Seneca (5 Stars)

I visited the premiere of "Seneca" in Stuttgart last week. Unfortunately, it was shown dubbed into German. Today I went to see the film in its original English version. I'm glad I did so. Within the first ten minutes I'd already decided to give it a higher rating than last time. The dubbing was good, but it wasn't John Malkovich's voice. He has one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood. Apart from this, it was good to hear Tom Xander's real voice as Nero. He's an actor I've never seen before, but Tom's voice has a manic quality missing in the voice actor, however skilled he is.

One of the things that I like about the Roman Empire, at least in the time when the film takes place, is that the Romans were so pedantic with their records. We know exactly who said what and when. Seneca died just as his death is portrayed in the film. Even the difficulties with his suicide attempts, which seem like they were included for comic relief, are based on the books of contemporary Roman historians. At the premiere the director Robert Schwentke cited Tacitus as his source for Seneca's veins not bleeding out when he cut them.

I'd never heard of Lucius Annaeus Seneca before seeing this film. He was never mentioned when I studied Roman history in school. Supposedly he was one of the most prolific writers of his day. His writings were popular in Europe 400 years ago, but now they've been widely forgotten. Forgotten but not lost. Anyone who's interested can find them in libraries.

The film has some violent scenes. When the two slave boys were being hacked into pieces, two people in my row left the room. It's not for everyone, but really, there are much worse films.

The film's anachronisms are amusing. When I first saw Nero wearing dark glasses I thought the director had made a mistake, but a few minutes later Nero is shown playing an electric guitar.

This is a brilliant film. It's almost certain to find a place in my top 10 list for 2023.