Alexander The Great: The Historical Era Of Alexander The Great

Even though Alexander III of Macedonia, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, only lived to be 32 years old, his accomplishments were so vast it would be impossible to capture them all in a 3-hour Hollywood film. The well-known director, Oliver Stone, spent years studying Alexander and dreaming of making an epic film about his life. Stone's 2004 film, Alexander, was met with reviews that made it sound as if it was mediocre or disappointing, but the problem with it is that in the era of exciting action-driven Hollywood films, Alexander asks viewers to go deeper than they are accustomed. The length of the film was considered too long, but the history of Alexander is so huge that it is actually too short. Since Alexander lived more than 2300 years ago, and much of the information on Alexander's life has been lost over time, it seems to me that Alexander accurately depicts the historical era, Alexander's relationships, battle scenes and the different cultures involved in Alexander's conquests.
One of the main complaints of critics was that Alexander was more like a historical documentary than an action film. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, "We welcome the scenes of battle, pomp and circumstance because at least for a time we are free of the endless narration of Ptolemy the historian.” However, the elderly Ptolemy provides key information throughout as he dictates Alexander's story to his scribe. He tells the scribe that Alexander's empire was not a location, but "an empire of the mind." This film is more like an empire of the mind because although the action scenes are intense, the main focus of the story is the relationships of all the characters.

Weinstein 2 One of the early scenes, depic...

... middle of paper ...

...talus, the uncle of the bride prayed to the gods that they would produce a legitimate heir. As shown in Alexander, this irritated Alexander who threw a cup at Attalus saying, “'You villain...what, am I then a bastard?' Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on the floor. At which Alexander said 'See there..the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another'" (Plutarch, Alexander). Alexander left Macedonia with his mother taking her to stay with her brother, King Alexander I of Epirus. However, Alexander returned to Macedonia six months later after Philip sent a family friend to let him know that Philip had not intended to disown him.