The Movie Alexander - 1164 Words

The film, Alexander, is a historic drama about Alexander the Great, who became legendary for his military prowess. Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian general, narrates throughout the film. Moments of Alexander’s childhood was shown, such as his difficult relationship with his mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip II of Macedon. After Alexander became King of Macedonia, he sets out to conquer the Persian Empire. He continued his eight-year campaign across East Asia, before returning home to Babylon. In the film, Alexander struggled to convince his army to continue to follow him across Asia. It was after the Battle of Hydaspes in India that encouraged Alexander to return home. The film also showed Alexander’s private relationships with†¦show more content†¦In addition, stone statues were depicted in the film as well. For example, many stone headed statues were displayed on top of pillars when the scene focused on Ptolemy I Soter narrating. Vases were presented in the film too. The artwork on vases showed past historic events. Furthermore, religion was referred a lot in the film. Hellenism was brought up in the film. For example, Olympias was surrounded with snakes in her room. There are scenes where Olympias had snakes wrapped around her leg. This represents that she was a follower of the god, Dionysius, whose rituals involved snakes coiling themselves around human bodies. Moreover, there were references to Greek gods and goddesses. For example, Olympias told Alexander that his real father was Zeus, and he had no blood relation to King Philip II. Additionally, Alexander (2004) presented several examples of a woman’s status in ancient times. Women are portrayed as child-bearers. In the a scene, King Philip II said to Alexander that he can marry as many wives as he want, so he can have as many sons. Also, women are not schooled, but stayed at home. For example, no girls were seen when Aristotle was teaching young Alexander and other boys about ethics and politics. Geography was also depicted in the film. There was various transportations that included horses, camels, and elephants. Horses were used to travel, and camels and elephants