Publicado em 17 de dez de 2013

Heliogabale (L'orgie Romaine,Die Lwen des Tyrannen),1911, directed by Louis Feuil

lade, is a pleasant little gem that gives us a fake history lesson in just eight
-minutes. Director Feuillade manages to pack quite a bit into the short running
time but there's no question the highlight is the lion's den, which actually man
ages to contain some mild suspense even though we know the actor is in no real d
anger. Another highlight comes towards the end when the always joking Elagabalus
lets the lions join the party. The final five-minutes of this film are hand col
ored and it looks very good. Another major plus are the wonderful sets and nice
costumes. Fans of early cinema will certainly want to check this one out. (Micha
el Elliot)
Heliogabale: Jean Ayme
Rest of cast: Louise Lagrang, Luitz-Morat, Lonce Perret
Production Co: Socit des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Elagabalus (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, ca. 203 -- 11 March 222), also k
nown as Heliogabalus, was Roman Emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan
Dynasty, he was Syrian on his mother's side, the son of Julia Soaemias and Sext
us Varius Marcellus. In his early youth he served as a priest of the god Elagaba
l (in Latin, Elagabalus) in the hometown of his mother's family, Emesa. As a pri
vate citizen, he was probably named Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus. Upon becomin
g emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. He was called Ela
gabalus only after his death. In 217, the emperor Caracalla was assassinated and
replaced by his Praetorian prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. Caracalla's mater
nal aunt, Julia Maesa, successfully instigated a revolt among the Third Legion t
o have her eldest grandson (and Caracalla's cousin), Elagabalus, declared empero
r in his place. Macrinus was defeated on 8 June 218, at the Battle of Antioch. E
lagabalus, barely fourteen years old, became emperor, initiating a reign remembe
red mainly for sexual scandal and religious controversy.
Later historians suggest Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious tradi
tions and sexual taboos. He replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon,
Jupiter, with the deity of whom he was high priest, Elagabal. He forced leading
members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this
deity, over which he personally presided. Elagabalus was married as many as fiv
e times, lavished favors on male courtiers popularly thought to have been his lo
vers, employed a prototype of whoopee cushions at dinner parties, and was report
ed to have prostituted himself in the imperial palace. His behavior estranged th
e Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people alike.
Amidst growing opposition, Elagabalus, just 18 years old, was assassinated and r
eplaced by his cousin Alexander Severus on 11 March 222, in a plot formulated by
his grandmother, Julia Maesa, and carried out by disaffected members of the Pra
etorian Guard.
Elagabalus developed a reputation among his contemporaries for extreme eccentric
ity, decadence and zealotry. This tradition has persisted, and in writers of the
early modern age he suffers one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors.
Edward Gibbon, for example, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the gros
sest pleasures and ungoverned fury." According to B.G. Niebuhr, "The name Elagab
alus is branded in history above all others" because of his "unspeakably disgust
ing life."
Resources: wikipedia.org, imdb.org
New soundtrack and dubbing: Cinemateca
Music: Kevin Mac Leod (www.incompetch.com) licensed under Creative Commons licen
ce http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-... . Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.
0).