Thursday 28 : 6:30 pm
Rome, 73 BC. Thracian slave Spartacus, sold to a gladiatorial school, leads a violent revolt against the Roman Republic.
CINÉ-HISTOIRE is where film history and historical film meet. The Cinéma du Musée proudly presents its new thematic series: five historical films showcasing one filmmaker, film era or topic. Each screening will be preceded by a brief introductory presentation and followed by a discussion led by an historian.
Recreating the past, making history, calls for skill, knowledge, and an attention to detail far beyond what is required for mere “costume dramas.” Screenwriters and film directors must be as meticulous as historians, analyzing every facet of history as they reconstruct the lives of complex characters often caught up in moral dilemmas. Only the greatest historical films are able to recreate the strangeness of the past while addressing themes that are both timeless and universal.
Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999) was fascinated by both time and history. Like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, he navigated back and forth between science fiction and history. One third of Kubrick’s filmography consists of historical films. And if History is ever written by the victor, Kubrick nonetheless challenges this fate by demonstrating the absurdity of those who wield power, and the equally absurd resistance of the vanquished.
