Blu-ray Review: Quo Vadis

Although a cinematic classic, and a technical marvel of its time, the Quo Vadis that we know today is actually the fourth attempt at bringing this story of Emperor Nero's persecution of Christians to the big screen. Based on the best-selling novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis was actually produced in three different silent films before the storied production dramas and delays of this more modern version began.

Quo Vadis - which is Latin for "Where are you going?", and alludes to a story of St. Peter meeting a vision of Jesus while fleeing his own crucifixion - intertwines the infamous story of Emperor Nero's (Peter Ustinov) reign over Rome during the first century A.D., with a love story between a Roman general, Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) and a Christian servant girl Lygia (Deborah Kerr). At this early point in history, Christianity is still an underground movement, its teachings at a strong opposition to Rome's deification of the Emperor and practice of slavery. Marcus's attraction to Lygia draws him into this new world of beliefs, and eventually he has to choose between the woman he loves and the Rome he has sworn to obey, even in spite of his Emperor's increasingly cruel treatment of the people.

The movie is an "epic", both in scope (it is estimated that up to 30,000 extras were used in all) and length (you'll need to set aside three hours for this one). Fortunately there is a good story and some very strong performances to help you through. Peter Ustinov as Nero is the obvious highlight. His commanding interpretation of Nero is not to be missed, imbuing the role with a personality between egomaniacal recklessness and childish arrested development. Petronius, Nero's closest counselor, is played with an effective cool reserve by Leo Genn. Unfortunately, Robert Taylor in the lead role of Marcus Vinicius is the weakest acting link. He gives a rather wooden performance which drags down the effectiveness of the rest of the cast at points. It's not enough to drag down the entire movie, but it does keep it from being a true "classic". The movie is huge, melodramatic and all the things we might expect from the beginning of Hollywood's obsession with Biblical epic tales.

Technically, the film looks very impressive. The rich Technicolor transfers very well to hi-def, and the highly varied color palette of the sets and costumes makes for a visually sumptuous feast. The detail is very sharp, and for the most part they execute an impressive transfer. However, there are spots where you notice visual debris on the print, as well as a couple of points where color separation makes a quick showing. It's obvious that this is more a careful transfer than it is a proper restoration. Hopefully a restoration will come at some point in the future - and if the history of Blu-ray begins to match that of the DVD format, we could be in for several future editions of classic movies.

Article Author: David R Perry

Lost somewhere in the rolling hills of Tennessee, David R Perry can occasionally be found doing dark, unspeakable things to words. Printed words, spoken words, electronically mangled words... really any kind but twittered words.

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