Ich, Claudius, Kaiser & Gott

One of the best British imports on Masterpiece Theater in the USA, the series was a real bicentennial gift from the United Kingdom.

Over a dozen chapters, the series held the interest throughout, there's not a moment that it flagged. So many wonderful performances by the players. Derek Jacobi got his career role in this series as the club footed stuttering Claudius who survives by just making sure everyone thinks him a fool and not worth bothering about. In the meantime he secretly records his family's inner history.

The really evil one here is Livia played by Sian Phillips. I'm pretty sure that such prime time bitch goddesses as Joan Collins on Dynasty and Jane Wyman in Falcon Crest modeled their characters on Livia because these women were Girl Scouts compared to Livia. Livia was the wife of Augustus Caesar played by Brian Blessed and Phillips also got a career role.

I'd be hard pressed to decide who was the best Caligula ever. John Hurt in this series is up against some pretty stiff competition in Malcolm McDowell in the title role of the film Caligula or Jay Robinson in The Robe and Demetrius And The Gladiators. Insanity gallops in the Caesar family as in The Brewsters and in the case of Caligula it breaks the three minute mile.

George Baker is very good as the pleasure seeking Tiberius whose succession to the throne Sian Phillips is working overtime to achieve. Patrick Stewart with a full head of hair plays the opportunistic Sejanus who reaches for power, taking advantage of the increasing hedonistic tendencies of Tiberius in his later years. Sejanus would have been his career role had he not become Jean-Luc Picard.

Margaret Tyzack who was Queen Anne in The First Churchills gets another fine role as Antonina, mother of Claudius. Her other son Germanicus falls victim to Caesar court politics and her daughter takes up with Sejanus. Her children disappoint her throughout and she like the others fail to see that Claudius is not the fool he appears to be.

Probably Sheila White's Messalina is far closer to the truth than Susan Hayward's worldly woman in Demetrius and the Gladiators. White plays her like the Catherine Howard of her day, like the legendary nymphomaniac wife of Henry VIII who was one of the two who Henry executed. You've got to love that coitus contest between Messalina and the head of the guild of prostitutes. Guess who wins.

Robert Graves lived long enough to see his historical fictionalization come to life and I'm sure he must have approved. Graves did some considerable research into ancient texts for I, Claudius. His interpretation is as valid as any others we'll find of those wild and crazy ancient days of the Caesars.

In writing his epic novels `I, Claudius' and `Claudius the God', from which this series is adapted, Robert Graves reinvented the genre of historical fiction. And he could hardly have chosen a more fascinating subject than the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Even a tame retelling, based strictly on verified historical fact, would have made an interesting tale. But by embracing the lurid, sensationalistic hyperbole heaped upon the founders of the Roman Empire by later writers (Suetonius and Tacitus in particular), Graves concocted the ultimate in dysfunctional families, weaving a tale of scandal and debauchery capable of shocking even the most jaded of modern audiences. The more eminent classicists, naturally, sneered, as eminent classicists tend to do toward anything that threatens to make the ancient world more accessible to `hoi polloi'. One is forced to admit that, as history, Graves' juicy narrative is bunk. But o ye gods, what enjoyable bunk it is!

The drama gives an insider's view of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, the first emperors of Rome. Over the course of his long reign, Augustus has managed to bring peace to his nation after nearly a century of off-and-on civil wars. But he remains a man divided, hoping for the eventual return of the old Republican government, but knowing that the best hope for a lasting peace is the continued concentration of power in a single person. Augustus therefore sets himself to the task of grooming a successor, one who shares his dream and will continue laying the foundations for the restoration of the Republic. His wife, however, Livia Drusilla, is determined to thwart his plans, and embarks on a slow, murderous scheme to place her own son (whom she fancies she can control) on the throne. The tale is told through the eyes of Claudius, step-grandson to Augustus, who suffered from the crippling effects of a childhood illness and was thus despised and ignored by much of his own family. Regarded as an idiot and of no threat to anyone, he alone remains standing while the poison flows and the daggers flash. To the surprise of all (none the least himself) this drooling, stuttering, limping old fool turns out not to be such a fool after all, and in one of history's great ironies, wins the prize everyone but he is after: absolute power.

Again, the historical facts alone make this an interesting tale. But it is the tantalizing glimpse into the inner workings of the world's first `First Family' that makes `I, Claudius' so much fun. Bill Clinton's philandering and the endless public spectacle that is the British Royals just seem so incredibly dull and tame compared with the bad behavior of Augustus' clan. Matricide, patricide, fratricide, regicide, suicide, incest, rape, pedophilia.and that's on a slow day. Poisonings, stabbings, betrayals, double-crosses, triple-crosses, madness. And one gentle soul sitting in the corner watching it all. Robert Graves' story brings out the tremendous irony of a nation finally at peace with itself, but ruled by a family embroiled in its very own civil war. It's the sort of sordid tale one finds only in the most disreputable of tabloids, but then rendered in gorgeous prose and delivered by the finest actors. To the uninitiated, it might best be described as a guilty pleasure cleverly masquerading as a stuffy British period drama.

I don't think anyone could have hoped for a more faithful transition from book to film than what the BBC achieved. Working with a 12+ hour running time, screenwriter Jack Pulman was not forced to content himself with a `Cliff's Notes' version of the story. Events progress in a naturally expansive manner, and characters grow and mature (or fail to do so) believably over time. In recreating the novels for the stage (after all, let's face it - this is predominantly a televised stage play) Pulman was constrained only by a modest budget and the limitations of the television studio. Action is confined to indoor sets, and the more spectacular aspects of daily life in ancient Rome (attending the Circus Maximus, for example) are left to the viewer's imagination, hinted at by the sounds of roaring crowds but never actually seen. For those audience members not put off by such, or by the drab color and lighting usually reserved for daytime soap operas, the entire production is a treat from beginning to end.

The acting is superb at every turn. Derek Jacobi lends tremendous dignity to his portrayal of Claudius, whose physical handicaps might have come off as insulting or hammy from a lesser actor. He is utterly believable as the `wise' fool, the only person in the entire family NOT scheming for power, and therefore the only one worthy of it. As Livia, Siân Phillips is a study in controlled, cunning evil. The role is reminiscent of Eleanor of Aquitaine in `The Lion in Winter', except that even Katherine Hepburn's Oscar-wining performance in that film is utterly outdone here (ironically, Siân Phillips also played the role of Queen Eleanor, in the BBC's adaptation of `Ivanhoe'). John Hurt's gleefully decadent turn as Caligula is fascinating to watch. Hurt's eyes, throughout his portrayal, remain chillingly cold and lifeless even as he smiles and laughs - except of course, for his expression of shock upon realizing that his sister Drusilla is, in fact, mortal. The most impressive moment in the entire production, however, came from Brian Blessed (Augustus), whose slow, quiet, passing away remains the most convincing screen death I have ever witnessed.

There are simply not enough superlatives in the English language to express my opinion of the towering triumph that is `I, Claudius'. And seeing the 9.5 user rating here on the IMDB, apparently I'm not alone.

I won't add to the many superlatives ascribed to this wonderful series, well-deserved though they are. But I would like to point out a few vital details that help explain just why it is so wonderful.

(1) Much has been said about Siân Phillips' intense projection of evil, but just how does she do it? If you watch carefully, you'll see she never blinks in her close-up takes, some of which are very long. This gives her a snakelike appearance, which enhances her voice and cold beauty in imparting such an air of menace to everything she says.

(2) Much has also been said about the lack of expensive sets, location shots, or special effects. But the point is that this series is successful because of these apparent deficiencies and not despite them. So much modern cinema and TV is swamped by expensive irrelevances to the detriment of the basics -- writing, acting, and timing. 'I Claudius' shows just how important these things are, and how unimportant those expensive special effects can be.

(3) I had the good fortune to read both books before the series was made, and then to watch it with a critical eye. It was satisfying to see such an expert adaptation, but especially so to see how the central point of the story has not been lost: the inability of any ruler, however powerful, to control what happens at the end of the long chain of command that inevitably forms. I found this a message of lifelong importance in both politics and management, and it is rare indeed that such a remarkable piece of drama and entertainment is also so fundamentally educational.

Based on Robert Graves' famous novel, I, CLAUDIUS is the ultimate soap opera, vicious, cruel, manipulative--and this famous English miniseries grabs the attention and holds fast throughout the entire length of its complex tale of ancient intrigue.

The great strengths of I, CLAUDIUS are in the driving pace, sharp wit, and ferocity of Jack Pulman's script and the host of brilliant performers who play it out. Chief among these are Sian Phillips as the calculating, murderous, and unspeakably cold Livia, wife of Augustus; although Derek Jacobi gives a justly famous performance in the title role, it is Phillips who dominates and drives the story with this, the most brilliant performance of her career. But this is not to disparage the overall cast, which is remarkably fine and includes such noted artists as Brian Blessed, John Hurt, Patricia Quinn, Patrick Stewart, and a host of others.

Like the serpent that appears in the open credits, the story twists and winds--and covers several generations of the ruling family as Rome slips from the republic to royal rule, largely due to the manipulations of Livia, who has few if any scruples in her determination to rule first through her husband and then through her son. Although the look of the film is somewhat dated, it in no way impairs the power of the piece, and I, CLAUDIUS remains one of the handful of miniseries that actually improves upon repeated viewings. Strongly, strongly recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The best miniseries ever made! Smart and sexy, with characters that live and breathe. Just some of the most marvelous characters include Brian Blessed as the benevolent Augustus, George Baker as the wounded Tiberius, and Siân Phillips as Livia. Includes one of John Hurt's finest performances, and I'd go into Derek Jacobi as Claudius, but they say I have to keep it below 1,000 words. The Canadian channel Bravo runs it occasionally, or try renting it from Blockbuster, but I recommend shelling out for the entire collection on video!