Imperium: Nerone (2004) (TV)

Director:

Paul Marcus

Writers:

Paul Billing
Francesco Contaldo

Release Date:

23 May 2004 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A six-episode mini-series covering five centuries of the Roman Empire. |

Plot Keywords:

Nero | Caligula | Claudius | Character Name In Title

Cast

Hans Matheson	...	Nero
Laura Morante	...	Agrippina
Rike Schmid	...	Acte
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simón Andreu	...	Porridus
Sonia Aquino	...	Messalina
Maria Gabriella Barbuti	...	Licia
James Bentley	...	Young Nero
Marco Bonini	...	Rufus
Robert Brazil	...	Silus
Philippe Caroit	...	Apollonius
Todd Carter	...	Senator #1
Massimo Dapporto	...	Claudius
Maurizio Donadoni	...	Burrus
Emanuela Garuccio	...	Claudia
Matthias Habich	...	Seneca
Jochen Horst	...	Etius
Klaus Händl	...	Pallas
Ruby Kammer	...	Marzia
Ángela Molina	...	Domitia
Mario Opinato	...	Tigellinus
Vittoria Puccini	...	Octavia
Ian Richardson	...	Septimus
Paolo Scalabrino	...	Senator #2
John Simm	...	Caligula
Liz Smith	...	Soothsayer
Elisa Tovati	...	Poppea
Pierre Vaneck	...	Paul of Tarsus
Francesco Venditti	...	Britannicus

Directed by
Paul Marcus

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Paul Billing
Francesco Contaldo

Produced by
Luca Bernabei	....	producer
Matilde Bernabei	....	producer
Michael Cowan	....	executive producer
Pietro Dioni	....	executive producer
Ferdinand Dohna	....	producer: EOS
Pete Maggi	....	producer
Salvatore Morello	....	executive producer
Jason Piette	....	executive producer
Corrado Trionfera	....	line producer

Original Music by
Andrea Guerra		(music composer)

Cinematography by
Giovanni Galasso

Film Editing by
Alessandro Lucidi

Casting by
Julia Duff
Chiara Meloni
Annette Trumel
Cornelia von Braun

Costume Design by
Paolo Scalabrino

Makeup Department
Marcelle Genovese	....	hair stylist
Malgorzata Krystyna Kloda	....	assistant makeup artist
Alberto Moccia	....	hair stylist
Vittorio Sodano	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Franco Casellato	....	post-production supervisor
Pierpaolo Marcelli	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fabrizio Sergenti Castellani	....	assistant director
Giorgia Gambone	....	second assistant director
Alessio Spinelli	....	second second assistant director

Sound Department
Christian Czako	....	boom operator
Anthony Faust	....	adr mixer
Daniele Quadroli	....	sound effects editor
David Quadroli	....	sound effects editor
Fabrizio Quadroli	....	sound effects editor
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer

Special Effects by
Pasquale Catalano	....	special effects
Massimo Ciaraglia	....	special effects technician
Fabio Traversari	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Emanuele Comotti	....	digital artist
Stefano Marinoni	....	visual effects supervisor
Paola Trisoglio	....	visual effects producer

Stunts
Faycal Attougui	....	stunts
Philippe Losson	....	stunts
Joel Proust	....	stunt coordinator
Florian Robin	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Ernesto Natoli	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Julia Duff	....	casting: UK
Luciano Silighini Garagnani	....	extras casting assistant
Chiara Meloni	....	casting: Italy
Annette Trumel	....	casting: France
Cornelia von Braun	....	casting: Germany

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Stefano De Nardis	....	assistant costume designer
Marco Fantoni	....	set costumer
Ali Lammari	....	set costumer
Nadia Salvatore	....	set costumer
Maurizio Torti	....	key set costumer

Editorial Department
Valentina Mariani	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Luca Salvadori	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Stefano Anghelé	....	junior story editor
Francesco Arlanch	....	story editor
Eleonora Baldwin	....	script supervisor
Claudia Cimmino	....	production coordinator
Laura Vergelli	....	dialogue adaptor

Production Companies

• EOS Entertainment
• Lux Vide
• Telecinco

Distributors

• Elephant Films (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Germano Natali

Other Companies

• Mayflower Studios  adr recorded at

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sexuality

Runtime:

Spain:181 min (DVD edition)

Country:

Italy | Spain | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:18 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Tunisia

Company:

EOS Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Follows Imperium: Augustus (2003) (TV)

Another in the Series of Imperium - Nero's Life Tidied Up A Lot

The miniseries made of television that examines the highlights of the Roman Empire ('Imperium: Augustus' was the first). While the sets and costumes and flavor and atmosphere of that phenomenal period in history is well captured and the production qualities are strong, the historical accuracy is diminished by 'cleaning up' the facts and rearranging dates and incidents to make a 'Hollywood version' of the Roman Empire.

Given the fact that this is not a biopic but rather an entertainment, IMPERIUM: NERO is interesting, if long at 192 minutes, to watch in continuity. Nero was born in 37 AD and died in 68 AD and during those 31 years much changed in Rome. We first met Nero as a child 'abolished' to a life with the slaves by the infighting among the Emperors - Caligula (John Simm) and Claudius (Massimo Dapporto) - and the Senate - namely Porridus (Simón Andreu), Burrus (Maurizio Donadoni), and Septimus (Ian Richardson). While living among the people we are informed that Nero (a fine Hans Matheson) falls in love with commoner slave Acte (Rike Schmid) and when misdeeds in Rome call him back to power (through the wily and devious guidance of his mother Agrippina (Laura Morante, the true star of this film), Nero is forced to marry well and forswear his love for Acte. Once proclaimed Emperor, Nero does some bad things such as having his brother Britannicus (Francesco Venditti) killed, etc and begins to descend into madness instead of fulfilling his vision of creating an empire for the people. His teachers include wise Seneca (Matthias Habich) and commoner Etius (Jochen Horst) and his loyal friends include Tegellinus (Mario Opinato). Once on his downward spiral Nero begins to murder and destroy those close to him and finally burns the city of Rome to prepare the ground for his grand palace and city, all the while playing on is lyre.

If this all sounds wicked and cruel, then it is probably better that the story didn't 'flesh out' the true obese, schizophrenic, megalomaniacal, sexually dysfunctional creature that was Nero. You need the history books to see what a hideous tyrant he was, a man who placed his acting and circus skills above all else, castrating young boys who resembled his mother to marry while also marrying the prostitute Poppea (Elisa Tovati). But the major problem with this version of Nero's tenure is the emphasis on the new sect called Christians. Indeed, even the apostle Paul is brought in to cleanse the proceedings and seep evangelicalism into the story to help it end! But for the script as written (by Paul Billing and Francesco Contaldo) director Paul Marcus brings off a fascinating though long image of the Roman Empire. Not for Roman scholars perhaps, but for those who enjoy historically based epics, this NERO should do nicely Grady Harp