The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was written over 400 years ago by one of the greatest playwrights, Will
iam Shakespeare; Julius Caesar was made in 1970 and directed by Stuart Burge. When creating a movie
based on a written piece, such as a play, changes are going to be made. Because it will be the dire
ctor's own version of the play he will make it based on his perception and then add his own creative
ideas. These changes from the written piece to the movie can be good in ways and bad just the same
. On one side, the movie may give a better idea of what is going on just by the director's own inte
rpretation being expressed by and seeing it acted with the special effects of a movie. On the other
side, a left out scene or piece of information can confuse an audience member who has not read the
piece beforehand. The purpose of this essay is to examine you of the differences between The Traged
y of Julius Caesar, the play and Julius Caesar, the movie; and, to explain why are these good and ba
d changes were made. There was a difference between Cassius' monologue in the play and in the movie.
The main difference was his speech about saving Caesar. In the play Cassius tells a story of how
he and Caesar raced, in the river when it was very rough. Cassius had arrived at the shore first, a
nd Caesar begged him to help. "Caesar cried 'Help me Cassius, or I sink!' I as Aeneas, our great an
cestor did from the fames of Troy upon his shoulders the old Anchises bear, so from the waves of the
Tiber did I the tired Caesar," said Cassius. In the movie they skipped this story, which made the m
ovie worse. This story alone proves what Cassius thought about Caesar ruling. Cassius also said, "Y
e Gods! It doth amaze me a man of such feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world,
and bear the pain alone." This helped convince Brutus to join the conspirators, which related to th
e play. Antony is the leader of the triumvirs, Caesar's right hand man, and a noble person. In the
play Antony was more soft spoken and seemed quiet until the end. In the movie; however, Antony was
more out spoken and a strong leader. I think the change to the movie was good because it made Anton
y seem strong. Cinna the poet was killed in both the play and movie. In the play there was an actua
l scene on the street where the plebeians approached Cinna the poet and questioned him about his nam
e since it was the same as one of the conspirator's, but was Cinna the poet. This did not convince
the plebeians, and they killed him nevertheless. This scene was left out in the movie though. In t
he movie, it only showed Cinna the poet lying on the ground dead as the plebeians stampeded by him.
I think this change in the movie was bad. The play was better, because it acted this scene out and
gave a better idea about what had happened. Some people may not have known that the body was Cinna
the poet. There was a big difference between Antony's soliloquy in the play than in the movie. In
the play Antony says his soliloquy over Caesar's body after the conspirators killed Caesar. This pa
rt in the play showed that Antony was a revengeful person as he said, "Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the
dogs of war That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial."
On the other hand, in the movie Antony did not say this soliloquy over Caesar's body, but rather he
thought it to himself while actually shaking the hands of the conspirators. I thought that the play
was better for this soliloquy, because it made him seem like he had more of a personality. Brutus w
as very noble and the tragic hero in both the play and the movie. In the play Brutus seemed to be p
ortrayed as a younger man, strong and muscular. In the movie, Brutus was played by an older actor,
who was not muscular. In my opinion, the Brutus in the movie did not seem to fit the part. This ch
ange was not good, because it lessened Brutus' character. Caesar was killed in both the movie and th
e play, but he was portrayed differently. In the play they talked about him killing so many people
in battle and bringing captives home; therefore portraying a younger man who was muscular or fit. On
the other hand, in the movie Caesar was acted by an older man that looked really weak. The change
of Caesar was bad , because making Caesar younger in the movie instead of old it would have fit the
play better. The ending of the movie left out a monologue spoken by Octavius; this change altered th
e last thought about the story and showed what the director felt was the most important part to end
with. The last scene of the last act in the movie ended with Antony having the last word. It ended
from Brutus' point of view while Antony spoke, saying how noble Brutus actually was. But on the othe
r hand, the last scene of the last act in the play ended with Octavius hand the last word. In this
monologue, Octavius was describing what they would do with Brutus' dead body in concerns with what A
ntony had said about Brutus being the "noblest Roman of them all." Because they would be doing thin
gs very differently from what they normally would do for a body of the enemy, this is an important p
art of the ending. In my opinion, this change in the movie was interesting but not good, because it
left out an important speech. The creative part of it does not make up for the absence of Octavius
' speech. As you can see, there were many differences between the play and the movie. Some of these
differences made the movie confusing while others were necessary so the movie would not be too long
. In my opinion most changes took away important parts of the story; and, we agree that the play wa
s better. tragedy julius caesar written over years greatest playwrights william shakespeare julius c
aesar made directed stuart burge when creating movie based written piece such play changes going mad
e because will director version play will make based perception then creative ideas these changes fr
om written piece movie good ways just same side movie give better idea what going just director inte
rpretation being expressed seeing acted with special effects other side left scene piece information
confuse audience member read beforehand purpose this essay examine differences between tragedy juli
us caesar play explain these good changes were made there difference between cassius monologue main
difference speech about saving cassius tells story raced river when very rough cassius arrived shore
first begged help cried help sink aeneas great ancestor from fames troy upon shoulders anchises bea
r from waves tiber tired said they skipped this story which worse this story alone proves what thoug
ht about ruling also said gods doth amaze such feeble temper should start majestic world bear pain a
lone helped convince brutus join conspirators which related antony leader triumvirs right hand noble
person antony more soft spoken seemed quiet until however antony more spoken strong leader think ch
ange good because seem strong cinna poet killed both there actual scene street where plebeians appro
ached cinna poet questioned about name since same conspirator cinna poet convince plebeians they kil
led nevertheless scene left though only showed lying ground dead plebeians stampeded think change be
tter because acted gave better idea what happened some people have known that body there difference
between soliloquy than says soliloquy over body after conspirators killed part showed that revengefu
l person said havoc slip dogs that foul deed shall smell above earth with carrion groaning burial ot
her hand soliloquy over body rather thought himself while actually shaking hands conspirators though
t seem like more personality brutus very noble tragic hero both brutus seemed portrayed younger stro
ng muscular played older actor muscular opinion seem part change lessened character both portrayed d
ifferently they talked killing many people battle bringing captives home therefore portraying younge
r muscular other hand acted older looked really weak making younger instead would have ending left m
onologue spoken octavius altered last showed director felt most important part with last last ended
having word ended point view while spoke saying noble actually ended octavius word monologue octaviu
s describing would dead concerns being noblest roman them would doing things very differently normal
ly enemy important ending opinion interesting important speech creative does make absence speech wer
e many differences some these differences confusing while others were necessary long opinion most to
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