The Greatest Hero of All Was Real. ALEXANDER.

Alexander (2004) Directed Oliver Stone.

"In the end, when it's over, all that matters is what you've done."  Alexander the Great.

I really wanted to love Stone's Alexander.  Stone can be such a great director, and the cast was excellent, and the production values were spot on; he did succeed in bringing ancient Macedonia and Persia to life.  However, as much as I love the subject matter, and the pomp and beauty of this movie, I like it despite its flaws, not because of them.

The story of Alexander is a story of conflicting forces combining to push one man to heights that have never been achieved in human history, before, or since.  The first, primal, c'thonic shaper of Alexander was his mother, Olympias.  A ‘barbarian' she was a proud woman, taken by Phillip against her will.  And that means he was a powerful man, and a stupid one.  Olympias became his nemesis, nurturing hatred in her heart with all the fiery passion that threatened to consume her.  She was a witch, a devotee of Dionysius, God of Wine and Madness, and a brilliant schemer and tactician.  And she taught Alexander from her nipple to strive to be better than his father.

Phillip was as formidable in his own way as his wife.  He was a great military leader, primal, earthy, a little rough around the edges.  But he was capable of charm, and leadership, and all boys wish to please their fathers.  His reign saw Greece bending knee to their neighbor to the north, and Phillip wanted his son to benefit from the education of the conquered people.  He employed Aristotle as the boy's tutor.

Alexander actually had little choice but to grow up to be extraordinary.  And he chose his own influences in his friends.  Most particular among them was Hephaistion.  It was not unusual for boys to have romances together in Greek society.  What was unusual is that neither ever grew out of their love for each other.  And despite what one would think, Alexander was not the aggressive partner in their relationship.  That was something else that caused them problems.

In the competitive circles of Hellenic politics, Phillip taking a new wife was cause for great concern.  A son could supplant Alexander as heir.  And the Uncle of the new bride had definite ideas about candidates for the office of Regent.  However, even if Olympias can't get Alexander to listen to her enough not to play into the enemies' hands, she is quite capable of dealing with the situation on her own (my personal theory) and Phillip is assassinated, leaving Alexander the clear cut heir.

On his own, with real power, Alexander moves on his goal of following Heracles to the east...and the Macedonian army takes on the Persian Empire, the mightiest in the world.  Once he started, he was hooked.  The campaigns, the excitement of battle, and the beauty of the cultures they encountered.  Well educated and able to take a polycultural view, Alexander was merciful and generous to the defeated.  He wanted them to love him as well.  The Macedonians were jealous of their leader's fascination with the enemy.

And yet he drove ever onward, either searching for the next horizon, or trying to put a little more distance between himself and his mother.  He married the first girl he found that had the potential to be as crazy as her, unfortunately, Roxanne was just a Tribal Chieftain's daughter, and nowhere as smart or as cunning as his mother.  This also caused problems; Roxanne was jealous of Hephaistion, and Bagoas, Darius' eunuch, each of whom Alexander took as lovers. 

And here is where the movie fails.  Oliver Stone addressed Alexander's homosexuality, and yet he hesitated to make it an integral part of the story.  We see he and Roxanne going at it like Tasmanian devils (and just as romantic) but we never see he and Hephaistion do more that hug.  Soulful longing and significant glances do not sell the fact that this man was the love of his life.  And while they are a little more blatant in one scene with Bogias (and we get to see the full Monty on Farrell) the scene is almost chaste.  If Stone was so interested in exploring Alexander's bisexuality, he should have sold the relationship with Hephaistion better.  As it was, he came across mopy, not the man who made the king of the world his b*tch.

The second problem might have been insurmountable.  Alexander, as he grew in power, and the further east they traveled, grew ever more paranoid.  I think too much was done with scenes of Alexander enjoying the good life, and his friends scowling.  Maybe some scene of the plotting against the king would have moved the plot forward without the heavy handed emotional subtext.

Of course, the end of the story was written long ago, and not by Hollywood.  Hephastion died, either of typhus or poison.  It broke Alexander's heart, and he followed not long after.  Without an heir (his son by Roxanne as yet unborn) the empire fell to squabbling, and was carved into fourths among the strongest of his generals.  The story we are told is from the point of view of Ptolemy, who inherited Egypt.

Alexander has always been my hero.  I picked up early on that he was gay, and it was always, always, a touchstone for me.  If a homosexual could conquer the known world, there is nothing we can't do.  I never bought into the "limitations" that were attached to my orientation.  And that prevented me from being crippled by the culture I was born into.  And that is why Alexander will always be my hero.

Sadly, I don't feel that Stone was bold enough or focused enough to do his story justice.  And that is a true tragedy.  This came close to being great.  As it is, it's Alexander the unfocused.

The Cast
Colin Farrell ...  Alexander
Angelina Jolie ...  Olympias
Val Kilmer ...  Philip
Anthony Hopkins ...  Old Ptolemy
 Jared Leto ...  Hephaistion
Rosario Dawson ...  Roxane
Jonathan Rhys Meyers ...  Cassander
Rory McCann ...  Crateros
Gary Stretch ...  Cleitus
 Ian Beattie ...  Antigonus
Neil Jackson ...  Perdiccas
 Raz Degan ...  Darius III
Christopher Plummer ...  Aristotle
John Kavanagh ...  Parmenion
Francisco Bosch ...Bagoas

This is entered in my I Need a Hero! Write Off.

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