Rating:  -
I remember watching this series years ago and after watching two seasons of HBO's "Rome", I knew I had to watch "I Claudius" again! The series story begins where HBO's "Rome" left us stranded. Is anyone else upset that it's over so soon? I read some complaints about the make-up on the characters...you can get over the heavy make-up if you pay attention to the story. Sweet little Livia, the young bride of Octavius in "Rome", shows her really diabolical colors in "I Claudius" so many characters you'll just "love to be appalled by".
Rating:  -
This show is perfect! The cast, the script, the synthesis of history. You can't ask for more, except for more...
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I remember rushing home to watch the PBS showing of this tour de force presentation of Robert Grave's books. Derek Jacobi was an incredible Claudius. I've long wished to have this in my collection.
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I didn't follow this TV series on its first go-around in 1976, because I thought it would be little more than an historical soap opera. I have not changed my mind about that, but the quality of writing and acting is, of course, far superior and the stories are much more compelling. I found myself watching all thirteen episodes straight through over a single weekend.
History it isn't, and there is a tendency for people to forget that a movie or TV program doesn't portray reality. But though the accounts of Tacitus and Suetonius may differ from those of Robert Graves in terms of what actually happened (if any truth can be found at all within contemporary documents), they all certainly must agree on the tone of the times and the character of the personalities involved in this era of the first four Roman emperors.
Historians say that it is unlikely that Livia was the poisoner she was cracked up to be, and Claudius probably wasn't the poor tormented sweetie -- but, then, without all that, there would be much less of a story to tell. Oh, well, not only must the needs of drama be served, but also it is human tradition for history to be slanted by its writers. Is a modern historical novelist or TV/cinema scriptwriter really any different from an ancient archivist twisting events into sycophantic paeans dedicated to some victorious strongman?
Regarding the video itself, I concur with other reviewers' complaints about the poor sound quality and the dreadful make-up (latex attachments that are all too visible in close-up), although the color seems to have been restored very nicely.
The hidden jewel in this boxed set is the documentary on Disc Five called "The Epic That Never Was". This treasure is worth the price of the whole series, preserving beautiful, precious footage of the aborted 1937 Sternberg version. I was especially captivated by the deliciously oily portrayal of Caligula by Emlyn Williams, whose work both as an actor and as a playwright has been sadly eclipsed all these years.
Rating: -
Truly a must see. Outstanding acting and absorbing dialogue. I also liked the DVD extra content. However, I found the makeup extremely distracting. I can't imagine what they were thinking. On many characters it looks like it was clumsily applied with a trowel. So bad I find it downright distracting at times.
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