The Themes of Revenge, Power, Duty and Honor in The Gladiator

The Themes of Revenge, Power, Duty and Honor in The Gladiator

The main themes of this film are revenge and power, duty and honour.

The main man of the film is Maximus; he is a general in the Roman

Army. He was a farmer in Spain; he is married and has a son. The

emperor is a good old man and likes Maximus more than his own son. The

emperor wants Maximus to be the next leader, instead of his own son

Commenus. Commenus is jealous and gets Maximus set up as a traitor

after killing his own father. Commenus has a sister, she wants a

relationship with Maximus, but Maximus tells her it's not possible as

he is married. When Maximus finds out he is going to be executed he

escapes. Then finds out his wife and son have also been killed by

Commenus. Maximus starts to hate Commenus and vows revenge on him.

The government of Rome don't like Commenus because they think he can't

manage the people of Rome. Commenus decides to have gladiator fights

in the Coliseum to keep people 'happy'. Maximus gets captured by a

slave trader and gets sold to become a gladiator. He wins every fight

and becomes popular; eventually he fights his way up to Rome. Maximus

called himself 'the Spaniard'. Caesar wants to meet the Spaniard and

when he does he finds out its Maximus. That is when Maximus tells

Caesar he is going to kill him. Caesar then finds out his sister is

helping Maximus to escape and threatens her. After that he Caesar

stabs Maximus in the dungeon. Maximus has his last battle even though

he is wounded; he has a fight with Commenus and kills him. He also

dies himself.

In the opening of the film the producer uses warm colours, like yellow

which si...

... middle of paper ...

...nger. After the galloping horse with the headless

soldier on him comes running in, a loud angry voice speaks in

Germanium, language. Even though it is not understandable but the tone

of his voice indicates he is very angry. Maximus speaks in a very calm

way as though he is not bothered but it just shows he is a patient

person. As the Romans prepare for battle there is very few voices.

Maximus raises his voices so his men can hear him, he then cracks a

joke and silence is broken with laughter. During the battle there is

no speech just a lot of angry voices and a lot of shouting and

screaming.

I think Ridley Scott is on Maximus's side, because the story revolves

around him, Ridley Scott has written Maximus to be the main character.

The camera is mainly focused on Maximus. At the end of the film

Maximus has victory.