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<\/a>\u00a0 Roman swords and sandals epics have become more frequently seen attractions on the silver screen ever since the major success of Gladiator. \u2018The Eagle\u2019 is another such tale, based on the true story of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion (Hispania)\u00a0in what we today call Scotland.\u00a0 The time is 140 A.D., Hadrian\u2019s wall divides England from Scotland,\u00a0 and\u00a0for one hour and 54 minutes we are presented\u00a0with the tale of\u00a0 Marcus\u00a0\u00a0Flavius Aquila\u00a0 (the last name in fact means eagle) who has come to Briton to redeem\u00a0the honor of his family name, for his father had been the leader of that lost legion.\u00a0\u00a0 The\u00a0 movie chronicles the search of Marcus for the lost Eagle, the symbol of Rome, a search which takes him well beyond Hadrian\u2019s wall where he must deal with Brigantes and the Seal people and others.\u00a0\u00a0 What shall we say about this \u2018history\u2019 film with epic sweep, that appeals to the virtues of \u2018honor and faithfulness\u2019\u00a0 (honores\/ fidelis)?<\/p>\nFirstly I must say that the visuals of this film are excellent, especially the\u00a0beautiful scenes from the highlands of Scotland.\u00a0And for the most part, the film makers have tried to give us an authentic look at Romans in Briton during this period, and the tribes they encountered.\u00a0 Secondly, despite some laments from some film critics,\u00a0 this movie is not too long at an hour and 54 minutes.\u00a0 It builds momentum slowly as Marcus and his slave\u00a0 Eska\u00a0make their\u00a0long and winding journey in search of what happened to the Ninth Legion and its standard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was Paul\u00a0Tillich who once said that\u00a0the difference between a sign and a symbol is that a symbol participates in that to which it points,\u00a0 say like the American flag.\u00a0 So it is that if \u2018the eagle is lost, honor is lost, and if\u00a0honor is lost, all is lost\u2019,\u00a0\u00a0as one Roman in the film says quite rightly.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Festering in the heart of Marcus is the need to win back the honor of his family name by finding that eagle and finding out what happened to his father and his legion.\u00a0\u00a0 And so, he will not accept an honorable discharge after serving bravely in Briton, no he will go and try and regain honor. \u00a0In an honor\u00a0and shame culture,\u00a0 honor,\u00a0 not truth not even life is the top value in the ethical hierarchy of values, something you would give your life for, and even tell a lie for.<\/p>\n
Some critics have also complained about Channing Tatum\u2019s some what stoic and stolid portrayal of a leader of a Roman legion, but then many such military leaders were and are like that.\u00a0 I actually thought he did a good job of not over-acting, but rather letting his bravery and honor speak for him.\u00a0 He portrays a noble Roman more than adequately,\u00a0 and complaints about his accent are absurd. This is a movie in English for the English-speaking world.\u00a0 And whether the soldier has an American English accent or a British English accent or an Aussie accent is quite beside the point\u2014 none of them sound like ancient Romans speaking Latin, so there isn\u2019t an authenticity issue at all, unless you complain it\u2019s an issue with everyone in the film. I also enjoyed the role Donald Sutherland plays in this film as\u00a0Marcus\u2019\u00a0friendly uncle who looks after him as he convalesces from a wound.<\/p>\n
The heart of this film, and it does have a heart, is the growing relationship between Marcus and Eska, the Brigante whose life\u00a0Marcus saved in the Roman\u00a0games he was forced to participate in against a gladiator.\u00a0 But Eska refused to fight, refused to co-operate with making someone\u2019s life a game or sport for others to watch, thus showing his own nobility. \u00a0Marcus\u00a0is so impressed he insists he must be spared the sword.\u00a0 My one\u00a0historical complaint is that when the crowd spares him it should have been thumbs down, not thumbs up, because in the Roman arena actually thumbs down meant spare the man, not thumbs up, despite our own\u00a0modern interpretations of that gesture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What we see develop as Eska and Marcus journey north is a growing relationship of respect and comradeship, and\u00a0eventually of loyalty and kindness in the midst of mayhem and danger.\u00a0 Both men prove true to their word and as good as their word.\u00a0\u00a0 While this is by no means a great film,\u00a0 in the dead zone of movies that usually appear in January or Feburary, this is a decent film, worth watching if you care about the Greco-Roman world in which Christianity became the dominant religion.\u00a0 It is a film the men who fought at Iwo Jima in WWII could readily identify with\u2014 find the lost flag and raise it, and defend its honor.\u00a0 That approach to life is as old as Rome\u00a0 and as new as today.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 Roman swords and sandals epics have become more frequently seen attractions on the silver screen ever since the major success of Gladiator. \u2018The Eagle\u2019 is another such tale, based on the true story of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion (Hispania)\u00a0in what we today call Scotland.\u00a0 The time is 140 A.D., Hadrian\u2019s wall divides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>\u00a0 Roman swords and sandals epics have become more frequently seen attractions on the silver screen ever since the major success of Gladiator. \u2018The Eagle\u2019 is another such tale, based on the true story of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion (Hispania)\u00a0in what we today call Scotland.\u00a0 The time is 140 A.D., Hadrian\u2019s wall divides England from Scotland,\u00a0 and\u00a0for one hour and 54 minutes we are presented\u00a0with the tale of\u00a0 Marcus\u00a0\u00a0Flavius Aquila\u00a0 (the last name in fact means eagle) who has come to Briton to redeem\u00a0the honor of his family name, for his father had been the leader of that lost legion.\u00a0\u00a0 The\u00a0 movie chronicles the search of Marcus for the lost Eagle, the symbol of Rome, a search which takes him well beyond Hadrian\u2019s wall where he must deal with Brigantes and the Seal people and others.\u00a0\u00a0 What shall we say about this \u2018history\u2019 film with epic sweep, that appeals to the virtues of \u2018honor and faithfulness\u2019\u00a0 (honores\/ fidelis)?<\/p>\n