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THE CATALYTIC EVENT - POINT OF ENGAGEMENT
The catalytic event dramatically upsets the balance of the protagonist's life, and forces Maximus to take action. There are a three important scene that initiate the catalytic event: a scene between Aurelius and Commodus; a scene between Lucilla and Commodus; and Commodus praying in his tent.
It is important to note that the second draft of the screenplay changes drastically from the first draft after the battle scene. Following the battle scene in the first draft we go directly to Rome, where Narcissus (Maximus) is praised by the Senators. Here we meet Juba and his wife Mela and encounter a major confrontation between our hero and Commudus.
In the first draft Commodus sits at the bedside of his ill father and witnesses the affection between Aurelius and Narcissus (Maximus). In the second draft the sequence begins with a private and intimate discussion between Aurelius and Maximus. Look at the beautiful description of the setting in the second draft of the script.
INT. MARCUS' TENT - DAY
Maximus enters Marcus' darkened tent. Flickering braziers provide the only light in the enormous Imperial tent. Heavy beams support the canopy and they creak like the timbers of a ship as the tent sways slightly in the wind.
Aurelius wishes for Maximus to become the Protector of Rome. To give the power back to the people of Rome and end the corruption. Rome is to be a Republic once again. He also confesses that Maximus is the son he should have had and heavily criticises Commodus' immoral behaviour. In the final draft of the script
He cares about Maximus' well-being, he asks Maximus to tell him about his home and family, and then to bring an old man a blanket. Scott does not show us what Maximus tells Aurelius about his family and home. He allows the audience to form a picture in their own minds. Maximus has until sunset to decide.
As Maximus' leaves the tent he is stalked by Lucilla. In the first draft it is suggested that she is a drunkard and has no son, but in the second draft she is compassionate and understanding. There are slight hints of a past love affair, but more important, they have a deep-rooted bonding: they both have a son.
Maximus returns to his tent. In the first draft he is woken by his wife and two daughters; there is a scene between him and his daughters in which he discusses politics, and there is a tender love scene between him and his wife. Commodus arrives with news that Aurelius is dead and arrests Narcissus (Maximus) when he protests, and imprisons him, sending him to Rome where he will be tried for insubordination.
The second draft is much closer to the final product. In the silence of his tent Maximus kneels before a small altar, facing six small figures that represent his dead ancestors. It reveals his devotion to his family. Now for the first time, Scott gives us a visual picture of his wife and son in a brief flashback, of the home he softly prays to return to.
The catalytic event is a powerful and dramatic scene between Aurelius and Commodus, reflecting directly on Maximus, it is time to pull the protagonist out of his comfort zone and call him to adventure. When Commodus enters Aurelius' tent he does not address his father directly. He first admires a statue of the previous Caesar and gently caresses it. Aurelius asks his son if he is willing to serve Rome and then adds a twist, like a knife wound. Is Commodus willing to serve Maximus? Is the Antagonist willing to give in to the Protagonist?
An intense and heartbreaking conflict ensues between father and son. It is clear they haven't been close and have only communicated through correspondence. Commodus states that he has always been true to the four virtues demanded by his father; wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance; but that he had none of them. There are other virtues that are more important to him; ambition, resourcefulness, courage and devotion.
And then, a brilliant bit of dialogue which was added by actor Richard Harris.
MARCUS AURELIUS
Your faults as a son is my failure as a father.
Commodus embraces his father lovingly and tearfully and suffocates him.
THE HERO IS CALLED TO ADVENTURE
The hero reacts to the crisis according to his inhibiting characteristic. At Aurelius' deathbed Commodus now has the power and is in full control. His world has now changed, the dynamics have shifted, which places our hero in a dilemma. His ordinary world has changed and he stands challenged.
THE DILEMMA
Maximus ignores the call to adventure, to serve the new Emperor and turns his back on him. He knows that Aurelius was murdered and he refuses to accept the hand of the new ruler. Lucilla also realises this and vents her anger and disappointment by slapping Commodus through the face, then kisses his hand.
Maximus is arrested by his own soldiers and sentenced to be executed. At his execution Maximus utilises his skill as fighter and escapes, badly wounded.
He has to return home and be with his family. During a brief moment of silence, he tends to his wound. In an hallucinatory state, Scott gives us brilliant symbolic flashcuts: a brooding storm with lightning striking the heavens; superseded by soldiers storming Maximus' village and brutally crushing his son. Here is the harrowing scene from the second draft. We also get a glimpse of the door that leads to the afterlife.
When our wounded hero returns to his comfort zone, to his family, this is what he discovers
EXT. VINEYARD - DAY
Maximus' home in Spain is beautiful beyond measure. We see verdant farmlands and vineyards and a spacious house nestled amid gently rolling hills.
Maximus' eight-year-old SON is in a paddock playing with his pony. He stops, sees something. Over a hill, he can just glimpse a battle flag, approaching.
He screams with joy and runs toward the flag as he calls:
MAXIMUS' SON
MOTHER! MOTHER! FATHER'S HOME!
Maximus' WIFE emerges from the house, drying her hands on a cloth and smiles.
Maximus' Son races toward the flag. He can just see the soldiers beginning to appear over the hill. Not a Roman Legion at all. Twenty Praetorians canter over the hill.
Maximus' Son stops, confused.
EXT. OLIVE GROVE - DAY
Maximus is galloping up a hill, leading only one horse now. The horse he is on is exhausted, spent, foam coats its neck. It can't make it.
The horse collapses and Maximus falls. He immediately leaps onto the remaining horse and continues riding up the hill.
EXT. HILLS AROUND VINEYARD - SUNSET
Maximus is racing over the countryside, galloping in a frenzy. His wound is bleeding profusely, coating the side of his horse.
He rears the horse to a stop for a moment. Over a hill he can see thick black smoke rising. He spurs the horse and gallops over the hill...
EXT. VINEYARD - SUNSET
And his worst nightmares are realised. His home and his vineyards have been destroyed. The earth has been scorched and his house is still smouldering. He rides up to the house and practically falls off the horse.
He pulls himself up and walks past the smouldering debris of his house, fearing what he knows he will find.
he sees the bodies of servants scattered about in the ruins. He sees a Praetorian battle flag.
He continues on, his wound bleeding more with every tortured step. He finally stops. He stares up.
His wife and his son have been crucified and burnt. They are nothing more than grotesquely twisted, charred shapes.
Maximus instantly collapses to his knees … he howls out his torment in a heartrending keen of despair as he coats his face in the ashes of his dead world. He sinks into unconsciousness, praying for death.
THE FIRST MAJOR TURNING POINT
Our hero has lost everything he lived for. His entire world has been destroyed. The hero is captured as a slave and enters a new world at the beginning of Act Two, a strange country called Zucchabar, a Roman Province.
Trapped in a cage after being saved from death at the graves of his wife and son, we are introduced to the friendly, nurturing, intuitive Earth Figure, the Black Slave Juba.
EXT. SLAVE WAGON TRAIN - DAY
Maximus' eyes slowly open … Inches away from his face … a lion roars … Maximus lurches back.
He looks around to realize he is in a filthy slave wagon. Three other wagons slowly move over the desert landscape. Exotic animals are caged in pens or led alongside the wagons: lions, panthers, zebras, a giraffe. A dozen slaves are chained together alongside sacks of spices and other cargo. Bedouin slave traders jabber in a surreal babel of foreign tongues.
And someone is looking at him. JUBA, a striking African, is gazing at him impassively as he chews something. Juba is also chained.
This major change in the second draft transforms Juba from the traditional "buddy" role to the classical "Earth figure"; the spiritual soul mate, healer and protector. He tends to Maximus' wound. They are connected by the same dramatic need: to have their freedom and return home to their families.
ACT TWO - THE WORLD OF CONFRONTATION
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
CONFRONTING OBSTACLES
CONFLICTS AND CONFRONTATIONS
THE FIRST HALF OF ACT TWO
THE MIDPOINT
THE SECOND HALF OF ACT TWO
THE SECOND MAJOR TURNING POINT
ACT THREE - RESOLUTION
THE OBLIGATORY SCENE - THE CLIMAX
THE HERO'S JOURNEY COMES TO AN END
THE ENDING
RETURN TO FIRST PAGE
Copyright © 2001--2007 Excerps from screenplays: Dreamworks/ Analysis Daniel E. Dercksen
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