476 A.D. Chapter One: The Last Light of Aries

It seems that the history of man is locked loop that keeps the man inside if your own vanity, selfishness and greed history is the mirror that shows us clearly that our present but our good if we only have the clarity reflector an abyss our limits to see just one step away, we bend our weaknesses and condemn us to repeat our mistakes inevitably condemning us to an endless sedition and human torture ... Ivan Pavletic having sensitivity to delve into these issues in his film recounts story that the past is a clear window of life that still continue to choose the difference is only the loss of time that will never ever recover ......

This film portrays the events surrounding Flavius Aetius's triumphant return from his victorious last battle. At a time when The Roman Empire was in its last throws of collapse, Aetius brought glory to its people. Ivan Pavletic's portrayal of Aetius, who fought the Huns and returned a hero, highlights the reality of what led to the down fall of the empire and meeting an enemy on a battlefield may very well be the easiest fight. Often the within proves to be the most formidable foe. The making of this film is a great example of why independent films continue to prove that big money and the Hollywood formulas aren't necessary to create a movie of quality and importance. I enjoyed watching this movie and felt that it was a well crafted combination of talent and skill comes together in Pavletic's film, giving it the right recipe for success.

You just have to check this film out, because it is just very different! This is one of those bizarre low budget indi films that somehow grows on you. The more you see it, the more you like it. I bought it on Amazon a month ago, and didn't really care much for it then, but I decided to watch the whole thing again, and the second time I actually really liked it, and simply got hooked on it.

Perhaps this time I wasn't expecting Russel Crowe in Gladiator, or Gerard Butler in 300, and just watched it for what it is, without the whole rossi glasses. There is just something about this film that talks to you in its own hypnotic bizarre language, to the point that it made me open my Italian Red Malvasia wine.

The film is obviously low budget, as it is lacking in cinematographic quality, when it comes to the special effects, and computer graphics, but that is exactly what makes it interesting. Even though it starts really slow, at moments even corny, and just simply bizarre, if you watch it with an open mind, I promise you will love it by the end.

In an unorthodox way, it get to its own by the second act, as it catches up in its richness and novel like dynamic. It sort of feels like listening to those audio books, only instead of the voice, the atmosphere is expressed through the collage of plentiful rich and colorful images, almost like looking at classic paintings, and somehow you just can't take your eyes and ears of it.

The film manages to take you to the Mediterranean life it self, to the point that you feel you are actually there. This is something I caught right away, because I lived in Italy, which I try to visit at least once a year, and if anything, one thing this indi film caught very well, was the true Roman Mediterranean vibe. From the very beginning of the film, from that specific Mediterranean sun, the specific grape wines you see, the apples, the olives, the plums, and even the cicadas singing in the background, the filmmakers caught every detail of what Mediterranean truly is.

Therefore, when in Rome...Saluti!

It's definitely not the best movie out there, but when you take in consideration the ultra low budget behind its creation, which according to IMDb was at only 100k, it's actually not bad at all. According to the cinematographic quality, from the very beginning, it is obvious that it is a low budget art/indi film, however once you accept it for what it is, it is actually rather interesting, and seems to suck you in about half way in to the movie. For instance, the first 10 minutes, there is not a single word spoken, in fact it feels overly artsy and slow, and even comic in a way, however, it is very rich in imagery, which makes up for it's slow paste, and gradual rise. Sort of like the ambiance music you might listen to in an airplane, to calm you down, if you don't like flying.

The film sort of reminds me of the experimental 1960's Prague film school films, with a bunch of picturesque images intermingling with each other, while the richness in colors ads to its value. Another element that comfortably surprised me, was the fact that at every moment, there is some kind of a soundtrack playing, is it just some barely heard ambient sound, or a classical symphony, there is hardly a second in the movie without music. From the beginning until the end, the film never leaves its tempo, which it manages to hold until the very end.

The film doesn't really start to pick up in its story until about half way in, which I felt was cleverly done, as majority of the new high budget blockbusters reach their peaks at the beginning, and then just ride that left over echo throughout the entire movie. This, I find to be a grossly cheap solution for a quick money making gimmick with today's high budget blockbusters. However, here, it seems that the filmmakers didn't have another choice, but to be more clever and creative in using the less available funds at their disposal, which it seems, that they did just that. Here the slow gradual rise to its peak was rather interestingly done, where I felt the gradual transition in its tempo and dynamic of the story was original, in the way that it didn't use the usual formula that many others do. While at the same time, never loosing its art experimental feel and style of the film. This is something that I found very interesting in a low budget film, because very little filmmakers still manage to do this in a transition of the story, yet stay consistent to it's style and genre.

Overall, despite the lower budget lack of quality in its cinematography, compared to many today's blockbusters, this movie somehow never lost me, and managed to keep my attention until the end. Which for a low budget film like this, is very impressive in my opinion.

If you like this kind of period piece and similar big stories like 'Spartacus', 'Rome', '300', 'The Immortals' etc...then you'll love this film. By Ivan Pavletic, a great up and coming Denver based Actor who comes off more like a chameleon and less like a human. Support Independent Film Making and rent '476 A.D. Chapter One: The Last Light of Aries' today!! Featuring a terrific and talented cast, this feature film is set in the first century with great costume and production design. Produced, Directed by, and Starring Ivan Pavletic (Wildflower) and featuring Matt Block (The Gospel According to Stevenson). This film is the first to come in a saga of two. The sequel is now in post production.