Caesar Must Die Reviews
Top CriticIt is almost an impertinence to think that we understand the thoughts of these actors and those in the audience who are relatives and friends. But this is the intriguing privilege that the Taviani brothers have given us.
Canada.com
A clever if sometimes mystifying, combination of documentary, invention and post-modernism.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
A film somewhere between documentary and neo-realist drama.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Destined to lose years in prison, the actors seem to take pride -- and solace -- in their association with something as seemingly immortal as Shakespeare's words.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Birmingham Post
As they find issues and themes they can relate to, the action is never remotely static despite the frequent nature of the close-ups and the plastic sword.
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| Original Score: 4/5
There's barely a wasted moment in the film, which runs a brisk 76 minutes and contains no female roles.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
There's an intensity and emotional accuracy to the performances that's just stunning, particularly Striano's Brutus, as he longs for death and release.
Full Review
| Original Score: A-
Irish Times
The juxtaposition of Shakespearean text and prison cell life is a particularly poignant one.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
This is London
It is difficult to understand exactly where documentary ends and fiction begins, but the finale, again in colour, of the triumphant first night of the production can't fail to move.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Guardian [UK]
It's never anything less than interesting, though I felt it didn't quite fulfil its potential, and the repetition of material at the beginning and end is disconcerting.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Little White Lies
Deeply felt melancholy lingers long after the credits roll.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The Skinny
Delivers a compelling and considered take on immemorial themes.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Empire Magazine
[It] has plenty of wit and punch, although compared to the best of the medium - Man On Wire, for instance - it sometimes comes off as guileless and clunky.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Prison theatricals are nothing new in the movies, but Caesar Must Die, a quasi-documentary featuring hardened convicts acting out Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, is in a class by itself.
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| Original Score: A-
Ranks among the most involving adaptations of Shakespeare ever put on screen ...
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
What works best is what's readily accessible, the startling power of performers who understand the drama all too well.
Total Film
[An] inventive, urgent and humane prison drama, in which real-life Mafia and Camorra prisoners act in a version of Julius Caesar.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
ColeSmithey.com
If you're looking for an adventurous thought-provoking film, "Caesar Must Die" more than fits the bill.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
