The Gladiators (film, 1969)

Synopsis

More the international great powers, aligned and non-aligned, fearing the possibility of a new world war, decide to prevent it by channeling the aggressive impulses of the man. They form an International commission which gets busy to organize engagements between soldiers of various countries. These competitions, which can go until death, are called Jeux of Peace - they are sponsored and retransmises by satellite in the whole world. The film concentrates on the Play 256, which proceeds in the International Center of the Plays of Peace close to Stockholm, under the control of a powerful computer. The referees decide to eliminate a man and a woman belonging to opposite teams but which try to approach, considering that they thus endanger the stability of the system.

Realization

In 1969, exiled in Sweden, Peter Watkins turns The Gladiators (Gladiators) with professional actors and amateurs of various countries. Turned during the revolts of 1968 to Europe, in particular with Paris, the film is directly influenced by these events.

Initially envisaged to be turned camera with the shoulder, The Gladiators is finally filmed with a camera 35 mm (at the time not very handy), which obliges Watkins to resort, “case of major force, with a more static and more formal style” .

The film being attacked, Watkins takes again the road of the exile.

Data sheet

Title: The Gladiators
original Title: Gladiatorerna - The Gladiators (The Peace Range)
Realization: Peter Watkins
Scenario: Peter Watkins and Nicholas Gosling
Production: Bo Jonsson
Photography: Peter Suschitsky
Assembly: Wearies Hagström
Son: Tage Sjoborg
Artistic director: William Brodie
Make-up: Ann Brodie
Costumes: Chris Hakes
Country of origin: Sweden
Format: Color - Mono
Kind: Drama - Science fiction
Lasted: 69 min.
Language: English

Artistic distribution

Arthur Pentelow : British general
Frederick Danner: British officer
Hans Bendrik: Capt. Davidsson
Daniel Harle: French officer
Hans Shepherd: West German officer
Rosario Gianetti: Officer states-unien
Tim Yum: Chinese officer
Kenneth Lo: Chinese colonel
Björn Franzen: Swedish colonel
Christer Gynge: referee assisting
Jürgen Schilling: East-German officer
Stefan Dillan: Russian officer
Ugo Chiari: Italian officer
Chandrakant Desai: Indian officer
George Harris: officer Nigerian
Jeremy Child: B-1
Erich Stering : B-2
Jean-Pierre Delamour: B-3
Richard Friday: B-4
Roy Scammell : B-5
J.Z. Kennedy: B-6
Terry Whitmore : B-8
Eberhard Fehmers : B-7
Keith Bradfield : narrator
Pik SEN Lim: C-2
To Van Minh : B-10

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

description of film by Peter Watkins
card IMDb

Gladiators (them) Gladiators (them)

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