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The Weston Front
Reviews and Commentary from the Heartland
review of the script for
ALEXANDER
by
Peter Buchman
&
Christopher McQuarrie
Alright then, before we get too excited about this one let’s recognize that this version of "Alexander" is rather an older draft which dates back to late 1997 (yeah, it’s been around a while). In this draft Christopher McQuarrie is listed as "Director" and thus it pre-dates the arrival on scene of Baz Luhrman, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and a host of others. With any number of "Alexander the Great" scripts circulating these days it helps to note that this is the project which initially promised to go head-to-head (no pun intended) with Oliver Stone’s effort in which Colin Farrell is slated to play Alexander. Now, while we might easily expect the Dino DeLaurentiis version to take more of a hero-worshipping approach that project appears stalled if not entirely dead. Well, at least Alexander will not be played by "... a beeg-ah monkey..." so be thankful for small favors. And, if reports and rumors are to be believed, Ollie Stone, running true to form, will attempt to play this as a large conspiracy epic. So perhaps a "lone swordsman theory" will somehow be presented and then squashed as a product of the military-industrial complex. Gee, maybe he can get Michael Moore to play the investigator? All this however is rather irrelevant as the script which I have read appears now to be a dead issue... well, hibernating at the very least. Instead let us consider this a "horrible example" of good intentions gone wrong. I know that Stax over at IGN Film Force has seen and reviewed this script and although we normally appreciate similar pieces it appears that he likes this script a good deal more than I. Ah well, to each his own. Stax and I shall have to sit down with some coffee and chew this one over sometime.
By way of a very brief introduction, Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.) was a fairly ambitious young fellow who managed to conquer most of the known world during his brief time on earth –- the known or civilized world at the time being comprised of Greece, Egypt, Syria, Babylon, Persia, etc.. While expanding this already sizable empire deeper into India his troops decided they’d had enough and he began to withdraw but not before contracting a fever and dying. Having made no provisions for his own succession, the empire so hard won by his military campaigns quickly disintegrated. Lionized in some parts of the world and reviled in others Alexander remains a presence centuries after his death so it is only natural that someone would want to turn his story into a major motion picture (again).
But enough of that, let’s get into the script itself which starts out with a very young Alexander under the tutelage of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle (yes, this part is quite true). While Alexander’s father Philip of Macedon is trying to prepare his son for the future, he is also shown to be a vain and ambitious fellow who has designs on the rest of Greece and then Persia. As the story unfolds Philip is on the outs with Alexander’s mother Olympias and with the resultant familial strife it becomes apparent that Alexander is his mother’s son. When Philip decides to take a new, younger wife, Alexander is not pleased but Olympias is beside herself with rage and jealousy. No good will come of this arrangement. At best, Philip can be described as a debaucher; he enjoys everything in excess, war, power, influence, sex. In a way he reminds one of the Mel Brooks character in "History of the World; Part I" in which Brooks says; "It’s good to be the king!" There are few, if any, redeeming qualities to this character. When he tires of his closest male consort Pausanias, he allows the unfortunate to be gang raped and brutally abused. When a battered Pausanias complains to Philip he is stunned by the king’s callous and dismissive response. This abuse of power does not escape the notice of Alexander or his mother. Shortly thereafter Philip is assassinated by a vengeful Pausanias and one can infer that Alexander and Mommie Dearest had a hand in it. Alexander quickly assumes the reins of power, engages in a bit of merciless housecleaning, and sets about to expand the empire and thereby assure his place in history.
In keeping with his late father’s dreams of an expanding empire, Alexander turns his attention to the rest of Greece, then to Egypt, and finally Persia and the Emperor Darius. Now, one would think that the Persians would be painted as a powerful, vain, and arrogant crew and so they are –- but they’re a rich, powerful, vain and arrogant crew which makes them ripe for the plucking. Plus Alexander has developed a distinct dislike for Darius and that is most unfortunate for the Persian Emperor. Despite the misgivings of his veteran commanders Alexander takes on the Persian hordes at Guagamela and I have to say that this sequence is exceptionally well done. The battle, which remains a classic study for military tacticians to this day, is a crushing success for Alexander and sends the defeated Darius fleeing into the wilderness pursued by a vengeful Macedonian horde and disillusioned Persian troops. One might think that Alexander would stop here, having brought the Persian Empire to its knees, but this success seems only to have sharpened his appetite for expansion and acquisition. His childhood friend Hephaestian (and there is more to this relationship than meets the eye) advises against his friend’s unbridled ambition but to no avail. Alexander pushes on and the much maligned and abused Hephaestian goes along becoming ever more depressed and despondent as time, miles, and battles pass in seemingly endless succession. Alexander immerses himself in both Persian culture and his own growing cult of personality and as his oldest friend watches in dismay he takes a Persian bride and turns his attention towards the Himalayas and the lure of India beyond.
As the Macedonian army presses forward swallowing all in its path, Alexander refuses to give them a pause but pushes his forces ever onward. He ruthlessly suppresses what he suspects is a latent mutiny among his oldest commanders and then leads his ever more disillusioned and bedraggled forces up into the icy mountains which keep him from India. A series of mind-numbing collisions follow pitting the Macedonians against native Indian forces and while Alexander emerges victorious in each instance his forces are being progressively whittled down by the opposition. Eventually his army is bone weary and homesick after eight years of continuous warfare at the back of beyond. They’ve had it. While Alexander’s eyes glow with the thought of further conquests, the troops are finished –- they want out. And really, who could blame them? Over the course of this remarkably long script Alexander has gone from ambitious and talented young princeling to the conqueror of the known world and a self-centered megalomaniac who equates himself with the gods. Even those few friends he has left eventually come to realize that their relationship is one-sided. Alexander is in it for Alexander and devil take the hindmost. His oldest and most mishandled friend Hephaestion has finally had enough and drinks himself to death and a distraught Alexander finally acquiesces to the wishes of his army and turns to go home. Shortly thereafter, suffering from an infected arrow wound and subsequent fever Alexander expires and, quite frankly, I was not sad to see him go.
Okay, I’ve given away the ending... so what? It’s not that I don’t usually appreciate films on either this period or with such epic themes but in this case, well, this script is the dog’s breakfast. I can see where there might be some parallels among the deal brokers in the Los Angeles film community –- the Michael Ovitz types who rise to empyrean heights only to self-destruct through their own excess, ambition, and paranoia. And, as I think about it, this perhaps may be the subconscious rationale for the failure of this script to find the requisite funding and champions -– maybe the characters and storyline hit a little too close to home. Now, this should absolutely not be the final word on Alexander the Great. His is a fascinating story but, as I read this script and considered what I knew of rival projects, I was unsure that any of the prospective storytellers currently in the running were up to the task. I found myself wishing for a John Huston and finally recalling with delight the other end of the Alexander myth as it appears in the brilliant film "The Man Who Would Be King." If only we had a storyteller/director today capable of evoking for Alexander the Great the passion, humor, pathos, and drama I associate with John Huston’s telling of Rudyard Kipling’s classic. Okay, they’re both dead but even so they are still better storytellers than this.
Frederick J. Chiaventone, an award-winning novelist and screenwriter, is a retired Army officer and Professor Emeritus of International Security Affairs at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. His most recent book, Moon of Bitter Cold, a novel of Red Cloud’s war, has just been nominated for the Pulitzer. His most recent piece for American Heritage magazine (October 2002) is on Native American leadership.
Novel "Moon of Bitter Cold" Named Winner of Prestigious 42nd Annual "Wrangler Award"
Frederick J. Chiaventone has been selected to receive the annual "Wrangler Award" for "Moon of Bitter Cold" as the Best Novel of the American West 2002. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum announced the 2002 winners of the 42nd Western Heritage Awards. The black-tie awards gala will be held on April 12, 2003 in the Museum's majestic Sam Noble Special Events Center. The event will honor principal creators in six literary categories. Popular actor, William Devane, will serve as emcee for the event. Other recipients of the award this year include Jeffery Katzenberg of Dreamworks SKG and actor Patrick Stewart. Past recipients of the coveted award include actors Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Tom Selleck, and Sam Elliott, and authors A.B. Guthrie, Dr. Brian Dippie, David McCullough, Alvin M. Josephy, Thomas Berger, and James A. Michener. Chiaventone's previous novel "A Road We Do Not Know" about the disastrous battle of the Little Bighorn won the Ambassador William Colby Award for Literature. A screenwriter as well as novelist, Chiaventone is managed by Michael Prevett of The Firm.
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