Spartacus

(Stanley Kubrick, US 1960, 197 min., DCP)

Set in the first century BC, this sweeping and subversive epic about the leader of a Roman slave rebellion has itself become something of an important historical event. The film’s success allowed the then-31-year-old Stanley Kubrick to pursue his directorial career relatively free from the demands of Hollywood. Kubrick balances the performances of a stellar cast—Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov—with stunning Technicolor compositions to create a fascinating mural of masculine eroticism, patrician decadence, brutal athleticism, and headstrong fealty.