I remember seeing this movie in French in the mid-70s. By end of afternoons in the summertime, they were showing "popcorn movies" like this one.
What shocked me first was the fact we saw Romans going into each other, like a civil war between two ideologies: the "perfect" Romans and the "rejected" Christians. As a rejected centurion having his conquest denied, the hero of this story refuses to participate in Emperor Nero plan to decimate the Christian community. As he is forced to be a gladiator for the rest of his life, his girlfriend and his mother, caught as secret Christians, are captured and crucified at stake, then burned alive... As the ashes of the bonfire goes by the wind, it arrives on the wood dwellings of Rome and caused the Great Fire...
With the French dubbing, many performances were wooden and almost laughable. And catch the late circus queen Moira Orfei in an early role...
If I can watch this, only for what it's worth...
What shocked me first was the fact we saw Romans going into each other, like a civil war between two ideologies: the "perfect" Romans and the "rejected" Christians. As a rejected centurion having his conquest denied, the hero of this story refuses to participate in Emperor Nero plan to decimate the Christian community. As he is forced to be a gladiator for the rest of his life, his girlfriend and his mother, caught as secret Christians, are captured and crucified at stake, then burned alive... As the ashes of the bonfire goes by the wind, it arrives on the wood dwellings of Rome and caused the Great Fire...
With the French dubbing, many performances were wooden and almost laughable. And catch the late circus queen Moira Orfei in an early role...
If I can watch this, only for what it's worth...
