Cleopatra (1999– )

Cleopatra, the famed Egyptian Queen born in 69 B.C., is shown to have been brought by Roman ruler Julius Caesar at age 18. Caesar becomes sexually obsessed by the 18 year old queen, beds ... See full summary »

Stars:

Billy Zane, Timothy Dalton, Rupert Graves

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Zane	...	Marc Antony
Timothy Dalton	...	Julius Caesar
Rupert Graves	...	Octavian
Leonor Varela	...	Cleopatra
John Bowe	...	Rufio
Art Malik	...	Olympos
Nadim Sawalha	...	Mardian
Owen Teale	...	Grattius
Philip Quast	...	Cornelius
Daragh O'Malley	...	Ahenobarbus
Bruce Payne	...	Cassius
Sean Pertwee	...	Marcus Brutus
David Schofield	...	Casca
Kassandra Voyagis	...	Arsinoe
Indra Ové	...	Charmian (as Indra Ove)

Storyline

Cleopatra, the famed Egyptian Queen born in 69 B.C., is shown to have been brought by Roman ruler Julius Caesar at age 18. Caesar becomes sexually obsessed by the 18 year old queen, beds her, and eventually has a son by her. However, his Roman followers and his wife are not pleased by the union. In fact, as Caesar has only a daughter by his wife, he had picked Octavian as his successor. The out-of-wedlock son of Cleopatra is seen to be a threat to his future leadership. Thus Brutus and other Roman legislators plot the assassination of Caesar. Caesar's loyal general, Marc Antony, and Octavian then divide up the Roman empire. Antony takes Egypt and soon takes up the affair with Cleopatra. However, Octavian soon launches an attack on Antony and ultimately defeats and mortally wounds him. Rather than permitting herself to be humiliated by Octavian, Cleopatra sends her son away to India and she commits suicide by permitting the deadly asp to bite her.

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Plot Keywords:

cleopatra | queen | marc antony | julius caesar | egyptian | 

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Taglines:

Passion. Power. Betrayal.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Hallmark Entertainment

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cléopatre

Filming Locations:

Agadir, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Babelsberg International Film Produktion, Hallmark Entertainment, RTL2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

177 min 50 min (3 episodes) 155 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby Surround)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

No mention is made of Cleopatra's three children by Marc Antony, twins Alexander Helios and Cleoptra Selene II (born 40 BC), and Ptolemy Philadelphus (born 36 BC). After Octavian conquered Egypt, they were sent to Rome, where they would eventually be raised by Octavia Minor, Octavian's sister and Marc Antony's wife. Marc Antony also had at least five children before he fell in love with Cleopatra, none of whom are mentioned.

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Quotes

Cleopatra: Divorce your wife! Marry me and name Caesarion your one true heir!
Julius Caesar: No! Caesarion is my son. Octavian is my heir.

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Connections

References Ben-Hur (1959)

User Reviews

A Fairer Portrayal of Cleopatra

Based on the novel The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George, this mini-series is an okay adaption of a truly fascinating piece of literature. I think that it gives a fairer portrayal of Cleopatra is important, though Leonor Varela isn't that good an actress. I found her acting so amateurish next to that of Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane; at least she was better than Kassandra Voyagis was as Arsinoe. Also she made Cleopatra seem very childish and whiny at times, which was annoying.

Otherwise I liked this story, Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar was fine in the role, though too dark and good looking (someone tell Daniel Craig please play Caesar sometime in his career!) and Billy Zane did a good job as Marc Antony. The sets lived up to what Alexandria probably looked like, except there was little sign of the Greek influence on the city. The costumes were lovely and the supporting cast were some of the best (though I could have changed some of their lines for them), and I was able to overlook historical inaccuracies, such as Arsinoe being murdered in the dungeons of the palace of Alexandria under Cleopatra's orders. Arsinoe appeared as a prisoner in Caesar's Triumph, and since the public showed sympathy for her, Caesar allowed her to be released. They also didn't explain at the end that Caesarion was executed under Octavian's orders, but I guess they wanted to leave the audience with a bit of hope. Fine to watch on a wet or snowy afternoon.