Contemporary_Comparassion_of_Cleoptra's_Potrayal_in_Cinema

Cleopatra, The Queen of Egypt has been depicted in contemporary cinema by several actresses changing the perception of the actual historical figure based on their performances and requirements of cinema and television industry, this document will analyse the physical part of these contemporary depictions. Depictions of characters varies upon the era and context events are taking place and not necessarily observing the historical details, in that way the 1963 “Cleopatra” film contained at some extent some of the idealism of the 60’s era such unification of the nations and the constant seek of more liberty for women in the western hemisphere; an actual representation of these “ideals” can be seen in the film during the entrance of the Cleopatra character to Rome where she is venerated by the population as if she was their Queen in addition to the Hollywood spend of resources required to achieve the visual impact for the scene full of glory and glitter. Elizabeth Taylor during her youth and along most of her maturity was regarded as a very attractive woman, this situation benefited Hollywood studios as a tool to promote the film and attract a larger market just as in earlier depictions of Cleopatra; also using a beautiful woman for this role suited with the global perception that a powerful and influential female only could achieve success by using her sexual and physical attractiveness, hence this image had to be creatively exploited in any visual expression of mass broadcast. The excessive use of glamour and eccentricity was widely used in cinema since the main interest was to attract public, also the use of new colour cinema empowered this view and therefore did not maintained in line with historical facts, we can see the main female character using excessive amounts of make-up typical of the sixties. Moreover elements such the relationship between Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra) and Richard Burton (Mark Anthony) that arouse during the film were also widely use as marketing tool for the film giving more importance to this character over Julius Cesar not being consistent with actual history. More recent depictions of Cleopatra have slightly changed due to a moving and demanding society, openness to different ways of thinking and necessity to fulfil some social requirements such racial discrimination and feminism in addition to obtaining commercial profit are main factors to change the physical appearance of the actresses portraying Cleopatra in the actuality, in contemporary times Cleopatra is not longer portrayed entirely by Caucasian women who in the past comprised the majority of roles in movies and television as in the 1999 Film Cleopatra where the main role is portrayed by the Chilean actress Leonor Varela displaying less white Caucasian features due to her Spanish, Greek and Syrian descent. Women these days have achieved equality in practically most roles of modern western society and this is reflected in the characters in media, thus recent portrayals of Cleopatra show a strong woman not only intellectually but also in physical capabilities compared to those of any male warrior or of great astuteness letting away the stereotypical image of the sexual predator encouraged by previous film versions. Cleopatra as a whole remains as an historic icon, earlier and modern portrayals of her maintain the basic aspects that have been studied along history, a largely influential woman who may represent earlier stages of what can be considered modern feminism and the myth of the seductive Queen with the power of making fall any man on her feet. Bibliography - Leonor Varela Biography, available from http://www.filmreference.com/film/5/Leonor-Varela.html (accessed April 15th, 2011)