I do promise that this will be my last entry on the topic of Oliver Stone’s Alexander. The best way I am able to explain the movie is boring. It was put together in a very bizarre fashion, where I imagine if you have not read anything on Alexander than you would be thinking, ‘huh?’
I understand the Alexander story is a long one, and there is no way to properly reduce it to a 2.5 hour movie, however you can try. Here is where I think Stone really dropped the ball. He did not pick a theme of Alexander to weave into a story. Alexander is an amazing character, and people for ages have loved to study him. Whether it is the General Alexander, the Lover Alexander, the Politician Alexander, of the megalomaniac who may or may not have actually believed himself to be divine, these are just a few of the Alexanders which made him The Great. Stone refused to pick a theme to work with in his film, other than “look and see how complex of a person Alexander was.” That is fine and can be appreciated, however I consider it bad filmmaking and very few people have any sort of understanding on who Alexander actually was. My guess is the average joe will say “yeah he was a Greek leader.” They will not know that he was Macedonian, that he conquered Persia, or that Aristotle was his teacher. Some people may recognize that he was queer, but I imagine that is not a fault of Alexander to them, but just an understood Greek thing. Anyway, my point is this movie is not made for just anyone.
So I did not like the script, the one other thing I really hated was the acting. Colin Farrell sucked. Listen up all actors who want to be the next Classical Super Hero. Russell Crowe is the new classical super hero. Whether it be Babylon, Troy, or Rome he did it first and (My generation of course) did it the best. And to the writers, no more cheesy lines for them to yell at their troops. Angelina Jolie, though had some weird accent, I thought did a very nice job. Nothing spectacular but hey, I’ll give her some credit.
I think the weakest part of the film is the film itself. There is weird cheesy imagery with an eagle and this ridiculous red filter sequence. I did appreciate the way Alexander slowly slipped into madness. His mental deterioration is something that has always fascinated me, and I do believe Stone was trying to do that, so there is another plus.
In the end I would not go see this movie again, nor would I rent it. It has been something I have been waiting for, for a long time, and I was crushed with disappointment. Oh well, that’s life when trying to turn classical reality into modern cinema.
If you actually want to learn about Alexander, try reading these:
What about The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World, by G.E.M de Ste. Croix? My guess is that you have never read this — and neither have I, but I have it in my possession. And I also know without asking first that you want to borrow it. Hence, I will lend it to you.