The Great Escape: Caesar Must Die film review

It’s a conspiracy!

Caesar Must Die, 2011, directed by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani, winner 2012 Golden Bear at Berlin.

On the face of it Caesar Must Die might seem a little off-putting: a docu-drama about a bunch of inmates in an maximum security prison in Rome who stage a performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Interested? Being a devotee of both theatre and film I must admit to thinking (hoping?) it might actually be close to movie heaven – and, for me, it is. This astonishing film is a gripping, tender, enlightening and optimistic exploration of the power of creativity, especially of theatre, and of the timeless themes of loyalty and integrity that make Shakespeare’s work so relevant to now.

What I’ve been watching: March movies

I was awestruck by a couple of films this month (thanks Kore-Eda and the Taviani Brothers):

Double Indemnity (USA, 1944, directed by Billy Wilder);

I Wish (Jaoan, 2011, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda);

Spirit of ’45 (UK, 2013, directed by Ken Loach);