Credibility In The Film Gladiator

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Natalie Zemon Davis states that “Reality and credibility are the components of authenticity, best achieved when films represent values, relations, and issues in a period; when they animate props and locations by their connections with historical people; and when they let the past have its distinctiveness before remaking it to resemble the present.” (p. 476) This essay will connect these concepts to Ridley Scott’s: Gladiator, Daniel Vigne’s: The Return of Martin Guerre, and Bille August’s: Les Miserables.
One important theme in Gladiator that comes across in the film is a religious devotion to family, best shown when Maximus prays over the tiny wooden figurines that represent his wife and son. He continues to pray over them even after his …show more content…

The first rebellion involves Commodus’s own sister Lucilla, which was historically accurate except for the fact that the sister was killed in the first rebellion and in the movie she lived. The second rebellion was led by the imperial guard which killed Commodus in history, but his life being taken by Maximus in the movie was the change in the second rebellion. It was still clear that the imperial guard had turned their backs on Commodus by not giving them one of their swords while he was battling Maximus. In the movie, Marcus Sercilius, was present and part of the senate, which he was a real historical figure just as Commodus, which was added to the movie for …show more content…

The clothes and use of candles played a role in portraying the time in history accurately. The advancement of weapons was also a key in knowing the time period. Locations were important because they showed the growth of Montreuil compared to that of Paris. The time spent in the convent and the change in Paris, after only ten years, was a way to help us see how the town was changing. The main issues throughout the movie were the changing of the government and the rebellions. Jean Valjean was in prison, the absolute monarchy of France was replaced by a governing monarch. During the time he went into the convent, to start his family with Cosette. We get from this the common theme of