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.

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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);