The gorgeous setting of Sarlat in the Dordogne and the thin light of the fading year very much inform the film’s atmosphere. Scott filmed the tale on location in three winter months at the end of 1977. Conrad appears to have been fascinated by the sense of honour at that time, perhaps in comparison to his own day, and by the way that secrecy enhanced a story that in itself was slight. Conrad’s The Duel was serialised in The Pall Mall Magazine in 1908, but depicts a sequence of duels between two men a hundred years earlier. Scott had made his name – and fortune – in advertising, before he filmed his first feature, aged 40, basing it on a short story by Joseph Conrad. Is it in ‘truth,’ as Scott thinks? Or does Hollywood ever, really, deal in truth?
But I am fascinated to explore where the true power of film really lies. The Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood – somewhere in between. The Duellists and 1492 – Conquest of Paradise – probably negligible. In truth, the ‘educative’ impact of his historical films has been patchy. He talked about his responsibility to present what is true (‘the best stories tend to come from truth, even fiction’), and he talked about the enormous power of entertainment to educate. In his acceptance speech Scott acknowledged this power that film-makers have. Are you not entertained? As such its influence on how our world views ancient Rome is incalculable – and will continue. Emotionally, though, Gladiator is still the film of his that has most engaged audiences. Scott’s biggest box office success is 2015’s The Martian.
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His best critical reception came for the zeitgeisty road movie Thelma and Louise, which turbo-charged Brad Pitt’s career. Scott’s directorial reputation is founded on his sci-fi films Blade Runner and Alien. The significance of this, to me, is huge. In the selection of clips with which the academy introduced Scott’s work, they began with, and most frequently returned to, his film Gladiator (2000), and when he walked up to the stage to receive the award the music they played was the theme from Gladiator. In 2018 Sir Ridley Scott received a lifetime achievement fellowship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) – its highest award. History & Film: Are You Not Entertained? Truth and the Historical Films of Ridley Scott
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