Ancient Greek and Roman films are an established fixture in the history of classical cinema and have inaugurated powerful themes that repeatedly emerge in popular culture and contemporary films as a monument to the potency and importance of the ancient world. An exemplary model based upon the concepts and motifs of ancient Rome, is The Star Wars Saga - an extragalactic space opera weaved with both visual and narrative parallels to the Roman Empire. From the iconic chronology of Christianity opposing Rome, to the conversion of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire - Star Wars is a modern epic that has profound and compelling connections to the ancient world. As Theodorakopoulos specifies, the most influential and paramount theme prevalent
The book Rome: an empire’s story, by Greg Woolf, is an excellent example of how the elites of Rome created an all-powerful image that would outlast Rome itself. Woolf states that many modern empires have made so much use of Roman symbols, and that it gives us a great sense of perspective on modern empires, but he argues “Rome has its own Romance (Woolf, p. 27).” Rome survived for around 1500 years. During those 1500 years Rome went through many different political changes. The elites of Rome including the Republic and Empire made these political changes in order to create this image that would create the power behind Rome.
Holm, Hans-Henrik. "STAR WARS." Journal of Peace Research 23 (1986): 1-8. JSTOR. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
Thomas E. Maresca calls the epic tradition "a precise body of subject matter and form capable of manifesting itself in many guises" (Maresca 26). The trilogy must match its guise of sci-fi/action movie to the structures of epic such as a closed linguistic system, a symmetry to its parts and an epic manner or style. Second, the narrative subject should be large and heroic, one where the cosmos itself is the stake. Or is Star Wars a work "Slight of Subject" as Pope referred to his own mock epic, The Rape of the Lock (I: line 5)? Lastly, if epic concerns itself with "the City of man in this world," and if epic serves to both formulate and preserve civilization's knowledge and beliefs as central cultural positions, how does the trilogy inform "the condition of human life" and what influences are demonstrated in the film narrative? This essay will offer evidence that the Star Wars Trilogy is potentially a new manifestation of the epic tradition.
Science fiction writing began in the early 1800’s as a reaction to the growth of science and technology. The genre is characterized by its intellectual excitement, high adventure, and its making of the fantastic possible. Due to the nature of science fiction, film has become an essential part of its popularity. Science fiction films have been popular since the earliest silent clips because of the outlandish visuals and creative fictional story lines that capture an audience’s attention. Under the guise of this popular platform, writers relay political, social and philosophical messages to their audience.
The many debates about art cinema versus classical cinema have been going around for a while. The mainstream Hollywood classical film and the art cinema are frequently presented as opposites. In one, the style of the film is bland, while the other seeks to center its focus on the visual becoming central as narrative unity. Throughout the movie directed by Stanley Kubrick called 2001: A Space Odyssey, we see that this film can be classified as an art film. On the other hand, it can also be seen as classical film. Even though these two are the complete opposite and they contradict themselves, they are both apparent in the film.
Inside the marble-plated building, paintings and an array of ancient works of art adorn the otherwise monotonous walls of this ancient Roman museum. Perfectly handcrafted stone sculptures decorate even the door frames, creating an awe-inspiring sight as visitors come from far and wide to see the history of this vast empire. In the eastern wing of the museum, A group of student photographers gather round the ancient statue of a man who made his mark on history by creating the most fearsome empire in human history, all while setting the course for its inevitable destruction. The statue is of Augustus Caesar, the founder and first emperor of the Roman Empire. A man who, with an incredible lust for power, became the world’s most formidable ruler during his reign…
The Romans were on one of the greatest people of all. They had power, wealth, and even a half of the world. They built one of the strongest and vast empire that world has ever seen. They came from nothing to something awesome. It started of as a city and ended up being one of the greatest empire of all. This essay is going to focus on the Roman Empire from the rise to the fall and the government, architecture, mythology, Family Structure, and Food of the Romans.
Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans believed in the well being and wealth of Rome, and if that meant the total destruction of a potential adversary, then as history will show that is unfortunately to the detriment of the adversary what happened.
Legend has it that Romulus is the founder of Ancient Rome. Romulus and Remus are twin brothers whom were abandoned at birth. They were placed into a woven basket and sent down the Tiber River. When they landed upon shore the two babies were discovered by a female wolf, who took them in and nursed them. A shepherd then found them, he then took them in and rose the two brothers. When the two brothers became adults they decided to establish a city where the wolf had found them when they were infants. In the process of deciding where it would be, the two brothers got into a fight, Remus was killed. Romulus then founded the town and named it Rome, after himself. Of course, we all know this is just a legend and not real, but the children of Rome were taught it in Roman schools as if it were real. Rome was founded in 753 B.C., along the Tiber River and exists around seven hills. The settlement were near the river for a constant water supply. The early people of Rome were from a tribe called 'Latins', whom were from the Plains of Latium (Trueman, History of Ancient Rome, April 21).
?The history of Rome is shrouded in myth and legend.? Tales of glorious victories, conquering heroes, and vanquished foes color our perception of this legendary city.? Myth and reality are so closely intertwined that we would be remiss to examine the one without the other.? From a cluster of humble villages, arose a mighty people who would capture the admiration of the world for centuries thereafter.? To look at the history of Rome is to look at the history of civilization itself, for with Rome, modern civilization began.
In 1977 a young director by the name of George Lucas completed his second major film project. The project was Star Wars and it debuted to considerable success. Despite being a stand-alone film Lucas went on to produce two sequels and three prequels. The entire series was a commercial success and spawned an expanded universe larger than any other franchise. However, the story of Star Wars: A New Hope, as it was called after the creation of The Empire Strikes Back, is not new. In fact, it follows many guidelines established centuries before in European mythology. Although the most commonly referenced work is the tale of King Arthur, Star Wars can be identified as a fairy tale based on the morphology outlined by Vladimir Propp. According to Theory and History of Folklore, Propp was a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar who analyzed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements (Propp). By applying Propp's thirty-one function outline one understands that Star Wars is a modern science fiction fairy tale.
There exists in each culture a sequence of tales and stories, which starts up a piece of culture history. These stories, called myths, frequently wander into the magical world, with fascinating heroes fighting dreadful beasts to protect exotic lands. As civilization has advanced, we have moved beyond the need to attribute unexplained events to bizarre workings beyond our knowledge. As a result, present day culture puts its assurance towards science and religion, and since then, there has been no modern myths. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." (Star Wars), the opening scene for the Star Wars franchise, has created a strong impact towards the media and culture. Star Wars is “an American epic space opera franchise centered
Quite possibly one of the most iconic openings in cinematic history is “A Long time ago in a galaxy far far away.” Of course, I am referring to Star Wars. It is such a fascinating and great movie going experience. There have been a total of seven Star Wars films, but in this essay I am going to be focusing on Star Wars: Episode 3- Revenge of the Sith. This film was written and directed by George Lucas and of the science fiction genre. Revenge of the Sith was released in theaters on May 19, 2005.
Star Wars (1977) is one of the world’s most successful films of all time. It has made a terrific impact on popular culture since its release. Furthermore, Star Wars changed the narrative and aesthetic style of future Hollywood films. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, illustrates how cinema has evolved since Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894). Ultimately, this essay will explain the set up of Star Wars and how it connects to cinema history, in the point of views of the: narrative and cinematic style, genre, auteur theory and the global film industry.