Films are something that we all look towards for escapism – the action, the humour, the romance, the animation. Sometimes these can hold so much more meaning then just an image on a screen and create narratives and memories in our own lives. Welcome to the sister article to Music Memories where we take a look at some of these personal stories attached to films.

Film: Gladiator
Original Release Date: 2000

I have never been a fan of historical or gory films. Gladiator would never of been my first choice of film to watch but when I was in either A Level Film Studies or GCSE media studies (I cannot remember which one) we were forced to watch it.

I can’t remember much about the film as I have never watched it again since studying it but what I do remember is how certain shots in the film as we had to study them in depth. It was this film that got me fascinated in the world of mis-en-scene and the use of colour etc in film.

It opened my mind to the whole world of detail, and how colours and things are added to shots to create more meaning and depth to a film. For example, if the colour red is used in a scene a lot it usually indicates that there is a link to death or murder, passion or love.

The image that really sticks in my mind is the hand when it walks through a field and touches the grass around him. We analysed this shot so much in depth that it gave me this new love for film and cinematography.

Facts about Gladiator

• Russell Crowe later admitted that he initially felt unworthy of all the praise and the Oscar for Best Actor that he got for this movie. After seeing the completed movie, he felt it was a “director’s film”, and that the Oscar should have gone to director Sir Ridley Scott instead.
• Hans Zimmer’s score is one of the bestselling movie soundtracks of all time.
• The wounds on Russell Crowe’s face after the opening battle scene are real, caused when his horse startled and backed him into tree branches. The stitches in his cheek are clearly visible when he is telling Commodus he intends to return home.
• Originally, Maximus was supposed to fight Proximo in the Colosseum after being captured, probably as a penultimate blow from Commodus. Oliver Reed’s death forced a re-write.

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