''Caesar Must Die'' ( it, Cesare deve morire) is a 2012 Italian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Paolo Taviani (; born 8 November 1931) and Vittorio Taviani (; 20 September 1929 – 15 April 2018), collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on film productions.
At the C ...
. The film competed at the
62nd Berlin International Film Festival
The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the President of the Jury. The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011. Am ...
where it won the
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The win ...
.
The film is set in
Rebibbia Prison
Rebibbia is an urban zone of Rome, Italy. It was located on the road Via Tiburtina on the north-east edge of the city. Administratively Rebibbia is part of both Ponte Mammolo quarter of Rome and Municipio IV of Rome.
The suburb, first devel ...
(suburb of Rome), and follows convicts in their rehearsals ahead of a prison performance of ''
Julius Caesar''.
Cast
* Salvatore Striano as Bruto (
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Ser ...
)
* Cosimo Rega as Cassio (
Cassius)
* Giovanni Arcuri as Cesare (
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
)
* Antonio Frasca as Marcantonio (
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the ...
)
* Juan Dario Bonetti as Decio (Decius Brutus)
* Vincenzo Gallo as Lucio (Lucius)
* Rosario Majorana as Metello (Metellus Cimber)
* Francesco De Masi as Trebonio (
Trebonius
Gaius Trebonius (c. 92 BC – January 43 BC) was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, who became Roman Consul, suffect consul in 45 BC. He was an associate of Julius Caesar, having served as his legate and having fought o ...
)
* Gennaro Solito as Cinna (
Cinna)
* Vittorio Parrella as Casca (
Casca)
* Pasquale Crapetti as Legionär
* Francesco Carusone as Wahrsager (Soothsayer)
* Fabio Rizzuto as Stratone (Strato)
* Maurilio Giaffreda as Ottavio (
Octavius)
* Fabio Cavalli as Theatre director
Accolades
''Caesar Must Die'' won the Golden Bear at the
62nd Berlin International Film Festival
The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the President of the Jury. The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011. Am ...
in February 2012 where British director
Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...
led the judging panel. ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' described the outcome as "a major upset". ''
Der Spiegel'' said it was a "very conservative selection".
''
Der Tagesspiegel
''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...
'' criticised the outcome, saying that the "jury shunned almost all the contemporary films that were admired or hotly debated at an otherwise pretty remarkable festival".
The film was also selected as the Italian entry for the
Best Foreign Language Oscar at the
85th Academy Awards
The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...
, but it did not make the final shortlist.
Critics praised the use of actual prisoners in the film, saying it brought a higher intensity to the piece.
Filmed largely in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
, it has been described as a "deeply
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
film" that "blends gentle humour with an emotional punch".
Paolo Taviani said that he hoped moviegoers would "say to themselves or even those around them... that even a prisoner with a dreadful sentence, even a life sentence, is and remains a human being". Vittorio Taviani read out the names of the cast.
At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film was given a rating of 76/100 based on 12 critics, which evaluates as generally favorable reviews
See also
*
List of black-and-white films produced since 1970
American film and television studios terminated production of black-and-white output in 1966 and, during the following two years, the rest of the world followed suit. At the start of the 1960s, transition to color proceeded slowly, with major studi ...
*
*
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar Must Die
2012 films
2012 drama films
Italian drama films
Italian prison films
Films about theatre
Films set in Rome
Films shot in Rome
Films based on Julius Caesar (play)
Films directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Golden Bear winners
Italian black-and-white films
2010s Italian-language films