Portrayal of Cleopatra as Represented in the Film of 1963 - Essay Example

Cleopatra is not a mere historical figure in the world of art, literature, and entertainment. To draw the comparison of Cleopatra’s portrait figured in films between 1963 and the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, it is quite essential to draw the reference and go through a thorough analysis of the first appearance and portrayal of the image of the oriental queen on the silver screen. Cleopatra was first unveiled as a queen on the silver screen, in the year 1917. The first role of Cleopatra was played by Theda Bara where she was projected as an enchantress and iconic figure of mysterious orient with all her mystical aura which culminated into a figure that was sexually manipulative, threatening to be married and abandoned men with all her exotic appeal. The press clubbed this exotic predator as “the torpedo of domesticity”. 

This iconic portrayal of the queen became analogous with her name until in the year 1934, Cleopatra was reincarnated as a modern brand queen in the epic of Cecil B De Mille. Cleopatra revisited the minds of her audience as a flirtatious queen gazing at the hollow pomp of Caesar and is less threatening. The exotic appeal broke into a modern romantic comedy and the queen of the oriental land seemed to be more guided by the battle of sexes rather than the clash of Roman and Egyptian cultures. Cleopatra became the queen of romantic comedy with volleys of fancy apparel clad on her with lots of branding on it. The film Cleopatra made in the year 1934 was set against the socio-cultural backdrop of the concept of the ‘new woman’ prevailing in American society during the entire decade of the 1920s and 30s.

Almost after three decades, in the year 1963, Twentieth Century Fox released the film Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor as the Egyptian Queen. This film became the most elaborate version of all the films crafted on Cleopatra. The film was the most spectacular propaganda on the oriental extravaganza with the use of rich colors, setting, make-up, dress, and props. It was so far the costliest production that Hollywood ever experienced and romance was the all-guiding phenomenon of the film right from its pre-production posters where Cleopatra was seen between the passionate and haunting eyes of Mark Anthony on one side and Caesar on the other side to the post-production reviews where the film was reviewed under the light of romantic preconceptions that the Romans had about her which she manipulated according to her advantage. The off-set chemistry between Burton and Taylor acted well on the sets of Cleopatra too, reaching to the heights of a romantic saga. However the image of Cleopatra by Bara as a vamp and mysterious oriental was transmitted into a more sympathetic note where Taylor presented the figure of the powerful empress who used sex as a vehicle or a means to save her kingdom and fight the battle of a woman left alone in the world of men.

The 1963 version of Cleopatra was so huge and strong that it was retained in the memory of the audience for ages initially, the changed look of the queen of Egypt during the last half of the Twentieth century and the first half of the Twenty-first century was a bit hard to accept. In the year 2002, a television series evolved masquerading Cleopatra bearing the name Xena- Warrior Princess from the production house of “MM Studios USA Television Dist LLC/ Renaissance Pictures / Studios USA / Universal” which revoked and reworked the exotic appeal of Cleopatrathroughh the extensive use of sex tool by Xena and the carpet scene which echoed the true essence of the 163 version. The Anglo-American look of Cleopatra was modified into a more ethnic and oriental look which did not surprise the audience at all in the 1999 version of Cleopatra from the production house of Babel berg International Filmproduktion GmbH & Co Betriebs KG / Hallmark Home Entertainment where the queen herself was seen fighting and giving a castigating blow to a Roman soldier in the battle. The most contemporary portrayal of the image of Cleopatra pertains to a more sensitive image hinging on the ethnic perspective of the portrayal. Read More