Trivia: Russell Crowe winning the Best Actor Oscar makes this the only Ridley Scott film to ever win any acting Oscars. None of his others have.
Gladiator (2000)
21 trivia entries
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Richard Harris, Joaquin Phoenix, Djimon Hounsou, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Factual error: When a group of soldiers goes to Maximus' villa to burn it and kill his family, his son points them, saying in Italian "Mamma! I soldati!" ("Mom, the soldiers!") and then "Papà!" ("Daddy!"). This is because the young actor (Giorgio Cantarini) is Italian and they didn't translate, for some reason. As a result, he's speaking Italian in a movie in English, where people are supposed to speak Latin, in a province where Italian was never ever spoken. (00:43:07)
Marcus Aurelius: I am dying, Maximus. When a man sees his end... He wants to know there was some purpose to his life. How will the world speak my name in years to come? Will I be known as the philosopher? The warrior? The tyrant? Or will I be the emperor who gave Rome back her true self? There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... It was so fragile. And I fear that it will not survive the winter.
Question: In regard to the scene in which Maximus (Russell Crowe) kills all the challengers and says "Are you not entertained?" can someone explain the people's silence before cheering? Why would they wait to cheer? Was it because they were so stunned at how good he was or insulted by how quick he finished it? It just seems very peculiar.
Chosen answer: You're probably closest with the suggestion that they're rather stunned at the sheer speed with which Maximus has carved through the opposition. They'd certainly be used to more of a show, so for Maximus to slay all his challengers in less than a minute would take them aback. If anything, the "Are you not entertained" is closer to the theatrics that they'd really expect to see, which would prompt them into cheering him - up to that point, he's not exactly won their favour, even though he's defeated all comers.
Tailkinker ★