Rating:  -
This is one of the best TV series ever to air, in my opinion. Some of the best performances by actors I have ever seen. Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, John Hurt, George Baker, and the wonderfully evil Sian Phillips as Livia. If you like Roman history, you will love it. If you like good drama and intrigue, you'll love it. It's far better than any soap opera, and has a wicked sense of humor and irony (such as when Caligula, of all people, comments "Aren't people awful!")
Rating: -
Is the succinct summing up of ancient Britain by "Drusus," Roman General and stepson of "Augustus Caesar," in what is probably the most ambitious BBC mini-series ever made, the incomparable "I Claudius." Spread across 13 episodes and 5 discs, "I Claudius" tells the story of 70 years of Roman history and the founding of the Caesarian dynasty, driven almost entirely by the vaunting ambition and twisted machinations of Caesars wife, the malevolently evil "Livia." Over a period of decades she plotted and maneuvered, elevating some, destroying others, as if playing a monstrous game of chess with peoples lives, `til she finally achieved her ultimate goal, the placing of her eldest son, "Tiberius," on the throne of Empire. But so blinded by her ambition was she that she lost sight or ignored the consequences of some of her own actions, and was, for instance, responsible for unleashing the insanity and horror that was the reign of "Caligula" on the then known World!
Blackly humorous and exquisitely acted by all concerned, "I Claudius" will undoubtedly feel "flat" and "stagey" to audiences raised on epics such as "The Fall of the Roman Empire," "Spartacus," "Ben Hur," "Gladiator," and newer series such as "Rome." Indeed, most of the production does have the feel of a filmed play, and this is most noticeable in the "crowd" scenes, which are handled with that most venerable of stage techniques, "noises-off." For instance, you'll have a medium shot of Caesar and assorted dignitaries around his throne at the Coliseum, the Emperor speaks and the camera slowly zooms in, he finishes and beams at the crowd, who then roar their approval... OFF camera!
But don't let this stylistic - and budget conscious! - technique put you off, "I Claudius" is a monumental undertaking, the filming of Robert Graves' two-part literary masterpiece, "I Claudius," and "Claudius the God." That the series succeeded beyond everyone's wildest dreams is down to the fundamentals; a superb story, an excellent script, and, in many cases, career best performances from the primary cast, as opposed to squillions spent on sfx. The cast of "I Claudius" is HUGE, with an amazing 142 actors credited on the cast page of Amazon... and don't forget that this was a BBC TV production from the late 70's, not a Hollywood epic!
The story is told by an elderly Claudius in flashback, as he writes a secret history of his family, and therefor of the Roman Empire, starting when Claudius himself was but a child and his grandfather, Augustus Caesar, is in his later years. Brian Blessed plays Caesar as a very down-to-earth character. An ex-soldier who now commands an empire, he longs for the old days of the Republic and simpler times, has scant time for all the politicking that goes with his position, and adamantly refuses to allow the Senate to declare him a God. Blessed is one of those actors who can chew the scenery with ease, but restrains his usually larger-than-life persona to give us a very human Caesar, an Emperor who is also a Man-of-the-People.
Sian Philips plays Livia, the wife of Augustus Caesar, and grandmother to Claudius, as a scheming monster who justifies her lifetime of intrigue and murder - including that of one of her own sons! - by proclaiming she was only doing what was in the best interests of Rome! A poisoner of some repute, one character says of her, only half-jokingly, "They say a snake bit her once. And died."
And speaking of monsters, we have John Hurt as the utterly crazed and depraved Caligula. Hurt is an incredibly versatile actor, and will be forever known to most, I'm sure, as "Kane," the unsuspecting host to the "Chest-burster" in the original "Alien." In 1978 he was "Max" in the harrowing "Midnight Express," in 1980 he was the titular "Elephant Man," and you may have seen him recently as "Chancellor Suttler" in 2005's "V for Vendetta!" Hurt's Caligula is a true monster in human form; completely insane, he thinks he has metamorphosed into a God, treats people with childish spite, rewards groveling Senators with their lives or has them executed on a whim, depraved in the extreme he takes his sister as his bride, and makes his horse a Senator! Hurt throws himself into the role with complete abandon, and instead of giving us a caricature of a lunatic, what we have is a truly terrifying mad-man, unpredictable in the extreme, you never know quite what he's going to do next. Cruel, despotic, and vicious, everyone, including his uncle, Claudius, tiptoes around him as if on broken glass in their bare feet! In fact, there is one scene where, in a sudden flash of self-awareness, Caligula asks his uncle if he considers him to be mad. You can see the wheels spinning away inside Claudius' mind, he knows that the wrong answer, or even just the wrong expression on his face, could result in his torture and death, and probably the torture and death of all his friends and family as well! His answer is pure genius; Caligula can NOT be mad, because as Emperor he sets the standard for sanity in the entire World. Caligula ponders this and as he does so you see his momentary self-doubt evaporate; he's back to his old self again in no time and sends his uncle away with the cheery thought that he WAS going to kill him, but changed his mind! This is an incredibly tense scene, and a wonderful performance from both actors.
As with John Hurt's Caligula, Derek Jacobi's Claudius is a career-making performance. First seen under a huge amount of padding and "old" make-up as the aged and frail Emperor, Jacobi plays Claudius from his late teens/early twenties, to his death at the end of the series. Sporting a severe limp, and a stammer that is at times painful to listen to, Claudius is considered a simpleton and a fool, something that helps shield him from his grandmothers scheming, as well as an early prophesy that he would one day rule the Empire. The Roman elite took such things very seriously, and even Caligula had to stay his hand lest he anger the Gods themselves! But as well as the limping and the stammering and the drooling, Jacobi shows us the intelligence and innate goodness in his character. A scholar and historian, he, like his grandfather, longs for the old days of the Republic, but knows that the tide of history will not allow the Republic to return, at least in his lifetime.
There are many other great performances in "I Claudius," including a pre-Trek Patrick Stewart - with hair! - as "Sejanus," a commander of the Praetorian Guard, plotting to marry himself into the Royal Family, and even with stand-out performances from the likes of Blessed, Philips, and especially Hurt, it is Derek Jacobi's incredibly naturalistic performance as Claudius that binds the whole story together.
In our current Hi-Def, 5.1, Big Screen audiovisual world, I too, like many other reviewers, was disappointed that "I Claudius" wasn't given something of a spring clean to bring the picture and sound up to today's standards. It looks pretty much just the way it did when I saw it on TV back in the late 70's! But, don't let that put you off, as I said, this is superlative television, truly, one of the greats, and I would recommend it without hesitation!
And before I finish I'd like to share a little bit of trivia with you that I always enjoyed hearing Derek Jacobi tell during interviews. They had rehearsed and were filming the actor who played the young Claudius, Ashley Knight, while Jacobi was still rehearsing his own performance, and everyone said how wonderful the child actor was... and it IS a great performance! Unfortunately, it was realized too late that he was limping with the "wrong" foot, so Jacobi had to go back to square-one, and start his rehearsals all over again, changing HIS limp to match his younger self!
Rating:  -
OK - it must be admitted that this BBC production has the look and feel of a play, rather than even a low budget movie production. And so I say four stars and not five - but for the story and the acting - I'd give it ten if I could. The play like qualities, might take some getting used to for those born and bred during the Star Wars era. For my part - I soon find I am no longer paying the least bit of attention to the production shortfalls, as the story being told is totally engrossing.
I found myself wondering obsessively,can this be true? Can this actually be history? Did Little Boots (aka Caligula) really plot and perform the murder of his father, and at such a tender age? Did Livea really poison the fig tree? Did she really Poisen and plot against so many? Did she really beg her grand sons to make her a goddess, to save her self admitted evil soul, from the torments of a deserved hell? Did young Claudius really catch a torn and bleeding wolf pup out of the air? Was Messalenia really such a whore? Was Julia? Was King Herod, really such a close friend of Claudius? Was there really a Sybil - and did she really produce such a prophetic poem? And on and on. . .
When trying to research and find the answers to these questions - I can find only more writing by Robert Graves - and he says yes - it is all true. He also says Ceaser was a very randy fellow, ravaging both men and women - and that he rode a "monster" horse, with three toes instead of the usual single horse's hooves. (Is that True?) Anyway - as I was explaining - the faults in the quality of the production are soon forgotten, as one becomes so absorbed in the story being told. The characters are wonderfully played, and the story really is fascinating!
Rating:  -
"I, Claudius* along with "Elizabeth R", "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and Kenneth Clarke's "Civilisation" ranks as the apex of supreme television programming. Save for "Civilisation" what makes these productions shine is not just the superlative acting and writing even by secondary level charecters but the very fact that the sets and production budgets were so sparse and elemental. The acting and story lines are so good you don't care. All these programs show that with a good plot, a good story and quality acting you really don't need sumptuous, big-budget sets and spectacular fx to carry the day. Programs such as these show the paucity of the contemporary push to spend great deals of money on fx and lavish sets at the expense of storyline, acting, directing and all those other annoying things which get in the way of quality. If your idea of high television programming is "LaVerne and Shirley" or "Gilligan's Island" this series is not for you.
That having been said, the dvd production is indeed terrible. I do not understand what it is about BBC productions which simply refuse to provide either subtitles or closed-captioning. When it comes to providing products which the hearing-impaired can enjoy the British rank abysmally low, if not non-existent. I have long wanted to buy this set but the high cost combined with no subtitles or closed-captioning does not make it cost-efficient to do so at all. Further, one gets the impression that utterly no thought or care was given into the dvd transfer as it appears someone simply took a non-master tape and slapped it on to a disc without much technical forethought. Considering that the product description states: "Roman history comes alive in this magnificent 13-part series. "I, Claudius" (1976, 668 min.) ranks among the most acclaimed productions in BBC history." one would think the dvd producers could have paid it homage in providing a decent transfer and either closed-captioning or subtitles but no they did not care to do so. I have thought that this dvd set has been out so long that by now they would have put out a more technically astute edition with subtitles but that, considering the over-all cheapness the BBC generally uses in producing their dvds was and is expecting too much.
That having been said, this is indeed a high moment in television programming. Despite the above-drawbacks this series is a must-see and is compelling drama. I can't conceive of anyone with a love of history not being enthralled by it. But for the lack of subtitles I would have given "I, Claudius" five-stars as it is worthy of the highest praise
Rating: -
I've watched this many times, read and reread the books, and I simply love the series. It presents a vast canvas of history and mayhem, and it has wonderful characters with great performances. Check it out.
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