Emotions In The Film Gladiator

Within this essay I will describe and elaborate on a specific scenes in the movie Gladiator. I will explain in specific detail the physical affects, and analyze the emotional affect it has on the viewer. I will also discuss the atmosphere and the detailed themes, the camera positioning, and how the emotions of the audience are manipulated and changed. I will give a conclusion giving my opinion of how the movie scenes are very useful in creating emotion in the audience.

The first scene in Gladiator has many different meanings and purposes. It has to fill in the audience with specific information, in a small scene. The time and place (Germane, 185AD) must be explained so that the scene can be established quickly. The most important character

(Meximas,) has to be shown, so the audience can decide who they are rooting for before the beginning of the battle. It is imperative the audience has a certain character to relate to from the beginning of the movie, so that the audience can follow the character through his trials and tribulations in order to develop an emotional connection.
The beginning retells specifics that help in understanding certain parts of the scipt. For example; 'a battle is about to commence.' It also introduces particular themes, such as strength, freedom and loyalty. For the first few scenes, I will look at and explain how the atmosphere, themes and pieces of information are expressed.
The movie begins with muted colors, implying doom and gloom. Those particular colors that were chosen portray that the setting is in the past. It seems that the opening is preparing the audience for death and destruction. Nothing about the opening implies cheeriness. The musical score is also dreary and basically, sad.

There are some writings at the beginning but they are kept short in order to be read easily. If the writings were too long, people would lose interest or may not be able to keep up with it at all. The writings depict history and give relevant background. The background is necessary to set the tone and give the viewer an understanding of the overall tone of the entire movie.
Maximus’ hand is shown in a close up scene. It is his left hand and he has (what appears to be) a wedding band on his ring finger. This is showing that he is married. There are also kids playing, which lets you know that he has a family. All of a sudden the music and scenery changes to colorless and gloomy to show that he is having a dream about his happy family and in reality he is leaving them for battle.

The next close up is of the character’s face showing his feelings and the sadness in his eyes. It wants you to see that he’s human and is affected by the anger and fighting. He is only doing what he is told to do. The next scene is showing how big and strong Maximus is by a close up of his body and specifically, his broad shoulders loaded down with metal armor. Superiority is definitely the implication here.

The scene of Maximus and the robin is used to indicate that there is hope of survival, because the dark colors are brightened up by the robin. A robin is territorial which again can illustrate that Maximus is superior. Also, a robin symbolizes death in the family and at the
end of the film, Maximus' family are killed. This could mean that it is used as some sort of warning for the audience.

The camera follows Maximus as he walks past his men, cutting from him to them. The camera moves slowly, but flashes quickly from peoples' faces. This camera technique is called tracking. It shows he is calming, but there is a lot going on around him. Also from the way the
men are looking at him, it shows that they respect him. In most of the shots, Maximus is in the center. This demonstrates to the audience that he is the main character and very important.

For the last few shots, I will concentrate on how the director, Ridley Scott tries to get the audience to feel certain emotions about the situations. It is important that they are able to show various emotions and reactions with Maximus and the other characters throughout the film. The first scene which I will focus on is the arrival of the headless messenger. The audience are supposed to be shocked by this surprisingly awful encounter and experience fear towards the Germans. It also shows that the Germans are not going to give up easily. The audience are supposed to feel hatred towards the Germans, even though they are only protecting their land, and it is the Romans who are conquering them.

The leader of the Germans has no respect for the Romans.

He is portrayed as being inferior to the Romans. This is done, by him rolling in the mud and by the audience not being able to understand what he is saying. People watching are expected to prefer Maximus

instead of the Barbarian.

The Barbarian Horde is different to the Roman troop in many ways. The

Germans are portrayed as being savages and a rabble, whereas the Romans are more civilized and organized. The audience can understand this, because the Romans are well-equipped with weapons to match their uniforms. They also have a hierarchy of different people, whereas the

Germans improvise, using axes or clubs and are very dirty. The Romans are also physically more attractive than the Germans who have beards!

One of the main themes in this film is loyalty. This is demonstrated perfectly by the dog's loyalty for Maximus. It shows companionship and is protective towards Maximus. The dog is used, because people show more sympathy towards animals than they do towards people. This is because of the amount of violence that goes on in real life becomes tedious and isn't sympathized with as much. There could also be another reason for the dog. The quote "At my signal unleash hell" is a line from Julius Caesar. It establishes Maximus with the true house of Caesar, or an ally of Caesar. This is reflected in the film because Maximus is the leader of the Roman

army.

I think that the sequence used is effective for the audience because a variety of techniques are used. I think that setting the scene by using blocks of writing is good, because the people who want to better understand the information in the background can figure it out easily. Music within each scene is a very effective tool because it allows for the audience to be deep rooted within the film without the need for constant action. Explaining the time and setting in the beginning is vital for the audience to get a grip on what they are about to watch. These scenes within Gladiator are very detailed and can be difficult to understand but now it has been analyzed, explained, and presented so anyone can understand it completely.