Gladiator And Benjamin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svE2DRRopzE

In “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin makes several arguments involving the differences between stage actors and film actors. One of his more blunt arguments is that “The stage actor identifies himself with the character as a whole,” but the film actor’s creation “is composed of several different performances.” This is obviously true in most situations, and anyone willing to argue this point will probably never make anything of the argument. This being said, it is necessary for the film to be as close to flawless as possible by the time it reaches the cinema simply because the cinema has more consumers to entertain. The ability to shoot a scene several times also works as a method of getting a shot just right. For instance, in the clip provided, when Maximus is on the ground speaking with the queen, the audience not only gets two perspectives, but by the time they see it, they will be two nearly perfect perspectives. It is because of this opportunity to have multiple attempts at the same lines that Benjamin would most likely say stage actors are more talented; however, to say film “has left the realm of the ‘beautiful semblance’” is quite untrue.
When the audience views the last scene from “Gladiator,” they can clearly see the beauty in the actions on the screen. When Russell Crowe walks through the hay to his wife and son, the audience wants to follow him to his wife’s welcoming smile. Though it is true “the aura that envelopes the actor vanishes,” there is a new one created by the character on the screen. And though the viewer may not be able to see it, they still know it is there. This also holds true in the very last scene of this clip. When the man is burying the dolls, the audience can feel the emotion in his voice just as well as they can feel the person behind them kicking their seat.
This intensity in the acting is why we go to the movies. This intensity is why actors work to perfect their craft. And this intensity is why film is still plenty safe in “the realm of the ‘beautiful semblance.’”

Chad Cavender