07-09-2004, 05:49 PM
Geetings!<br>
<br>
Well my friends, if you thought Gladiator and King Arthur had their share of 'historical problems' and seemed rather modern you are not wrong according to the screenwriter, Mr. David Franzoni.<br>
<br>
In an article in today's LA Times Franzoni talks about what inspired his take on King Arthur, and mentions a new script he is working on.<br>
<br>
To para phrase: He sees this King Arthur film as a Vietnam War story with the Empire pulling out of Saigon and a Special Forces team sent out on one last mission to the DMZ. Or was that an SF team in Bagdad fighting to protect a populace that hates them? Actually he thinks there are references to both wars in his new film.<br>
(He was first inspired to write this version of King Arthur by a student thesis, that he found in the library, which tried to prove that Arthur was a late Roman military commander.<br>
<br>
Franzoni likes history, though not historians, "Historians - they're just drunk idiots in tweed." Of course, he is just being provocative for it's own sake, as if it is a requirement of being in the film industry.<br>
<br>
As for Rome, Franzoni says he is currently working on a script about Hannibal and the fall of Carthage. "So I'm beginning to think maybe Scipio actually got the crap kicked out of him at Carthage."<br>
<br>
To his credit perhaps, Franzoni insists that he is interested in telling the truth about the world in which we live and that history is but a vehicle for revealing something about ourselves and our current problems.<br>
Fair enough, after all he is not doing a History Channel Docu-Drama but a popular entertainment for mass consumption. But of course there's the rub. Many people will exit the theatre certain the Lancelot fought with two swords just as they are certain that the Emperor Commodus dired in the arena. Perhaps such distortions are not Franzoni's fault nor his responsibility, but given his attitude, as displayed in this LA Times article, one has to wonder.<br>
<br>
If his take on Hannibal and Scipio is anything like Gladiator, then oh boy do we have something to look forward to.<br>
<br>
The gods look down and laugh.<br>
<br>
As Groucho Marx said "The world would be a better place if the parents had to eat the spinach."<br>
<br>
I'm still not sure what that means, but I like it.<br>
<br>
Narukami <p></p><i></i>
<br>
Well my friends, if you thought Gladiator and King Arthur had their share of 'historical problems' and seemed rather modern you are not wrong according to the screenwriter, Mr. David Franzoni.<br>
<br>
In an article in today's LA Times Franzoni talks about what inspired his take on King Arthur, and mentions a new script he is working on.<br>
<br>
To para phrase: He sees this King Arthur film as a Vietnam War story with the Empire pulling out of Saigon and a Special Forces team sent out on one last mission to the DMZ. Or was that an SF team in Bagdad fighting to protect a populace that hates them? Actually he thinks there are references to both wars in his new film.<br>
(He was first inspired to write this version of King Arthur by a student thesis, that he found in the library, which tried to prove that Arthur was a late Roman military commander.<br>
<br>
Franzoni likes history, though not historians, "Historians - they're just drunk idiots in tweed." Of course, he is just being provocative for it's own sake, as if it is a requirement of being in the film industry.<br>
<br>
As for Rome, Franzoni says he is currently working on a script about Hannibal and the fall of Carthage. "So I'm beginning to think maybe Scipio actually got the crap kicked out of him at Carthage."<br>
<br>
To his credit perhaps, Franzoni insists that he is interested in telling the truth about the world in which we live and that history is but a vehicle for revealing something about ourselves and our current problems.<br>
Fair enough, after all he is not doing a History Channel Docu-Drama but a popular entertainment for mass consumption. But of course there's the rub. Many people will exit the theatre certain the Lancelot fought with two swords just as they are certain that the Emperor Commodus dired in the arena. Perhaps such distortions are not Franzoni's fault nor his responsibility, but given his attitude, as displayed in this LA Times article, one has to wonder.<br>
<br>
If his take on Hannibal and Scipio is anything like Gladiator, then oh boy do we have something to look forward to.<br>
<br>
The gods look down and laugh.<br>
<br>
As Groucho Marx said "The world would be a better place if the parents had to eat the spinach."<br>
<br>
I'm still not sure what that means, but I like it.<br>
<br>
Narukami <p></p><i></i>
