Cleopatra is one of the most fascinating figures from history. This 1999 TV movie does a good job of telling her story from her point of view. Granted Leonor Varela is a bit off, but she's not bad and the movie moves very well, its hard to believe its almost 3 hours, its time that never feels wasted. The story of Egypt's last great queen and her Roman lovers Julius Caesar and Marc Antony have been told before, most notably in '63 with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, this film is close to that and in some ways better.
Billy Zane is terrific here, he plays Antony better than Burton! Zane remembers Antony was a solider who was prodded into lofty ambition by Cleopatra, even pitting Roman against Roman and splitting an empire, in his heart he must have known he couldn't succeed, Zane never lets your forget that and his performance should have been honored. Timothy Dalton is a good Caesar too. He plays the conqueror full on, ambitious and powerful, but not a monster or a hero, just a man who wanted glory for Rome. His assassination is well handled here. Rupert Graves is a slimy Octavian (Augustus) and does well as the villain.
The look of the film is pretty good, though at times it feels like a filmed play. The music is unmoving, but the fx shots tolerable. The battle of Actium is brief but accurate, Antony always rushed in like a bull. For a TV move they manage to be sexy and violent, two things necessary to tell Cleo's story. The birth of Cesarion is realistic.
The only real downer here is I think this movie was made, or at least planned before the discovery of records found in the sea that told of Antony and Cleo's great love and of the fact they did have children! At least 4, including a set of twins. It is also possible that a girl was saved from Octavian's butchery. The rest did not make, including, probably Cesarion. Unfortunately we don't see that here and the end, though well played, is just like earlier versions. Still this is historical fiction at its best. Well done!
