Page 123 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

112 / Shakespeare in the Movies

Antony's natural leadership abilities. This parallels the Brutus-Cas-
sius relationship, which moves in the opposite direction: from cyn-
ical exploitation to true friendship. Wisely, Burge shows Octavius as
cocommander with Antony at Philippi, whereas Mankiewicz made
the mistake of ascribing the victory to Antony alone, thereby dimin-
ishing the parallel pairs. Burge includes the key moment of con-
frontation between the two sets of generals before the battle, each
man revealing his true self and value system—which Mankiewicz
unwisely cut. Burge at least attempts to convey Shakespeare's ironic
treatment of the four key characters. He makes us like Brutus and
Cassius moments before they die, even as we like Antony and
Octavius less than we originally did when they conquer.
The key moment in any Julius Caesar is Antony's funeral address.
His oration stands not only at the center of the play's narrative but
at the heart of its dramatic greatness. Nowhere else does Shake-
speare so completely convey his understanding of practical politics
or his deep-seated fear of the easily swayed masses. In mere min-
utes, the populace, who was ready to crown Brutus, is begging for his
blood. Mankiewicz played the speeches by Brutus and Antony in an
identical manner, each speaking directly to the crowd. Burge took a
cue from Heston, effectively employing it to reveal the contrast
between the speakers and their speeches.
Here Brutus stands on the forum steps, at a distance from the
public. He speaks, as a political innocent would, logically, sharing
reasons for doing what he did. For the moment, this approach works;
people are taken by the sincerity of his liberal idealism. By address-
ing the crowd en masse, he is visually established as a leftist who
perceives the community as an entirety. Then it is Antony's turn,
and Heston's as well. This Antony is a conservative and a realist
who believes in the concept that would eventually be defined as
"rugged individualism." So Antony descends into the crowd, speak-
ing successive lines to specific people, carefully isolating them, one-
on-one. Cynically understanding that emotion will win out over
logic, Antony plays on their basest emotion—greed—and makes
them aware of the riches Caesar intended for them, turning the lis-
teners into a mob.
The sequence works due to Heston's underscoring of subtexts in
a way Brando did not. Every time this Antony repeats the phrase
"honorable men" in changing contexts, the line rings with a differ-
ent intonation and an altered meaning. Brando paced his speech