Blu-ray Review: Cleopatra (1963)

"Surely Cleopatra will come to mark the end of a Hollywood era... There will always be movies of course, and presumably better ones than there ever were before; and yet they won't be quite as grand, as foolish, as wonderful as they used to be." These were the prophetic words of Cleopatra publicist Nat Weiss, written in 1962 after his first viewing of the film. He's not wrong: you don't get films more grand or more foolish than Cleopatra, whose production woes are perhaps more legendary than the film itself. Star illnesses, production delays, director firings, studio relocations, and the real-life celebrity romance of celebrity romances - this one had the lot.

Cleopatra the film often tends to get lost in all the hype and controversy, but is that fair? Rewatching it here on this 50th annivesary Blu-ray (technically a year early), the film's myriad flaws are as evident as ever, but they are counterbalanced by the sheer opulent splendour of the thing, looking as good here as it has, I would imagine, since its first 70mm screenings. The budget may not entirely show on screen - it's hard to fathom quite how it cost three times Ben-Hur, released just four years earlier - but it nevertheless frequently wows with its grandeur. Unusually for an epic, it's rather light on action; there's no chariot race equivalent, but the scale of the sets, opulence of the decor and sheer numbers of extras in many scenes tick all the usual boxes, and then some. The enterprise itself screams hubris; most dramatists through history have chosen to depict either the love affair between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra or her later romance with Mark Antony; this film covers both, giving it a slightly awkward two-part structure.

The script is more focused on character than plot, which in the long run has benefited the film. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz took it upon himself to completely rewrite the script, which he did concurrently with the shoot. Given, therefore, that this is effectively a sprawling, unrefined first draft, it's a credit to him that it's as well written and literate as it is. The dialogue mostly avoids the stilted woodenness that often comes with the epic territory, and the cast, without exception, deliver it excellently. Rex Harrison won most of the plaudits for his Caesar, who gets the more light-hearted half of the film, but Richard Burton as Antony is arguably better, with a more difficult arc to navigate (as co-star Martin Landau says on the commentary, Ceasar is destroyed from without, i.e. by external forces, whereas Antony self-destructs). Of course, record breaking title star Elizabeth Taylor is everpresent, and herself proves undeserving of the criticism that came her way; she's a commanding figure, every bit the equal of her two on-screen lovers.

Mankiewicz originally intended for the story to be told in two separate three-hour films, but new Fox studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck (brought on board to right the sinking ship caused by the overexpenditure on Cleopatra) decreed that it must be edited down to one film, in large part to capitalise on the incredible publicity of the Burton-Taylor love affair. The very long single film that resulted is therefore truncated from its original version, which has never seen the light of day and seems to be lost. Even abridged it sometimes feels bloated and slow, but it builds up steam in the second half, leading to a last hour that is gripping with its predestined tragic ending.

The film is very much a product of its time. Its visual style is dated; most of the indoor sets are overlit with few shadows to speak of, giving a very stagey feel and actually making it sometimes look cheap; while the costumes (especially Taylor's) look more like products of a 1960s fashion catwalk than circa 50 BC, stunning as they are. As such the more naturalistic and modern visual style of Ben-Hur is forgotten in favour of the old-fashioned studio look. For modern eyes it takes a viewing or two to be able to overlook the film's faults, but once you can an underrated drama emerges; one that, perhaps, warrants more attention that its epic contemporaries.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: 50th Anniversary Edition / Discs: 2 / Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Presentation
The picture is extremely good. Although not mentioned anywhere, there must have been a restoration done from the original large format film elements, because it's pristine; detail is immense and there's no print damage or dirt to speak of. It's not quite the equal of Warners' recent Ben-Hur release but the lower contrast cinematography isn't quite as conducive to dynamic eye candy. Colours are on the restrained side which works in the film's favour, lessening the artificiality of the sets.

The soundtrack comes in 5.1 DTS-HD and 4.0 Dolby Digital; neither make much use of the rears other than for Alex North's excellent score but there is a decent spread across the front channels.

Extras
Nearly all of the extras in the DVD Special Edition find their way to these two Blu-ray discs (the film spans both discs), including the superb 2-hour documentary "The Film that Changed Hollywood", which has an enjoyably wide scope beyond the usual talking heads. The commentary is also replicated; it's very good and informative but slightly odd in that the participants take it in turns, Martin Landau talking for the first 90 minutes, followed by a hour of Tom Mankiewicz and so on; they're not edited together and rarely comment on the specific scene in front of them. A few new additions include an enticingly titled featurette, "Cleopatra's Lost Footage", which discusses the missing footage rather than unveils any (it's lost, OK?).



Summary
A big, dated, ungainly, marvellous mess of a film. Cleopatra doesn't really work by any usual measures but its sheer bravado, scale and that love affair make it an epic for the ages.