The court scholar serving Hermann of Thuringia.

The court scholar serving Hermann of Thuringia.
The scholar

2011/06/22

Cleopatra

Just finished watching a 1970 Japanese cartoon version of Cleopatra (Lots of bare breasts and some fuzzy, soft-focus love-making scenes. You can download the no-cost Torrent file from here). They cover Cleopatra's affairs with three Romans. Julius Caesar is portrayed as a rough, tough, very muscular he-man. In manliness, Marc Antony is portrayed as being no competition whatsoever for Richard Burton in the 1963 version of Cleopatra. Elizabeth Taylor was attractive in that film, but she was no match for Claudette Colbert in the 1934 version. Octavius gets a very small role, with a rather shockingly backwards and un-PC scene near the end. Cleopatra in this film reminded me of Vietnamese women of the that time period who were torn between their American lovers and patriotism towards their native land. This Cleopatra makes a lot of cold calculations, but comes across as fundamentally pretty feminine and sentimental. The overarching theme of "Invader, leave our land!" is expressed rather forcefully.

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