By Laura Tachini

Is it any wonder that after two thousand years people are still interested in the story of  Alexander the Great; one of the most determined and undefeated conquerors of all time? So who better than Hollywood’s own renegade, director Oliver Stone who gave us JFK, Natural Born Killers and Comandante, to bring this epic to life? In three hours he manages to pack in enough action to keep the audience captivated with breathtaking sceneries, young beautiful actors who can also act, and heart-stopping battle scenes. 

Colin Farrell takes on the persona of the handsome Alexander and delivers a surprising performance of a historical figure that was as much ambitious and rebellious in his quest for new worlds as was his quest for his parent’s approval. Farrell reels us in with his warrior-like confidence, dark eyes that exude fiery emotion and a boyish tenderness that keeps the character real. He proves to be as dynamic as Alexander himself.

The young conqueror had a childhood fuelled with myths and dreams of glory by his parents and a drive that was so powerful it would also become his own demise. By the age of 32 he had conquered 22,000 miles of the Eastern world.

In 336BC Alexander the Great inherited the Macedonian kingdom and its throne at the young age of 25, after the assassination of his father. With a genius military mind, raving aspirations and an army of over 40, 000 Macedonians and Greeks, in 334BC he set out to conquer Persia. After several major battles, including the climatic battle at Gaugamela, Alexander defeated Darius and the Persian army of several hundred thousand, and succeeded in  taking control of the Persian Empire. His goal was not only to gain an empire but also to spread  Hellenic culture and unite the Eastern with the Western world. Though he used the sword as his means, his heart was that of a true revolutionary.

From Persia he worked up as far as India and his overzealous ambition would have kept him going, had his tired and homesick army not persuaded him to turn back to their homes to be reunited with their families. Alexander himself would never see his mother or his homeland and its people again. He died in 323BC just shy of his 33rd birthday.

The film develops slowly at first. We see a young Alexander being taught philosophy lessons by Aristotle, Christopher Plummer, amongst the school friends that would later become officers in his army.  The childhood kinship that develops into the love of his life and driving passion, Hephaistion played by Jared Leto, is also introduced early on. Anthony Hopkins, who plays the older Alexandrian general, Ptolemy, interjects the film with flashback narratives. Though the scenes are aesthetically pleasing, ultimately they are boring and just end up interrupting the film’s flow.

A powerful angry exchange between Alexander’s father King Philip, Val Kilmer, and an already grown up Farrell who gets publicly rejected and sent off by the drunken boisterous dad, gives us a first real sense of what the film promises to deliver. The action really gets going once Alexander sets off to fight the Persians and King Darius. The battle scenes are magnificent and entrancing with violent camera movements and graphic gruesome pictures of bloodshed. It’s clear that no budget was spared to produce these scenes; the same can’t be said for some of the costumes. In some scenes the men's costumes look like they are contemporary fabrics, like grey t-shirts,  cut into the styles of that period.

Angelina Jolie’s talent shines in her role of Olympias, Alexander’s mother, a domineering woman whose freakish affinity for snakes kept her husband Philip away. Jolie’s interpretation of a Greek accent borders on that of a psychic-line fortune teller’s but her stunning appearance and beauty make you forget the accent rather quickly. If you're wondering why all the actors playing Greek roles where made to speak in varying British accents this was done to reflect the different dialects found within Greece. Jolie brings a calm intensity to the portrayal of this overbearing and ambitious woman. One can’t help but wonder if Olympias’ ambitions were nothing more than traces of sheer insanity. When it comes to social hierarchy and acceptance,  a royal’s madness becomes an eccentricity.  Taking into consideration the Greek ancient culture, which was laced with mythological teachings and pagan practices, Jolie convincingly plays a woman who was as much in love with her son as she was with the idea that he was a divine creation of the god Zeus. She haunts Alexander with this notion and perhaps this is why he is portrayed throughout the film as emotionally perplexed and yearning for the approval of his father. Kilmer’s character, sporting a hefty weight gain for the role and a prosthetic missing eye is mostly seen as a drunken grunt who seems to have as little love for his son as he does for his wife.

There’s an undertone of sexual tension between Alexander and his mother that builds throughout the film and this might stir up uneasiness amongst some viewers. To deny that this perverse affection existed between the two would only detract from the complexities that made Alexander who he was. Olympias, whose maniacal tendencies cannot go unnoticed, was after all the powerful force behind Alexander’s determination.  It’s fair to think she might have spent much of her free time filling her head reading mythological tragedies such as Oedipus, the story of a son who killed his father to marry his mother. In the film it is suggested that  she may have played a role in having Philip killed so that Alexander could inherit the throne.

The manipulative mother constantly needles Alexander to start thinking about having a successor. We don’t really see any indications of his interest for women until he marries Persian Princess Roxane played by the sexy Rosario Dawson, and they share a passionately charged lovemaking session. Instead what we do see a lot of is the extended, enamoured glances that the often quiet and kohl-eyed Hephaistion shares with Alexander.

Stone really misses the mark with Hephaistion’s character that never seems to develop past a demure pretty face with come-hither glances. Despite some limited decent dialogue and indications that he was the only person who would remain faithful to Alexander to the end, Leto’s character fails to grab the audience. The film was said to have pushed back its release date due to the editing of some racy content that may have offended some viewers. In the final product, Stone drops suggestive hints without hitting us over the head with his views, yet maintains his irreverent style. Perhaps one of the less subtle innuendos in this film is when Alexander professes his admiration for the recently-deposed daughter of King Darius, Stateira, and he tells her that she is truly a queen and the camera shot moves from her face to Hephaistion’s. There’s a lot to be said for the old adage “less is more.”

For centuries, Alexander The Great has been erroneously judged by modern opinions that don’t pertain to 4th century BC, in particular his sexual ties to Hephaistion. Stone tries to depict a love that was not merely charged with sexual lust but more so a bond of trust, respect for excellence and a deep mental connection between a determined warrior and his right hand man, in a time where deception and betrayal prevailed. Bisexuality was accepted and very much the norm and the term homosexual was not an adjective used to describe people in ancient Greece. Another moral misconception is that of alcohol abuse; Alexander has been criticized for being an habitual drunk. By today’s standards, consuming excessive amounts of alcohol is frowned upon but in those days it was accepted and even expected for men returning from battle to indulge.

Stone had been researching Alexander's life for over two decades and had visions of making this film as early as when he was in university. Living up to every rumour of being a perfectionist,  Stone had historians and voice coaches on set at all time. The film is entertaining with breathtaking backdrops, realistic animations, and symposiums comprised of a generous number of colourfully clad extras. The audience is brought back to an ancient time where love and sexuality had no gender and strong warrior men who fought hard in battle celebrated just as hard. Many theories have been brought forth on how Alexander The Great died. Some say he died of a fever he contracted in his travels. Others say he was plotted against and murdered by some of his own men, who did not agree with his philosophies of integrating as equals the people of the West with those of the East. Heroic biopics are never easy to portray,  let alone one of a man whose life triggered an extensive fountain of opposing documented material. Alexander The Great was no doubt an innovator and an extremely interesting historical figure. One only wishes history class would have been this titillating.