Another good bit of acting was where Caesar and Brutus were playing chess, and the conversation starts off a bit playfully with “You know I’ve always thought of you as a son” / “Oh dear, one of those conversations”. By the end, though . . .
I fast forwarded through all the Servilia on Octavia action, no thanks. Aside from that, though, my only complaint was the contrived way that Vorenus and Pullo end up in Pompey’s camp, and then reporting to Caesar afterward. It kind of took me out of the moment, realizing how contrived that part of the plot was. Caesar almost as much as says so when he remarks that V&P must have some kind of special protection from the gods–yeah, the writers!
Luuuurved that scene! So brilliant, those two actors.
Yeah. I loved how every time Pullo and Vorenus showed up, it was some variation of, “I SHOULD have you two crucified and flayed for your crimes…but you must have powers from the gods, so I’m going to reward you, etc.”
Just a “me too” post- my boyfriend and I scheduled our lives around “Rome” through both seasons. James Purefoy’s performance was so fascinating, as was Ciaran Hinds and Polly Walker’s. The Vorenus/Pullo friendship was interesting through all it’s ups and downs. I loved when Caesar Jr. is asking Vorenus about his father, all the scenes between Marc Anthony and Octavian and/or Atia, Pullo and the gladiators, and any Vorenus/Pullo fight scene. Another vote for old (young) Octavian but the scenes between Octivian 2.0 and his creepy childlike wife were chilling. Good chuckle when Cleopatra caught Pullo’s eye when she returned to Rome.
I felt a real loss when Marc Anthony was in Egypt and “not himself”- definitely felt cheated of the character for those last few episodes but that was probably as it should be as he was doped out and defeated.
When we watch Journeyman, we always refer to the lead as Lucius Vorenus. Although I never particularly cared for his character … too tightly wound. But I loved Titus Pullo.
I enjoyed this deep, theological discussion between L…V. and Marc Antony, both drunk, as Antony is contemplating suicide:
Antony: do you believe in life after death?
Vorenus: Yes…I do…
Antony: Some don’t, you know.
Vorenus; Who?
Antony: Men…learned men. Greeks, mostly.
Vorenus: Greeks say lots of stupid shit.
Ha! My boyfriend and I were watching Trainspotting after finishing the first season of Rome. While keeping track of actors and movie-trivia is a hobby of his, it was me who got to shout “That’s Vorenus!” during a closeup of the actors face. His quiet “Well I’ll be…” was priceless.
“Pullu, report to princess Cleopatra, and do as she says!” Snerk!
And the look on Pullo’s face as he walks towards the tent, clearly thinking “Damn! What sort of slave-asignment has he put me into this time…”
That’s actually (correct me if I am wrong, people who know better; I’m only a former Classics minor) heraldic gesturing. The hand movements have meanings – not anything as sophisticated as real sign language, I guess, but enough that from being able to hear tone, inflection, the odd word, and seeing the hand gestures you’d be able to figure out what the bugger was gabbling about.
I’m actually planning on finding someone around here who knows more of it. That’s the kind of knowledge I love.
And Rome was wonderful, just incredibly wonderful. Oh Vorenus, you soppy crazy bastard. Oh Pullo, your disregard for human life is so charming.
There’s actually a fellow at my work who looks very much like Pullo’s actor – skinnier, not quite so broad shouldered, but I imagine he’s wondering why I grin whenever he walks by.
Oh yes- quite the “holy shit!” moment in our house too!
Ciaran Hinds was also quite good in Munich. He seems to disappear into roles very well. You’ve probably seen him in a dozen films and don’t realize it- films like Circle of Friends, Some Mother’s Son, Oscar and Lucinda, The Road to Perdition, Veronica Guerin, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Calendar Girls, Phantom of the Opera, Miami Vice and The Nativity Story (playing Herod, ironically!).
He can currently be seen in Margot at the Wedding and There Will be Blood, and has 5 more films in the can.
For the first set, I used the HTML codes for “[” and “]”. You can’t preview them or quote them because once they’re translated after posting, they become the actual symbols. Here are the codes. Be sure to start each with “&” and end each with “;”.
I mentioned the same to my wife. They were coming up on Biblical times and then you had Levi’s brother conspiring to kill Herod (well, one of the Herods, anyway). It seemed as if the writers would have gone further with it if the money hadn’t run out.
Yeah, I love TWoP, and I need to find some way to sneak the following into a conversation some time;
“At that, Quintus himself enters the tent. I could say that Quintus has “Napoleon complex” written all over him, but this is before the time of Napoleon. I could say he looks like one of those guys who compensate for their small size by cultivating a sadistic streak a mile wide, but this is also before the time of De Sade. So I’ll just say “vicious chipmunk” and have done with it.”
