Quo vadis

This movie impressed me greatly. Seeing the grand coliseum scenes, movies like Gladiator feels like cheap imitations.

Excellent acting, pacy, and sensitive, I consider Quo Vadis on par with UNDERGROUND, the Emir Kusturica classic.

Hope a wider audience can catch this in theaters, even a DVD wont pay justice to the wonderful sets, costumes etc. I saw this in the Polish film festival in Chicago.

I recently saw this film during my vacation in Poland, there was a lot of anticipation for this film due to the fact that it was the first Polish production of the famous book, and because it was the most expensive Polish film production in history. However the film failed to live up to its expectations on may levels. The beginning seems rushed, I remember there being more development in the novel than was shown in the movie. I could understand if the filmmakers wanted to speed up the tempo but, in this case they missed the correct pace and as a result it distanced me from the characters and plot. The movie slows down as it progresses but by that time I was already too far away to really care about what was happening. Another place where it fails is in the casting of the characters. Ligia is played by a model, who has not done any acting prior to this role, and it shows. She is never able to convincingly portray any emotions, which is another reason why I did not care much for her. Considering Ligia is one of the key roles in the film, it should have been cast with an actress with more experience, the film makers seemed to value looks over experience, and in my opinion it was a bad choice. The casting of Boguslaw Linda as Petronius raised some doubts too, as this is an actor who is frequently type cast into action roles. However his performance was one of the few enjoyable parts of the movie, was he was able to break away from his mold, and provide a solid and enjoyable portrayal of Petronius. Lastly the movie fails on its production value. It is hard to believe that so much money was in fact spent on the film. Many of the scenes look like they were set in a studio and not Rome. Which again distanced me from where I was supposed to be. The special effects leave something to be desired also. They look like TV quality effects rather than effects created for a film. I hope a large part of the budget was not spent on them. The movie had a lot of potential, and it should have been given a better treatment. Polish cinema can do much, much, better, and hopefully someday it will. A lot of money was spent on this movie, it's too bad that more thought did not go into it as well.

Inevitably, this film begs comparison to the three other recent Polish historical "super-productions", Ogniem i Mieczem, Pan Tadeusz, and Przedwiosnie. Quo Vadis isn't made with quite the elegance and visual grace of Pan Tadeusz, nor is it quite as dynamic and classy as Przedwiosnie, although it is elegant, visually graceful, and dynamic. It shares similarities, unfortunately, with Ogniem i Mieczem as well: at times it reverts to Hollywood-style kitsch, such as with close-ups that take themselves too seriously, and tacky, forced, over-dramatic music. However, these elements are both less frequent and less pronounced than in Ogniem i Mieczem; and - if you allow yourself to ignore them - are overpowered by many positive elements.

Boguslaw Linda is great as Petroniusz. This is, I think, one of his best roles for years, and he produces the grace and dignity of a Roman gentleman very well. Michal Bajor's characterisation of the naive, vain Nero, at once contemptible and likeable, was for me one of the nice surprises of the film.

The scene where lions tear Christians apart in the circus is shocking and heart-wrenching, and looks almost as realistic as I could imagine is possible. The famous scene where Ursus battles the bull in the circus is, if not as spectacular as the lions, similarly effective.

Not a masterpiece, but a very good film. 8/10

During 63 a.d. Roman , a prefect official named Marco Vinicio returns from war and he get home his uncle Petronio , friend of emperor Nero . Vinicio confesses him he is enamored Ligia , a mysterious and virginal young whom has known in the Aulus Paucius's home . Marcus Vinicius meets Lygia in Rome and falls in love . But she is Christian and doesn't want anything to do with him . In a party Vinicio tries to utilize to Lygia but she is helped by Ursus who carries her at a place of Christ's supporters . Later on , Christians are accused of burning ancient Rome . Vinicio risks his life to save his lover .

The motion picture is a larger than life production upon Nero and the Christians persecutions with lots of crowd scenes . It's realized on a giant scale with moving fighting scenes , dramatic scenes , spectacular sequences and bloody gladiator combats in the arena and lions attacks and Christian martyr . Depraved emperor want to get rid and he orders use like meat for lions and burn them on stakes . The Polish cinema's first great financial success but with unknown actors for general public although allegedly are famous in Poland . The picture is profitable by public tendency for ¨sword and sandals¨ genre re-initiated by ¨Gladiator¨ . The film is a definitive version of the classic novel by the Polish Henryk Sienkiewicz (Nobel prize winner) . Special mention to enjoyable music score by Jan Kaczmarek (Oscar winner for ¨Finding Neverland¨). The movie obtained three ¨Eagle Award¨, the greatest prize of Polish cinema , to the best gowns , production design and support cast. The motion picture was well directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz (Pharaoh) . Rating : Good and entertaining.

I thought this was one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen. I found it much more visually interesting than the earlier Hollywood version, and a lot more sly maneuvering is shown, making it more than a simple love story. I thought it showed considerable character development and made me want to learn more about that period in early Christianity.