Screening Antiquity
Pontius Pilate in film from the silent era to the twenty-first century
- Offers an extended discussion of the history and tradition of Pontius Pilate
- Looks at topics connected to Pontius Pilate’s reception, including the sound of his voice, his use of his hands, his wife Claudia Procula, and his Roman soldiers
- Who is Pontius Pilate? Who do the movies say that he is? What is truth?
Pontius Pilate On Screen deals with one of history’s most controversial characters. From Monty Python’s Life of Brian to Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, Pontius Pilate is a figure of evidently endless fascination to filmmakers. The Roman prefect is depicted at times as the hapless victim of machinations beyond his control and at other times as the heartless villain of the piece. If in films about the Passion Jesus represents eternal truth, Pilate symbolises the values of the present – whether it is the lingering trauma of the Holocaust, the ongoing struggle over Civil Rights or the polarised politics of the current day – as filmmakers endeavour again and again to portray in Pontius Pilate a compelling counter-figure to Jesus himself.
This book considers portrayals of Pontius Pilate in film from the silent era to the twenty-first century. It discusses over 25 films in detail, including Cecil B. DeMille’s King of Kings (1927), Norman Jewison’s Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Sony’s Risen (2016). Based on extensive archival research and original interviews with actors, screenwriters and producers, it offers an extended discussion of the history, tradition and reception of Pontius Pilate.
Examines representations of ancient epic and epic conventions in film and television
- Demonstrates how adaptation and revision of ancient epic conventions facilitate the articulation of emerging ideals concerning gender, class, race, and nationality
- Analyses recently emerging screen technologies exploring how these technologies have facilitated the capacity of recent films and television to augment the spatiality, distance, and ontological scope identified as crucial components of the epic genre
- Explores how the conventions of epic have informed televisual production as the medium enters its platinum" age of production and distribution
- Responds to recent work on the epic genre that has gestured toward speculative fiction as a site for the reception and development of generic conventions characteristic of ancient epic
How do epic tropes shape representations of the ancient world and determine contemporary understandings of historical events? What features of ancient epic persistently emerge in science fiction and fantasy narratives adapted to the screen, and why? How does the different scope of televisual versus cinematic media impact the representation of conventions derived from ancient epic?
The international range of contributors to this volume respond to these questions by looking for features of epic outside the traditional realm of Greco-Roman antiquity, including historical films and series, fantasy, science fiction and documentary. By identifying epic conventions on the large and small screen, as well as within a range of speculative fictions in fantastical and futuristic settings, they consider the function of such conventions within their twenty-first-century production contexts.
"Examines screen portrayals of the gods of classical mythology and biblical deities
- Investigates a single issue over a range of genres in cinema and television from fantasy movies to biopics to Bible stories
- Considers the gods of Greek and Roman mythology alongside the biblical God of the Judeo-Christian tradition
- Draws on recent trends in scholarship in both classical reception and film and theology to provide an interdisciplinary study and synthesis between two rarely connected fields
- Examines the portrayal of deity on screen in films such as Le Tonnerre de Jupiter (1903), The Ten Commandments (1956) and Troy, Fall of a City (2018)
Lisa Maurice examines screen portrayals of gods – covering Greco-Roman mythology, the Judeo-Christian God and Jesus – from the beginning of cinema to the present day. Focussing on the golden age of the Hollywood epic in the fifties and the twenty-first century second wave of big screen productions, she provides an over-arching picture that allows historical trends and developments to be demonstrated and contrasted.
Engaging with recent scholarship on film, particularly film and theology as well as classical reception, she considers the presentation of these gods through examination of their physical and moral characteristics, as well as their interaction with the human world, against the background of the social contexts of each production.
Representations of the ancient hero in the new millennium
Since 2000, numerous heroes of the ancient world have appeared on film and TV, from the mythical Hercules to leaders of the Greek and Roman worlds. Films and shows discussed in this volume range from Hercules and The Legend of Hercules to TV shows, Atlantis and Supernatural, to other biopic works influenced by the ancient hero.
This is the first collection to look at the most recent manifestations of the ancient hero on screen. It brings together a range of perspectives on twenty-first century cinematic representations of heroes and antiheroes from the ancient world.
- Includes a range of TV shows and films, allowing for comparative analysis, examining the overlooked links between various productions
- Provides original, cutting edge research in the fields of history, politics, gender, film and fan culture
- Covers topics including society, politics, generational issues, gender, fan reception and star texts
- Also considers the creation of antiheroes in the twenty-first century
The full list of contributors to the volume is:
A survey of modern cinematic and televisual responses to the concept of the golden age
This collection of fourteen essays explores how the dominant media of our time – film and television – have engaged with the golden age as formulated in the Western classical tradition.
Drawing on ancient Greek and Roman literature and culture, from Hesiod to Suetonius, these essays assess the far-reaching influence of the golden age concept on screen texts ranging from prestige projects like Gladiator and HBO's Rome, to cult classics Xanadu and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, made by auteurs including Jules Dassin and the Coen Brothers. The book also looks at fantasy (Game of Thrones), science fiction (Serenity), horror (The Walking Dead), war/combat (the 300 franchise, Centurion), and the American Western.
- Draws on ancient Greek and Roman literature and culture, from Hesiod to Suetonius
- Considers prestige projects, cult classics and classical influence on genre productions
- Explores how the mythical past is invoked through political rhetoric and popular media
The epic glitter and glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age
In the period 1916-1966, during its so-called Golden Age, Hollywood developed a passion for the ancient world and produced many epic movie blockbusters. The studios used every device they could find to wow audiences with the spectacle of antiquity.
In this unique study, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones shows how Hollywood carefully and skilfully created the popular modern perception of the ancient world. He analyses how producers, art directors, costumiers, publicity agents, movie stars, and inevitably, ‘a cast of thousands’ literally designed and crafted the ancient world from scratch.
This lively book offers a technical as well as a theoretical guide to a much-neglected area of film studies and reception studies that will appeal to anyone working in these disciplines.
Key Features
- Lavishly illustrated with film stills and examples of rare and fascinating marketing material
- Broad coverage of films including The King of Kings, The Sign of the Cross, Samson and Delilah, Land of the Pharoahs, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Spartacus and Cleopatra
- Considers different aspects of film production: the Hollywood set, costume design, the role of the movie star, dialogue, narration and music
- Sets a new agenda for exploring the relationship between history and film and between history and visual culture
- Explores the archaeology of stardom examining the onscreen/offscreen images of Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston and Rita Hayworth
- Includes a filmography, chronological outline and study aids
Explores the cultural politics of televisual engagements with the history, literature and archaeology of Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece has inspired television producers and captivated viewing audiences in the United Kingdom for over half a century. By examining how and why political, social and cultural narratives of Greece have been constructed through television’s distinctive audiovisual languages, and in relation also to its influential sister-medium radio, this volume explores the nature and function of these public engagements with the written and material remains of the Hellenic past.
Through 10 case studies drawn from feature programmes, educational broadcasts, children’s animation, theatre play productions, dramatic fiction and documentaries broadcast across the decades, this collection offers wide-ranging insights into the significance of ancient Greece on British television.
- Brings experts from the disciplines of Classics and Media Studies together to offer rigorous examples of how to apply the methodologies of Media Studies to Classical Reception
- Investigates institutional production contexts, developing technologies, the use of space and location, style and aesthetics, costume and staging, globalization and localization and audiences
- Explores the representation of Ancient Greece across a range of forms, including documentary, television drama, radio, theatre plays, educational television and children’s animation
- Includes an interview with ancient historian Michael Scott and producer-director David Wilson to reflect particularly on concept to reality
- Discusses content broadcast on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4
- Contributors include Anna Foka, Lynn Fotheringham, Peter Golphin, Tony Keen, Sarah Miles, Amanda Potter and John Wyver
Gladiator, rebel slave leader, revolutionary: a collection of essays dissecting four seasons of STARZ Spartacus
The figure of Spartacus often serves as an icon of resistance against oppression in modern political movements, while his legend has inspired numerous receptions over the centuries in many different popular media. This new essay collection brings together a wide range of scholarly perspectives on the four seasons of the acclaimed and highly successful premium cable television series Spartacus (2010-13), with contributions from experts in the fields of Classics, History, Gender, Film and Media Studies, and Classical Reception.
STARZ Spartacus uncovers a fascinating range of topics and themes within the series such as slavery, society, politics, spectacle, material culture, sexuality, aesthetics, and fan reception. As the first volume of essays published on the entirety of the STARZ series, this book is a valuable resource for both students and scholars eager to confront a new Spartacus, as the hero of the slave revolt is recast for a twenty-first century audience.
- The first academic volume looking at various themes of the premium cable TV series Spartacus
- Includes original, innovative research in fields of history, politics, gender, film, fan culture
- Explores the theme of Spartacus on screen from multiple angles: history, classics, film studies, reception studies, gender studies, fandom studies
Compares the ancient epic and the American Western as parallel cultural narratives
Cowboy Classics looks at the remarkably intimate connection between Westerns and Greek and Roman epics, each of which focuses on a mythic-historical period from the past where our societal notions of what constitutes heroism, masculinity and honour were first forged.
Through her insightful analysis of Red River, High Noon, Shane, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Kirsten Day illustrates the parallels between these seemingly disparate yet closely related genres, allowing us to see each through a new lens while gaining insight into the persistence of these concepts in our world today.
Key Features
- Discusses the recent scholarly interest in classical representations in popular culture
- Looks at how both Greco-Roman epic and Western film in general help to define foundational ideologies for their respective cultures
- Includes case studies of four films – Howard Hawks’ Red River (1948), Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952), George Stevens’ Shane (1953), and John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) – which analyze specific affinities with the Homeric epics and Virgil’s Aeneid
- Examines John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) as an Oedipal drama, in relation to Greek and Roman epic
The complete history of the Ben-Hur phenomenon
Ben-Hur was the first literary blockbuster to generate multiple and hugely profitable adaptations, highlighted by the 1959 film that won a record-setting 11 Oscars. More than a century before The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, and decades before Gone with the Wind and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, General Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur was spun off into dozens of popular publications and media productions, becoming a veritable commercial brand name that earned tens of millions of dollars.
Ben-Hur: The Original Blockbuster surveys the phenomenon’s unprecedented range and extraordinary endurance: various editions, spin-off publications, stage productions, movies, comic books, radio plays, and retail products were successfully marketed and sold from the 1880s and throughout the twentieth century. Today Ben-Hur Live is touring Europe and Asia, with a third film released in 2016.
Jon Solomon’s book offers an exciting and detailed study of the Ben-Hur brand, tracking its spectacular journey from Wallace’s original novel through to twenty-first century adaptations, and encompassing a wealth of previously unexplored material along the way.
A collection of 17 cutting-edge essays on Rome Season TwoSet in the turbulent years after Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Season Two of the HBO-BBC series Rome lays bare a city shaken by the violent power struggle between Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son and heir, and Mark Antony, his most trusted general, bound in the seductive spell of Cleopatra.Rome Season Two: Trial & Triumph is the first academic volume to explore the second season of this critically acclaimed and commercially successful drama. It brings together seventeen pioneering and provocative essays written by an international cast of leading classical scholars and media critics. Focusing on the series’ historical framework, visual and narrative style, thematic overtones, and influence on modern popular culture, this book also engages with the authenticity of the production and considers its place in the tradition of epic films and television series set in ancient Rome. Both scholarly and entertaining, this volume will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars in Classics and Ancient History as well as Film and Media Studies.
Key Features
- The only academic volume focused exclusively on Season Two of Rome
- Showcases both established and up-and-coming international scholars
- Edited by a leading contemporary scholar in the field
- Original, cutting edge research in fields of history, politics, gender, film, fan culture
- Explores the theme of Rome on screen from multiple angles: history, Classics, film studies, reception studies, gender studies, viewer response theory
