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Mel Gibson To Produce 'Boudicca' Film Epic
NewsScotsman ^
| 28 April 2004
| Mark Sage
Posted on 04/28/2004 9:29:31 AM PDT by Hal1950
Flush from the success of The Passion Of The Christ, Mel Gibson is looking back in time once again to produce an epic about Boudicca, who led Britain against Roman conquerors.
Dubbed Braveheart with a bra, the film will chronicle Boudiccas rise from peasant girl to a military leader who united the Celtic tribes of Britain.
Gibsons production company, Icon, appears keen to cash in on further historical tales, after The Passion netted hundreds of millions of pounds at the box office.
The film will be directed by Gavin OConnor who told the Hollywood trade paper Variety: What drew me is that she was driven by personal revenge.
Her goals were never political and never went beyond avenging her slain husband and child.
She managed to bring together all of these warring tribes to stand against the Roman Empire.
It is a masculine story with a female point of view.
Brian Klugman, who co-wrote the script with Lee Sternthal, said: We spent over a year researching Queen Boudicca, Celtic Britain and the Roman Empire, and another year writing the script.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alexkingston; ancienthistory; archaeology; battleofwatlingst; boadicea; bodacious; boudicca; braveheartwithabra; dreamworks; emilyblunt; godsgravesglyphs; history; iceni; mancetter; melgibson; midlands; movies; mycountry; nuneaton; paramount; queenfury; romanempire; romans; stevenwaddington; tacitus; warrior; warriorqueen
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To: ZULU
If he REALLY wanted to do something great, why not a movie on Hannibal and the Second Punic War? Gibson would have a choice between being historicly accurate and making Hannibal black.
121
posted on
04/28/2004 2:45:59 PM PDT
by
SauronOfMordor
(That which does not kill me had better be able to run away damn fast.)
To: JohnGalt
I think I liked it the first two times I saw when it was called "Braveheart" and "The Patriot."
Kidding. Should be a good flick. Fascinating story.
122
posted on
04/28/2004 3:02:46 PM PDT
by
Burkeman1
("I said the government can't help you. I didn't say it couldn't hurt you." Chief Wiggam)
To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
O.K. I get your point. There are always pictures out there even trashier than I could imagine.
But, having seen Patriot, Braveheart, and the outtakes and reviews on The Passion, I'll have to reserve judgement on Boudicca.
But I read the original story - can't remember if it was Tacitus or another ancient source, but I'm sure Gibson will dwell on Boudicca and her daugthers' treatment by ANOTHER corrupt and venal Roman politician and his thugs, AND the revenge of the Iceni.
Like the Passion, this will, I'm sure, be presented as a "snapshot" in time - the Evil Romans, the wronged Iceni and other Britons, etc.
The fact is the entire Roman empire was controlled by a remarkably small number of legions, most of which were involved in guarding the borders. If itwas such a miserable place to live in, a much larger army would have been needed.
Britain became a relatively calm place after the native tribes realized the taxes they paid were hardly more than they paid to their own former overlords and the Romans were far more effective in controlling the Picts and other unsavory people.
Besides, they found themselves in the largest free trade market until relatively modern times.
With the exception of Judaea, which is still a hotbed of problems, most residents of the empire were relatively better off than people beyond the frontier. Nobody ever tried to break OUT of the empire, but as today in the U.S., many people were always trying to break in.
Pax tecum.
123
posted on
04/28/2004 7:14:47 PM PDT
by
ZULU
To: SauronOfMordor
Well, we both know that Hannibal was a Carthaginian, and that made him a Semite. Hardly your milk-white, blue-eyed Norweigan, but not a black either.
Nonetheless, Hannibal DID have African troops with him like the Numidians, but they probably looked like modern day Berbers rather than Nubians.
Personally, I think Hannibal was one of the greatest generals who ever lived. For over ten years he fought a war against a bitter and implacable enemy on foreign soil, hundreds of miles from his home base. His army was composed of various peoples with different languages and religions - Numidians, Balearic Islanders, Iberians, Gauls, Latins, Italic peoples, and he kept them going - beating the Romans again and again. If he was fighting any other people, he would have won.
The Romans owed him a debt of gratitude - he MADE them tougher and smarter than most other military forces they ever ran up against. You learn from fighting the best.
124
posted on
04/28/2004 7:23:49 PM PDT
by
ZULU
To: Hal1950
She wasn't a " peasant girl",she was the QUEEN of her tribe,the Brits have made at least TWO recent programs/movies about her(not to mention a bunch of earlier ones),the story is just full of torture,rape,and blood for Mel to lovingly film it all in slow motion...hanging breathlessly on every grimace of pain,and he'll probably makes it more fiction than fact;unfortunately. <~p> Time was,when most well educated people, all over the world,who took Latin in school,knew this story well.Now? I bet there are few people in America,who know this bit of ancient English history.
The bit I liked,whilst translating the story,was that shes ordered her men to attach swords/blades to the wheels of their chariots,to disable the Roman legions,they were fighting.And yes,they damned near beat the Roman army! :-)
To: meowmeow
Yeah, I do. Sounds intriguing.
126
posted on
04/29/2004 6:56:35 AM PDT
by
kb2614
(".....We've done nothing and were all out of ideas!!")
127
posted on
11/28/2005 7:49:01 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.)
To: ZULU
"Lots of stuff happened in history - but he seems to continually to zero in on the most brutal.Because people pay for action, generally brutal. No one pays to see the 2 hour story of Leoripedes, the Greek grain merchant, squatting behind some shrubberies after eating bad squid.
128
posted on
11/29/2005 5:16:54 PM PST
by
gnarledmaw
(I traded freedom for security and all I got were these damned shackles.)
To: Hal1950
What happened to the Mayan project?
To: JRios1968; cll; PARodrig; TeĆ³filo; AuH2ORepublican
Mel Gibson To Produce 'Boudicca' Film Epic For a second there, I thought he was doing a Boricua film epic. Not enough Boricua film epics if you ask me (J-Ho films don't count).
130
posted on
11/29/2005 5:22:06 PM PST
by
Clemenza
(I am here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum!)
To: Hal1950
Ooh, ooh, pick me!
131
posted on
11/29/2005 5:22:48 PM PST
by
Plutarch
(Kiera Knigtley, in King Arthur)
To: Hal1950
grrrr, enough of the historical stuff...we demand Mad Max IV!
132
posted on
11/29/2005 5:25:11 PM PST
by
isom35
To: 11th Earl of Mar
"Anna K. for lead role!!!"
Mmmmmmmmmmm AK
Down Belvedere!!!!
Get down boy!!!!!!!
To: Hal1950
Sounds to me like he might harbor a secret reverence for the insurgents. We must remember Mel isn't big on Israel... the Neocon theory might be most attractive to him... Mel wanted to produce Fahrenheit 911, but he chose the Passion over it. He knew if he did F911, the Christian Right voters wouldn't go see his film.
To: ZULU
Then we can watch vengeful hords of Bretons crucifying Roman civlians in retaliation. I doubt it. Bretons would be living in their own land, Bretagne (Brittany), not in Great Britain, homeland of the Britons.
*****
King Arthur: How do you do, good lady? I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Whose castle is that?
Woman: King of the who?
King Arthur: King of the Britons.
Woman: Who are the Britons?
King Arthur: Well, we all are. We are all Britons. And I am your king.
-- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
135
posted on
11/29/2005 5:35:17 PM PST
by
B-Chan
(Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
To: Clemenza
J-Ho films don't countMaybe so, but she can't deny her ... background.
136
posted on
11/29/2005 5:42:45 PM PST
by
JRios1968
("Cogito, ergo FReep": I think, therefore I FReep.)
To: JRios1968
To: Centurion2000
As long a Mel doesn't play the lead role, I'm cool with it.
To: JRios1968
Puerto Rican and Brazilian girls have some wonderful, uh, assets. ;-)
139
posted on
11/29/2005 5:46:31 PM PST
by
Clemenza
(I am here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum!)
To: MikeinIraq
You know both P Diddy and Ben Damon said neither of them had it easy leaving that behind...
140
posted on
11/29/2005 5:49:20 PM PST
by
JRios1968
("Cogito, ergo FReep": I think, therefore I FReep.)
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