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Caesar Must Die

Original title: Cesare deve morire
  • 20122012
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 1h 17m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
6.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Cesare deve morire (2012)
Trailer for Casear Must Die
Play trailer1:23
1 Video
20 Photos
  • Drama

Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

IMDb RATING
7.3/10
6.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Paolo Taviani
    • Vittorio Taviani
  • Writers
    • William Shakespeare(play "Julius Caesar")
    • Paolo Taviani(screenplay)
    • Vittorio Taviani(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Cosimo Rega
    • Salvatore Striano
    • Giovanni Arcuri
Top credits
  • Directors
    • Paolo Taviani
    • Vittorio Taviani
  • Writers
    • William Shakespeare(play "Julius Caesar")
    • Paolo Taviani(screenplay)
    • Vittorio Taviani(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Cosimo Rega
    • Salvatore Striano
    • Giovanni Arcuri
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 16User reviews
    • 138Critic reviews
    • 77Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 16 wins & 21 nominations

    Videos1

    Caesar Must Die
    Trailer 1:23
    Caesar Must Die

    Photos20

    Salvatore Striano, Cosimo Rega, and Giovanni Arcuri in Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani in Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cosimo Rega and Giovanni Arcuri in Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Salvatore Striano in Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)
    Cesare deve morire (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Cosimo Rega
    • Cassioas Cassio
    Salvatore Striano
    Salvatore Striano
    • Brutoas Bruto
    Giovanni Arcuri
    Giovanni Arcuri
    • Cesareas Cesare
    Antonio Frasca
    • Marcantonioas Marcantonio
    Juan Dario Bonetti
    • Decioas Decio
    Vincenzo Gallo
    • Lucioas Lucio
    Rosario Majorana
    • Metelloas Metello
    Francesco De Masi
    • Trebonioas Trebonio
    Gennaro Solito
    • Cinnaas Cinna
    Vittorio Parrella
    • Cascaas Casca
    Pasquale Crapetti
    • Legionaryas Legionary
    Francesco Carusone
    • Fortune Telleras Fortune Teller
    Fabio Rizzuto
    Fabio Rizzuto
    • Stratoneas Stratone
    Fabio Cavalli
    • Theatre Directoras Theatre Director
    Maurilio Giaffreda
    • Ottavioas Ottavio
    • Directors
      • Paolo Taviani
      • Vittorio Taviani
    • Writers
      • William Shakespeare(play "Julius Caesar")
      • Paolo Taviani(screenplay)
      • Vittorio Taviani(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    In Rebibbia Prison in Italy, its inmate theatre program puts on a well received production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The film goes back several months earlier as the coordinators announces the play as the program's production of the year. With that project set, we see its creation as the cast is auditioned and selected for this artistic challenge. As they rehearse, the prisoners, many of whom are long termers and lifers for serious crimes, find that the classic play has both a striking resonance and contrast to their confined lives. —Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
    • italy
    • shakespeare's julius caesar
    • prison
    • high security
    • mafioso
    • 26 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Unrated
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Paolo and Vittorio Taviani heard about the prisoners acting program and contacted Fabio Cavalli with the idea of doing Shakespeare's play and shot the whole experience.
    • Quotes

      Cassio: Ever since I discovered art, this cell has truly become a prison.

      [subtitled version]

    • Connections
      Featured in Film '72: Episode dated 27 February 2013 (2013)

    User reviews16

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    Shakespeare in Prison
    Unable to snap up a ticket for this during Berlinale Film Festival (where it also won the grand prize), I've been itching to see Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) for quite some time now. The latest from veteran Italian duo, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Padre Padrone, Kaos), it's a documentary-fiction hybrid observing the rehearsals and final performance of William Shakespeare's Roman masterpiece 'Julius Caesar'. What makes this movie noteworthy is it's idiosyncratic formalities: the play is being performed from Rome's high security Rebibbia Prison, and the players are it's incarcerated residents: an ensemble cast of murderers, drug dealers and thieves.

    The brothers waste no time with needless exposition on the inmates' backstories or crimes. Instead, the pair focus, with brutal proximity, how these criminals connect with the words of "The Bard". Aside from the final, veracious performance, it's all shot in stylised black and white, as we see the production being set up, the rehearsals in the prison courtyard, and the delicate moments these wrongdoers spend behind cell bars. As is often the case with the Taviani's back-catalogue, there's moments filmed in tender close-ups; loading objects such as an empty chair or a wooden sword an implausible subtext.

    That meta-narrative carries over to the inmates themselves, and ends up confusing us. Not only are they performers in the Shakespearean sense, it quickly becomes clear that they are being presented as poetical cyphers of their real life criminal selves. It's a shameful attempt at allegory – expressing how the elder words of Shakespeare relate to contemporary penal society, and in doing so removes any sense of empathy we would have otherwise had for the inmates.

    Although the "play-within-a-film" gimmick is a good one, it's hardly original (Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York and Canadian filmmaker John Greyson's Lillies are both really worth a look). It's also not the best part of Caesar Must Die. With such astounding performances and beautiful adaptation of Shakespeare's words, one wishes that the Tatvianis abandoned the ostentatious stunts and luscious monochrome display, and instead focused plainly on documenting these ostracised people. An extraordinary, grotesque bunch, who find happiness, solidarity and hope in creative expression.

    Read more reviews at www.366movies.com
    helpful•8
    10
    • octopusluke
    • Dec 5, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 2, 2012 (Italy)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • César debe morir
    • Filming locations
      • Rebibbia, Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Kaos Cinematografica
      • Stemal Entertainment
      • Le Talee
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $76,908
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,567,339
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 17 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    ‘Leonora addio’ Review: Directing Alone, Paolo Taviani Sketches a Slight Farewell to His Late Brother
    ‘Leonora addio’ Review: Directing Alone, Paolo Taviani Sketches a Slight Farewell to His Late Brother
    Feb 15Variety Film + TV
    Paolo Taviani on Returning to Pirandello Without His Brother in ‘Leonora Addio’ (Exclusive)
    Paolo Taviani on Returning to Pirandello Without His Brother in ‘Leonora Addio’ (Exclusive)
    Feb 14Variety Film + TV

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