Beyond the spectacular technical advances, the great difference between the traditional Hollywood peplum (Kirk Douglas in Spartacus looks like he just came out of a men’s hair salon) and current productions about Rome (Russell Crowe in Gladiator, on the other hand, had encountered the closed barbershop), is that the latter are filmed devoid of any hint of morality. In fact, the crudeness of the images is sometimes excessive, although it perfectly reflects that mercilessly disappeared world.
Domina (Movistar Plus+), which premiered on Tuesday, is a clear example. It reconstructs the universe of Livia Drusilla, the third wife of Emperor Octavian Augustus and with whom he lived for 52 years. Livia was, without a doubt, the most important woman in the empire. Mother of Emperor Tiberius and General Drusus, she was grandmother of Claudius and Germanicus, great-grandmother of Caligula and great-great-grandmother of Nero. She did, undid and decided everything she wanted, including the elevation of her son Tiberius as emperor, although this was the result of a previous marriage with the republican Tiberius Claudius Nero.
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The confrontation between Republic and Empire marks the beginning of this eight-episode series that begins with the murder of a main character in the plot, although his alopecic profile never appears on screen: Julius Caesar. After the death of the politician, an all-out war broke out between the republicans and the monarchists. Livia, daughter and wife of Republicans, suffered the consequences of the bloody division that cost the life of her father, who committed suicide after a lost battle. The couple must flee, hide from the brutal repression undertaken by Octavio.
In the year 39 BC. C. the so-called Pact of Miseno is signed, which marks the end of hostilities and forgiveness for those who fled. Livia and her husband return to Rome to recover houses, lands, dowries, power… From there, the character played by Kasia Smutniak undergoes a radical change. From a submissive and obedient woman to her husband, she becomes a political animal. She will use all means at her disposal to catch Octavio. She and she will achieve it, going from being a fervent republican to empress of Rome, betraying her deepest convictions.
The character of Livia Drusilla tours Rome after a massacre of republican senators.
There has been much speculation about Livia’s character: ideal of Roman qualities or unscrupulous evil. Be that as it may, it is true that she asked her grandson Claudius to make her a goddess to avoid the horror of hell. Some remorse she would have.
Domina is a Game of Thrones, but with real events. The recreation of the scenarios is spectacular: the misery and wealth of the largest city of the moment, the reconstruction of the magical or mundane rituals of that society, the cruelty of personal or political relationships, the merciless massacres, the murders, the conspiracies. and wars… Furthermore, it simplifies well the complexity of the numerous characters who were protagonists of this exciting story. It turns them into close, almost human characters.
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2023-11-03 08:34:19
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