ANCIENT EGYPT SERIES NOVEL
Alexander-the-Great appears in many art forms, including films. Most children and young people have seen at least one Alexander movie. Below, are a few examples. Perhaps you have seen one.
Sikander (1941)
Alexander is portrayed as an attractive man, in love with Roxanne. The film opens in Persia, with the appearance of Aristotle, enquiring as to the whereabouts of his lovestruck pupil.
However, this Hindi classic was made during WWII. It was also the time when India was seeking independence from Britain.
In history, Alexander was an invader of India.
When it was screened, this film aroused nationalism and feelings of patriotism in Indian movie audiences. But, it was banned in the military headquarters of the British Indian army.
Sikander, which incorporated romance, starred a man who has been described as the most handsome Alexander to ever grace the silver screen, namely, Prithviraj Kapoor. When Sikander’s popularity created the market for a colour remake in 1965, the film was shot with the same leading man.
Even over 80 years later, Sikander is interesting. It has a heady mixture of romance, songs, battle scenes with elephants, and wonderful lines. The Indian perspective of the movie is not limited to nationalism of a particular time and place, either. While it is about freedom, Sikander has a lightness of touch and humanity often lacking in similar films of today.
This Hindi Bollywood classic is now available with subtitles in various languages. As a word of caution, some of the subtitles are incorrect, but should not detract from enjoyment of the film.
It is now on several YouTube sites, where an international audience, outside of India, can see it.
Alexander (1956)
Written, produced, and directed by Robert Rossen, it starred one of the greatest actors of stage and screen, Richard Burton. This film shows that research was conducted prior to filming. And not only by the filmmaker.
Burton was one of history’s famed Shakespearean actors. He loved books, and even attended Oxford University, which for a Welsh miner’s son, was an amazing achievement, especially in the mid-twentieth century.
He got into the mind of Alexander-the-Great in a way no actor has done before or since.
Burton’s portrayal of the ancient warrior presents a man both attractive and ruthless. It is arguably, if the extant textual sources, are anything to go by, probably the closest any actor has come to portraying the real Alexander.
A copy of a bust of Alexander by the sculptor Lysippus still exists. It has been said that one is able to read a mixture of cruelty and dynamism in the king’s features. It makes one wonder how Lysippus kept his own head.
However, perception is up to the viewer. Perhaps Alexander simply saw his likeness captured for eternity by one of the great sculptors of his day.
Alexander, (2004)
Directed by Oliver Stone and starring Colin Farrell, it is the way many, especially the young, in the West, perceive the hero.
This is because the film is now twenty years old and has had several versions; the one seen in the movie theatres, the director’s cut (2005), the final cut (2007) and now the ultimate cut (2014), which is currently on Netflix.
Its foci are the extraordinary battle scenes and Alexander’s sexuality.
In an interview, historian, Michael Wood said that the film, for all its wondrous battle scenes, missed capturing the intimate psychology of 4th century BC Greeks. The documentary of Michael Wood, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great was responsible for Hollywood producing a film at that time. While several directors had ideas, and even actors in mind, it was the Oliver Stone movie which was made.
In 2004, Oliver Stone’s picture was controversial. While it is a great work of art, there is perhaps still a gap in modern film that awaits a new Alexander.
Alexander: The Making of a God (2024)
The 6-part series on Netflix, stars Buck Braithwaite, and is a docuseries. It is interesting, brutal in places and shows the ability of Alexander to hold an audience over two thousand years after his death.
There has been some discussion as to whether a better idea might have been to make either a documentary, or a drama. Perhaps a problem with melding both fiction and non-fiction elements, is that there are glaring problems of accuracy in the story which cannot be reconciled.
While one can take all sorts of liberties with fiction, these pieces with professional actors then move into documentary. As an educational tool, the fictional pieces are misleading because there is no clear-cut information as to what is fiction and what is true (or as true as we can know). That being said, the performances of the actors are strong, and scholars like Salima Ikram, are the “stars” of academia. And who doesn’t want that onscreen?
Alexander will continue to be appear in all types of media. In 2024 there is expected to be an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) revolution. At the moment immersive experiences will increase, however, the capacity to create will reach into realms we cannot, as yet, imagine. It will be interesting to see where Alexander stands in the arts, two thousand years from now.
