L'agonie de Byzance (1913)
*** (out of 4)
Epic, 30-minute film about the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. The war pretty much boils down to Christians, who have ran things for hundreds of years, losing out to the Muslims and their fearless leaders. As is to be expected, the film takes a lot of liberties with the actual history of things but it's doubtful anyone is going to be checking this out for a history lesson. There are many flaws throughout the film, including the too laid-back direction but in the end we're treated to some great visuals, nice battle scenes and some great sets. The main reason to check this thing out are for the battle scenes, which contain dozens of extras and really pack a nice punch. The majority of the battle scenes just show the men fighting without too much purpose but you can't blame the film too much for that especially when you remember this was 1913. I think the scenes work simply because there's so much going on within the frame and this helps keep things moving. I was also extremely impressed with all the sets and even the costumes looked very good. I think there are some pacing issues that really keep thing from being better but I think fans of early epics should really enjoy this.