New take on Spartacus focuses on the man<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Every movie producer must be aware that if they remake one of the
\ngrandest of Hollywood epic films, they must be prepared for high
\nexpectations that the new film will outshine the old one -- and
\nfor criticism.<\/p>\n
Wolfgang Petersen reportedly spent US$175 million for his
\nversion of Homer's Iliad in Troy so that he could recreate the
\nlarger-than-life saga into an even more panoramic version than
\nhis predecessor could have done in the fifties and sixties.<\/p>\n
The movie was a commercial flop.<\/p>\n
Executive producer Adam Shapiro was undeterred by the
\npotential for criticism and expectation when he decided to film
\nan updated version of Stanley Kubrick's 1960 epic, Spartacus. If
\nanything, he stayed away from trying his hand at a grandiose
\nproduction and took an entirely new approach to the critically
\nacclaimed film -- he has turned the epic into a made-for-TV
\nminiseries.<\/p>\n
Spartacus is the tale of a slave who was trained as a
\ngladiator and led a bloody revolt against his Roman masters more
\nthan 2,000 years ago. Kubrick's version was nominated for six
\nOscars and won four.<\/p>\n
In the miniseries, Shapiro said he stayed true to the original
\nbook written by dissident writer Howard Fast in 1950.<\/p>\n
\"We stayed away from the original movie. We just didn't want
\nto have a remake. You will find that the miniseries is
\nsignificantly different, the things that happen, all the
\ncharacters are taken from the book,\" he said in a three-way
\ntelephone interview with three Asian newspapers, including The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said that the original Spartacus, in which Kirk Douglas
\nplayed the lead role, did not tell the whole story and
\ninterpreted the characters differently.<\/p>\n
\"In the original movie, the main character ... was very
\ngregarious. He was someone who could motivate a crowd by his
\npersonality. In the miniseries, Spartacus is very brooding,
\ncontemplative and very quiet. His actions speak louder than his
\nwords,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Shapiro said that unlike Achilles in Petersen's Troy, who
\nsought personal glory, the Spartacus of the miniseries was
\nportrayed as a straightforward individual: \"He is a simple man
\nwho wants simple thing -- freedom.\"<\/p>\n
As part of his low-key approach to the epic, Shapiro said the
\nminiseries chose not to recreate the famous slave army cry \"I am
\nSpartacus\" from the original movie.<\/p>\n
In the Kubrick version, the cry is actually a recording of a
\ncrowd at a Michigan State (the Spartans) vs. Notre Dame football
\ngame.<\/p>\n
And if the new batch of epic remakes rely heavily on computer
\ngenerated imagery (CGI) to portray life during pre-modern times,
\nthe miniseries kept its CGI use to the minimum.<\/p>\n
\"We only used CGI to portray the scene of Rome from a
\ndistance, and if taken together, CGI only made up 10 percent of
\nthe whole movie,\" Shapiro said.<\/p>\n
For the miniseries, the production team built a five-acre
\nsetting that was Ancient Rome in Bulgaria, only a couple hours
\nfrom the birthplace of the real Spartacus in southern Italy.<\/p>\n
To recreate Spartacus, Shapiro cast Croatian-born actor Goran
\nVisnjic, who is widely known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovac on
\nNBC's E.R.<\/p>\n
\"He is recognizable, somebody that people like. He is also
\nsomebody who is very physical (and can) do combat and can
\nactually act,\" Shapiro said, adding that it was somewhat a
\ndifficult role to play, as it would gain Visnjic an inevitable
\ncomparison with Douglas.<\/p>\n
Shapiro also said that the miniseries had a different ending
\ncompared to the original movie.<\/p>\n
Spartacus is only one among several epic miniseries produced
\nby Shapiro. Previously, he successfully brought Helen of Troy and
\nAttila the Hun to the small screen.<\/p>\n
Having long dreamed to become known as a producer of epic
\nfilms, Shapiro got a career boost at cartoon factory Hanna
\nBarbera, where he produced animated programs such as The Power
\nPuff Girls, Dexter's Lab and Courage the Cowardly Dog.<\/p>\n
\"Cartoon was just a side step ... My heart was always on
\nhistorical epics because I love the genre,\" said Shapiro who,
\nincidentally, majored in history at university.<\/p>\n
Now, Shapiro has set his sights firmly on recreating -- and
\ncreating -- epic movies, and is optimistic that the genre will
\nalways gain currency.<\/p>\n
\"Although not all remakes of the genre are successful, we
\nbelieve that the sandal-and-sword genre will never go out of
\nstyle,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Spartacus, the miniseries, will premier in Indonesia on Star
\nMovies on March 19 at 8 p.m. and March 20 at 1.30 p.m.<\/p>",
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