the film. 

                At this point, Stone jettisons the linear structure and begins to bounce around hitting some of the greatest hits of Alexander lore.  We get hits like:  the executions of Philotas and Parmenion, Philip’s wedding banquet, and the killing of Cleitus.  All of them are admirably accurate.

                This leads up to the other big set piece battle which is not identified but is obviously the Battle of Hydaspes in India.  For some reason (probably to contrast with Gaugamela’s dusty plains), Stone stages this in a  jungle instead of on open ground along a river.  This is not the only dubious decision.  The elephant charge on the phalanx is well done.  The combat is frenetic and chaotic.  Alexander leads the cavalry to the rescue when in reality the elephant-fearing horses had to be rescued by the steady foot soldiers.  The cinematography is blood tinged and the action is surrealistic.  The climax is Alexander’s duel with an elephant which results in his and Bucephalus being wounded.  In reality, Alexander took an arrow during a later siege and he did not agree to return to Babylon because of the close call with death.  The movie concludes with Alexander’s death.

                The movie did not deserve the critical beating it took.  Some of that was probably residual animosity towards the pompous Oliver Stone who is actually pretty restrained here.  The task he undertook was daunting.  Alexander deserves a mini-series instead of a greatest hits montage.  And by the way, who chose to leave out the “Gordian knot” episode?  The movie is flawed because of the overemphasis on Alexander’s sexuality, something that would have puzzled Alexander and the Macedonians in general.  The screen time given to Roxane and Olympias is overblown as are their depictions.  Obviously Stone forced Angelina Jolie into more than was justified (especially considering she stayed clothed).

                The all-star cast is a disappointment.  Colin Ferrell is not up to the task of portraying one of the most charismatic figures in history.  The best comparison would be to Brad Pitt in “Troy”.  Pitt was much better in playing a similar personality.  Val Kilmer and Angelina Jolie are almost stunt casting.  The sets (especially the palace in Babylon) are awesome and the costumes match them.  The score was forgettable.  The action is epic, but there is also a lot of exposition and soap operaish moments.

                Cracker?  Sorry, no.  Alexander is still awaiting a great movie.

Rating -  6/10

POSTER -  It does have some of the main characters featured prominently and Ferrell mimics the side profile that Alexander favored.  It's a bit busy though and some of the peripherals are unclear.  It does refelct the movie fairly well.  Grade - B

the trailer

Roxane dance scene