Imperium: Augustus
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| Imperium: Augustus | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Roger Young |
| Produced by | Luca Bernabei Ferdinand Dohna Salvatore Morello |
| Written by | Eric Lerner |
| Starring | Peter O'Toole Vittoria Belvedere Charlotte Rampling Juan Diego Botto Ken Duken Anna Valle |
| Music by | Pino Donaggio |
| Cinematography | Giovanni Galasso |
| Editing by | Alessandro Lucidi |
| Distributed by | S.A.V Force Entertainment Casablanca Filmes |
| Release date(s) | 2003 (UK/Italy/Germany/France/Spain) |
| Running time | 200 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
British-Italian joint Imperium: Augustus production 2003 as part of the Imperium series. It tells of the life story of Octavian and how he became Augustus. Half the film takes place in the past (As Augustus explains to his daughter Julia how he became who he was) and the other half takes place in the later life of Augustus. The drama starred Peter O'Toole as Augustus, Charlotte Rampling as Livia, Vittoria Belvedere as Julia, Ken Duken as Marcus Agrippa, Benjamin Sadler as Octavian (Young Augustus) and Juan Diego Botto as Iullus Antonius.
Produced by EOS Entertainment and Lux Vide for RAI, Telecinco and ZDF.
As the empire kneeled in defeat, one man stood in triumph - English tagline, 2003
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Augustus is on his death bed, dying of illness and the poison that his third wife, Livia Drusilla, has secretly been feeding him. He looks back on his life to a conversation he had with his beloved daughter, the beautiful and witty Julia. After an attempt on Augustus' life, Augustus is shocked to learn his closest friend and Julia's husband Marcus Agrippa is dead. Livia suggests that for the safety of Rome, her stepdaughter Julia should marry her son Tiberius. Julia's reluctance to marry Tiberius causes Augustus to sit down and tell her his life story about what he had to do and what it cost to become the man he was.
He recalls 46 BC Rome is in the middle of a civil war. Together with his friend Marcus Agrippa, the young Octavian (Augustus) goes to Spain in order to help Julius Caesar battle the troops of Pompey. Even though they are outnumbered, they manage to defeat Pompey. Caesar honours his adopted son Octavian with a triumphal entry into Rome and then sends him to Macedonia together with his friends Agrippa and Maecenas. There, Octavian hears the news of Caesar's assassination and he returns to Rome with his friends.
Back in Rome, he is able to gain both the support of the people and political power. In his struggle with the conspirators against the murder of Caesar and claiming his new share of the empire, he finds an ally in Mark Antony, Caesar's right-hand man. Mark Antony not only pursues Brutus and Cassius, he also initiates a wave of executions, which practically eliminates the old Roman ruling class. Among those who are killed is the husband of Livia, a woman with whom Octavian marries, divorcing his wife Scribonia and but in doing so, claiming his newborn baby daughter Julia as his child, and his alone.
Octavian and Mark Antony are able to defeat the forces of Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Phillipi. But now Octavian has to share his empire with Mark Antony who, in the meantime, has become the lover of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. After Mark Antony openly divorces Octavia, Octavian's elder sister, Rome declares war on Cleopatra and with the help of Agrippa defeats Antony at the Battle of Actium and after a successful military campaign Octavian becomes the sole ruler of the Roman Empire and in doing so, takes the great name of Augustus.
During his rule, Rome not only experiences a period of peace and prosperity, it is also an age in which both art and culture flourish. His wife Livia, now that Maecenas is dead, becomes his most important political advisor; however, she is hard and cruel towards those who stand in her way. She is bitterly jealous of her stepdaughter, Augustus' beloved Julia, who has grown into the witty, dutiful and the most beautiful woman in Rome. Following the death of Agrippa, whom Julia was dearly fond of, Augustus forces her to marry her step-brother Tiberius, who she hates. He is also upset of having to divorce his wife, but appears to feel pity for Julia who has had even less happiness in her life. Tiberius even says to Augustus "you destroy everything you love." Augustus sends Tiberius away to fight in a campaign, just to get him away from Julia.
Julia meanwhile admits to her father that she is in love with another man, none other than the ambitious Iullus Antonius, the son of Mark Antony, who was Augustus' greatest enemy. Iullus, who started out on his journey with only one goal, to avenge his father's death by killing Augustus, to Cornelius Scipio's shock, has fallen deeply in love with Julia. His love for her has made him desperate to be with her at any rate.
Their affair, while not reaching Augustus, reaches Tiberius who returns from his campaign to confront her about her affair with Iullus. Julia announces that their marriage was a sham to begin with and that if Tiberius didn't like it then he could "fall on his sword" and orders him to leave. Tiberius threatens to find Iullus and kill him, because despite their hatred for each other, he would have no one have Julia other than him. Julia threatens that her father would throw him in prison for being a deserter, which be a greater insult on his pride then any man who'd share her bed. Provoked into anger by Julia's behaviour and carelessness, he attacks her and then rapes her.
As a result of Tiberius' attack on her, she breaks down and confides in Iullus of her desperation to get away. Iullus, still desperate to marry her himself comes up with a plan to murder Augustus and make Julia and himself rulers over Rome with a slow return to the republic. From fear of losing Julia, he doesn't tell her about the plan. Tiberius, who is still planning to kill Iullus for infidelity with his wife, overhears this plot and informs his mother. Livia decides that they will catch Iullus in the act and in doing so would rid themselves of Julia also. The plan is foiled, Tiberius saves Augustus, and Scipio and Iullus are revelled as the attempted assassin.
Augustus, not believing his daughter when she swears that she knew nothing of the plot to murder him orders a decree that Julia banished for life from Rome. Iullus is to be executed but commits suicide beforehand. Julia begs her father to forgive her. Augustus tells her that it's for her own good to go away. He insists on keeping her children. Julia takes her last stand and leaves proudly, saying that she will never become like her father, she had learnt to love her children. Augustus breaks down in tears.
Several years later, both his grandsons have died and he is dying too. He is about to have his death mask put on when he suddenly asks to see Julia. Livia and Tiberius tell him she isn't there. Then, to everyone's surprise, Julia, in a cape, enters. Augustus holds out his hand to her and asks for forgiveness, but Julia can't take his hand. She does not forgive him for his treatment of her. Augustus smiles to her and asks if he had "played his part well in the comedy of life?" Julia replies "The gods will tell you, father." Then, Julia takes the death mask from Livia's hands, kisses Augustus on the forehead and places it herself over her father's smiling dead face.
[edit] Cast
- Peter O'Toole .... Augustus
- Benjamin Sadler .... Octavian/Young Augustus
- Vittoria Belvedere .... Julia
- Charlotte Rampling .... Livia
- Juan Diego Botto .... Iullus Antonius
- Ken Duken .... Marcus Agrippa
- Gottfried John .... Cicero
- Russell Barr .... Maecenas
- Alexander Strobele .... Lucius Tutilius
- Anna Valle .... Cleopatra
- Massimo Ghini .... Mark Antony
- Martina Stella .... Young Livia
- Elena Ballesteros .... Octavia
- Michele Bevilacqua .... Tiberius
- Achille Brugnini .... Cassius
- Giampiero Judica .... Scipio
- Vanni Materassi .... Musa
- Antonio Petrocelli .... Brutus
[edit] Historical accuracy
Imperium: Augustus has received critic for its historical accuracy on the characters and the events that happened, but has been made popular due to the exciting soap opera feeling the drama has. Among its many critics is the way Augustus' daughter, Julia, was portrayed. While the character herself is similar in terms of personality, her behaviour with other men isn't drawn entirely to how history recalls her. Modern historians however have come to see Julia as a much more tragic character then history tells her as, and there for a number of the changes made to her character is justified.
[edit] Critic opinion
Augustus is equal parts history lesson and soap opera, and thoroughly engaging at all levels. Peter O'Toole plays Octavius/Augustus, heir to his doomed uncle Julius Caesar's command of the far-flung Roman empire. Surviving an assassination attempt and struck by news of the death of his old friend and ally, Agrippa (Ken Duken), in the same day, Octavius waxes nostalgic about his youthful exploits in Caesar's army (Benjamin Sadler plays the young Augustus in flashbacks) and his unprepared immersion in the deadly politics of the Mark Antony (Massimo Ghini) era. More immediate are Octavius' problems trying to stave off conspiracies by his wife Livia (Charlotte Rampling) to set up the emperor's stepson, Tiberius (Michele Bevilacqua), as heir, and talk his dutiful daughter Julia (Vittoria Belvedere) into a marriage she doesn't want. Roger Young directs this highly watchable costume drama, and O'Toole's golden presence makes the ancient intrigues tragically human. --Tom Keogh
[edit] Various Titles
- Imperium (Series name)
- Augustus (USA/UK)
- Augustus - O Primeiro Imperador (Brazil)
- Augustus - The First Emperor (Alternate UK Title)
- Augustus - My Father, the Emperor (Alternate English Title)
- Imperium - Augusto (Italian)
- Augustus - Mein Vater, der Kaiser (German: Complete Title)
- Mein Vater, der Kaiser (German)
