''Quo Vadis'' is a

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Polish film

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

by Jerzy Kawalerowicz based on the 1896 book of the same title by

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

. It was Poland's submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, but was not nominated.

Plot

The central plot in the movie revolves around the love of a Roman patrician, Marcus Vinicius, towards a Christian girl (coming from the territory of modern-day Poland) set against the backdrop of the persecutions against Christians during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

. In the beginning, Lygia, a Christian and hostage of Rome, becomes the object of Vinicius' love but she refuses his advances. Vinicius' friend Petronius tries to manipulate Nero, who has authority over all Roman hostages, to give Lygia to Vinicius, but Lygia is taken into hiding by Christians. Marcus Vinicius decides to find her and force her to be his wife. He goes to a Christian meeting along with Croton, a gladiator, to find her. After following her from the meeting, Marcus tries to take her, but Ursus, a strong man and friend of Lygia, kills Croton. Marcus himself is wounded in the fight, but is taken care of by Lygia and the Christians. Seeing their kindness he begins to convert to Christianity, and Lygia accepts him. Rome catches fire while the emperor, Nero, is away. Nero returns and sings to the crowd, but they become angry. At the suggestion of Nero's wife, the Christians are blamed for the fire, providing a long series of cruel spectacles to appease the crowd. In one of the spectacles, Ursus faces a bull carrying Lygia on its back. Ursus wins and, with the crowd and guards in approval, Nero lets them live. Nero kills himself, and Vinicius and Lygia leave Rome.

Cast

* Paweł Deląg – Marcus Vinicius * Magdalena Mielcarz – Lygie Callina *

Bogusław Linda Bogusław Linda (; born 27 June 1952) is a Polish actor known from films such as ''Pigs (1992 film), Psy'' and ''Tato''. He appeared in Andrzej Wajda's ''Man of Iron'' and ''Danton (1983 film), Danton'' and in Krzysztof Kieślowski's ''Blind Chan ...

–

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Britannica.com. (; ; ; s ...

* Michał Bajor –

* Agnieszka Wagner -

Poppaea Sabina Poppaea Sabina (30 AD – 65 AD), also known as Ollia, was a Roman empress as the second wife of the emperor Nero. She had also been wife to the future emperor Otho. The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrig ...

* Jerzy Trela – Chilon Chilonides * Danuta Stenka – Pomponia Graecina * Franciszek Pieczka –

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

* Krzysztof Majchrzak –

Tigellinus Ofonius Tigellinus'' Oxford Classical Dictionary'',Ofonius Tigellinus ( – 69) was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during the reign of emperor Nero. Tigellinus gained ...

* Rafał Kubacki – Ursus * Wojciech Olszanski - Faon * Andrzej Zieliński - Epaphroditus

Reception

It was the most popular Polish film of the year with 4.2 million admissions.

References

External links

*
''Quo Vadis'' at AllMovie
* {{Authority control 2001 films 2000s Polish-language films 2000s historical drama films Cultural depictions of Poppaea Sabina Films based on Quo Vadis Films directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz Films scored by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek Films set in classical antiquity Films set in the Roman Empire Films set in the 1st century Polish historical drama films Depictions of Nero on film 2001 drama films Cultural depictions of Saint Peter Films about Catholicism KADR films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links