This full, eye level shot of 3 characters looking down at Cleopatra shows how defeated she is in this moment. In this scene Cleopatra is the powerless character because Mark Antony has just died, and she now knows Octavian has killed her son. She also is disheartened because Octavian has made his intentions clear that he wishes to make Egypt a territory of Rome. Her continuous struggle to take power over Egypt and Rome throughout the movie is now over and she accepts defeat; in this moment she plans to end her own life. Towering above Cleopatra, Octavian has much power because he believes Cleopatra has agreed to rule over Egypt as a province of Rome. He also feels accomplished because the traitor, Mark Antony, is now dead and Cleopatra will have no one left to defend her.
Nice job, Alayna! I didn't realize, though, that this shot comes after Cleopatra has noticed her son's ring on Octavian's finger. His hands are folded on his back. This shot comes actually still before that scene, but it comes right after we've seen two legionaries carry Marc Antony's corpse past Cleopatra out of her mausoleum.
ReplyDeleteStill, your interpretation overall is spot-on! One more thing: all the eyes and a spotlight are on Cleopatra even though she is "marginalized" by the mise-en-scene; everyone else is in half-shade, and her bright white dress (stola) emphasizes that she's the focal point.