Alexander

The lights dimmed, the crowd
hushed, the screen flickered, and through the mist came a wondrously
blue and purple (albeit short) credit role. The hairs on the back of my
neck stood on end, and I shivered.

Unfortunately, Alexander
eventually began. The opening scene set the stage for the rest of the
film: long, almost incoherent monologues dispersed between
gut-wrenchingly violent battle scenes. The movie Alexander follows
Alexander the Great from boyhood to death, as told to scribes by
Ptolemy (expertly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins). Some of the story is
from accredited historical knowledge, but some was added by creative
license. Stone’s depiction of Alexander’s death from apparent poisoning
is one of those creative items thrown into the film. It is generally
accepted that Alexander died from some disease, like Malaria or
Syphilis.

The first thing that one might notice in the film
is a strong sexual tension between Alexander and just about every other
character in the film. When I say every other character, I mean it.
After Ptolemy’s opening monologue, we are introduced to Alexander in
bed with his mother, Olympias (surprisingly well played by Angelina
Jolie) as she plays with snakes. There are times when I could swear the
camera is going to pan out leaving Alexander and Olympias locked in a
passionate kiss. From there, we are introduced to Alexander’s
homosexual side with a exceedingly long scene displaying young boys
grappling in wrestling matches. This sexual tension, both heterosexual
and homosexual, is a constant thread throughout the entire film. It is
innocuous at times, and downright annoying at others. Ever present is
the feeling that at just about any moment, the actors will engage in
something overtly sexual, and the camera will pan to a shot of
something clich