Alexander

[MacGuffin]

'Alexander' Evokes Parallels to Politics

Although he lived 2,300 years ago, Alexander the Great may have something to say about current American politics. Oliver Stone's "Alexander" has rekindled interest and prompted a wave of books, TV documentaries and magazine articles about the young warrior-king, who conquered most of the known world by leading his armies from Greece to the Middle East and across to Asia and India.

With the big-budget movie debuting just weeks after the presidential election, Americans still fiercely divided about President Bush and his policies, and U.S. forces locked in bloody conflict in Iraq (one of Alexander's stomping grounds), Stone's "Alexander" almost can't help but seem like a political allegory.

Both Alexander and President Bush are the most powerful leaders of their day, raised in the shadow of dynamic fathers who also wielded worldwide influence, and defined by an ambitious and ongoing war in a foreign land that is historically difficult to occupy. Both men spent years pursuing a high-profile enemy leader who fled into the hills of the Middle East.

"The film was never made for the purposes of a correlation or to say anything about today's present state," said Colin Farrell, who stars in the title role. "People say history repeats itself, well it does in different ways, shapes and forms. This was kind of a freaky coincidence that our story takes place exactly where all the madness we're all talking about takes place now."

"Alexander" can be viewed either as a support for or an argument against the current administration and the interpretation could vary from Blue State voter to Red State voter.

"I think it depends on what your political slant is and what you want to do.... (Stone) made a film that is very open-minded, laying things out there that are both good and bad," said Angelina Jolie, who co-stars as Alexander's mother, Olympias.

Jolie, an active follower of foreign affairs as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, said she's happy "if (the movie) raises questions and gets people talking and gets people looking at how we approach entering other cultures, what we do against them, what we do when we don't understand them."

Up for debate is this: Has Bush followed in the footsteps or missteps of Alexander?

Stone acknowledged the coincidences, but since he started developing the project in 1989 he said it's obvious he didn't have President Bush in mind as a point of reference.

According to Farrell, the filmmaker, who previously stirred political emotions with "Platoon," "JFK," "Nixon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," is "always intrigued by greatness, by people who make a difference, people who left their mark on the world, people who have something to say about how life is lived and how times are either a-changing or not a-changing."

Alexander has intrigued Stone since boyhood.

"He's a dashing-warrior king who had a vision of compassion, generosity of spirit and peace," Stone said. "He was not a needless killer, he was not a butcher. At times he did massacre, but these were hard times. He did so with a purpose, with a reason. He did not have the Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun mentality. He was a builder, and in his wake he left a Hellenic empire. There was a boom in the Mediterranean, and Iran, there was a sense of growth in the world, a spurt of learning, exemplified by the library at Alexandria," a cultural wonder of the ancient world.

Although he didn't intend "Alexander" as political commentary, even Stone agrees that people will see parallels.

"I started this thing before all this nightmare came down, this morass," Stone said of the Iraq war. "It's ironic, and I think there is a coincidence that's far beyond my understanding, but I would certainly not limit this to the current situation. This is an older situation, East vs. West. This is pre-Muslim, and there was always a conflict between Persian and Greek.

"Alexander was beautiful because he saw beyond that conflict into a synthesis," Stone added. "I'm not so sure our present administration does. It's great that they say, `Democracy, blah, blah, blah,' but you have to modify democracy to the local customs."

Even though the world has changed dozens of times over since Alexander's days which predated Jesus Christ and Mohammed lessons in ancient history remain for modern people.

"And what is the lesson?" Stone asked. "Alexander brought the Hellenic way which is, let's say, more freedom for the individual. He abided by the customs of, unlike our administration, of leaving the (opposing) armies intact and used the armies. He always needed more men."

After Saddam Hussein was toppled, the United States disbanded the Iraqi army instead of incorporating those not loyal to Saddam as a police force, a move criticized as making it more difficult to fight anti-U.S. guerrillas.

"(Alexander) was always inclusive, and we were exactly the opposite when we went into Iraq. We were totally exclusive. ... You could argue the policy was malformed from the beginning, misintended."

Stone said he considers that an error in strategy and has no interest in bashing the president.

"I would not put Bush down. We have to move on," Stone said. "The election happened, and there's no point in crying over it. It's a fresh slate for me, personally. I look at him fresh. People change. ...

"Often second-term presidents do become better presidents. They're a little bit wiser and they don't have to run so hard to get elected. So things might change. You hope for that."

If Bush manages to transform Iraq and Afghanistan into secure, democratic states; if he can negotiate with Iran to disband its nuclear weapons program and calm Islamic radicalism; if he continues to work peacefully with Russia, which has its own historic interests in the region ... Stone says the U.S. president may earn the legacy of the ancient hero of "Alexander."

"It's a grand scheme," Stone said. "If he pulled it off ... in 20 years, maybe he would be considered `Bush the Great.'"

[Jeremy Blackman]

"He's a dashing-warrior king who had a vision of compassion, generosity of spirit and peace," Stone said. "He was not a needless killer, he was not a butcher. At times he did massacre, but these were hard times. He did so with a purpose, with a reason. He did not have the Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun mentality. He was a builder, and in his wake he left a Hellenic empire. There was a boom in the Mediterranean, and Iran, there was a sense of growth in the world, a spurt of learning, exemplified by the library at Alexandria," a cultural wonder of the ancient world.

This is the most pathetic description of imperialism I've ever heard.

I hope to God this movie is not going to be a quasi-defense of Alexander. But I think it is.

[Ghostboy]

"It's a grand scheme," Stone said. "If he pulled it off ... in 20 years, maybe he would be considered `Bush the Great.'"[/size]

So is he basically saying that George Bush might be gay?

[Pubrick]

I hope to God this movie is not going to be a quasi-defense of Alexander. But I think it is.

what's alex ever done to u?

[analogzombie]

Sidewinder Boss: Hey. Hey. How many times do I have to tell you? No shirt, no service. Get the hell out of my store. What do you think this is, Club Med?
Doug: It's called America, dude. Learn the rules.
Sidewinder Boss: "Learn the rules?" No, YOU learn the rules. We Greeks invented democracy.
Doug: You also invented homos.

I went bowling with that dude about a 2 years ago. nice fella.

[Pwaybloe]

I went bowling with that dude about a 2 years ago. nice fella.

With the actor or the character?  Shit, I can walk out of the door and run into this character.  

------

Well, I'm going to see "Alexander" at 4pm today.  Really, really bummed about the bad reviews.

[©brad]

don't be. stone has yet to make a movie that didn't get mixed reviews. i'm actually encouraged. if all the reviews came back super-duper, then i would actually start to worry.

[modage]

saw this today.  not very good at all.  a few specifics..

colins hair was obnoxiously bad.

angelinas accent was terrible.  she was just rolling her tongue over replacing all the 'R's with 'L's.  no one else seemed to be too worried about sounding greek.

i felt no connection to anything that was going on here.  it was like an abbreviated history lesson.  it didnt even feel that epic.

there was A LOT of homosexuality in this film.  not that theres anything wrong with that, but i didnt realize they were going to dwell the whole film on it like that was the most important aspect of his life.  even if the love story was important i didnt think the come hither glances with every bathboy and slave were neccessary or very tasteful.  

the flashback to his fathers death seemed pointlessly late in the film?  why couldnt it have just been shown chronologically?  i didnt see any reason it needed to come later.  actually i'm curious if it was that way in the script or an editing decision to 'get on with the story' sooner...

the movie didnt seem very oliver-stoney, except for the pink elephant scene which was cool for a minute.  i really just hoped he would be going a little crazier but it seemed really sort of.... dull biopic stuff for the most part.  

theres just not really much good i can say about this film except for i feel sorry for all involved because theres just not much good here.  i think i might've even liked Troy better than this, either way its close.  and thats BAD.  i'd be interested to hear that somebody loves this, and why though.

Baz's would've kicked the pants off this movie.

[Pedro]

Fuck Baz.

[samsong]

Baz's would've kicked the pants off this movie.

Fuck Baz.

Consider the source...

but yea, fuck Baz.

[modage]

hold your tongues till you sit through this mess.  

consider this source: 15% on Rotten Tomatoes http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alexander/

or just open your local paper and see whose quotes theyre using in the ad.

[Pozer]

or just open your local paper and see whose quotes theyre using in the ad.

That is so funny cause I just did and thought that.
Well it's official then, Neverland will be my Thanksgiving movie instead.

[meatball]

Why'd you see this in the first place, mod?

[analogzombie]

This movie isn't as bad as some have been spouting, but it's not that great either. Basically i found it to be inconsistent. The film has some really great parts and sequences. WHen it works its amazing. I'd say about 30% of the is great 40% is good and %30 down right awful. When it's bad it's really bad.

THE GOOD
The scenes between Farrel and Leto are ok, but you can tell either the dialogue wasn't written well enough, or Farrel is a homo-phobe b/c it never really comes across as believable.
Alexander and Phillip's scenes are decent. I expected Kilmer to be much worse in this.

THE BAD
The scenes with Jolie are terribly overacted in some kind of a Dracula accent. Inf act all the accents are bad. I know all you have to do for American movies about non-Americans is give them British accents to amke them seem foreign but the Macedonians talking like they were from Dublin got real old real quick. Rosario Dawson is absolutely depolrable in this thing as well.

THE GREAT
The battles are amazing simply amazing. The lead in, and resolution of these sequences are excellent as well. Its as if Stone treated them like little vignettes, b/c they are the most perfect parts of the movie and they stand out b/c of it. Their quality is so much higher that they feel out of place.

All in all, it's a decent movie that I'll probably never watch again, but I'm glad I saw it once.



SPOILERS AHEAD







At the showing I went to a bunch of guys , about 25, got up and left when Alexander kisses his little man-slut. It was too funny. damm rednecks. The whole bisexual relationship between let and Farrel never really came off. At the climax during Leto's death people were laughing in the audience. Maybe b/c of the homosexual issue, but I think its more because the film failed to really connect with their relationship.[/size]

[analogzombie]

I went bowling with that dude about a 2 years ago. nice fella.

With the actor or the character?  Shit, I can walk out of the door and run into this character.  

the actor. His sister is a friend of a friend. He came n town to visit her and my friend and I got elected to keep him company while she was at work. We wen bowling and got totally sloshed. He's one of the funniest guys I ever met.