I have been watching this recently, and realised the Life of Brian sends this up big time. It was made a couple of years after I, Claudius, and has characters with all kinds of speech impediments and effete lifestyles.
---
It's not "sci-fi", it's SF!
Spot on. I watched the series and the film when they first came out, and the Claudius references in Brian were unmistakable.
Re-watching the series recently, it almost seemed as if the influence might have gone the other way as well. Although the scene in question is taken from the novel: Caligula prematurely assuming the rank as emperor, only to be distressed by the news that his predecessor Tiberius "is alive again."
That scene, on this viewing, instantly reminded me of Holy Grail (which had come out the year before) and its running gag of "he's not quite dead yet!"
Are you lost daddy I arsked tenderly.
Shut up he explained.
I'm glad that it's not just me!
"Re-watching the series recently, it almost seemed as if the influence might have gone the other way as well. Although the scene in question is taken from the novel: Caligula prematurely assuming the rank as emperor, only to be distressed by the news that his predecessor Tiberius "is alive again."
"That scene, on this viewing, instantly reminded me of Holy Grail (which had come out the year before) and its running gag of "he's not quite dead yet!" "
Good point, lol!
One thing that the Life of Brian did have, which unfortunately I, Claudius lacked, was outdoor locations. I believe that they used the sets from Jesus of Nazareth in Tunisia... I think I, Claudius really does suffer from being stagebound unfortunately.
---
It's not "sci-fi", it's SF!
Admittedly, the scene where the Guard changes in "Reign of Terror" has me thinking: Monty Python!
One thing that the Life of Brian did have, which unfortunately I, Claudius lacked, was outdoor locations. I believe that they used the sets from Jesus of Nazareth in Tunisia... I think I, Claudius really does suffer from being stagebound unfortunately.My question to that criticism is: is outdoor locations necessary?
"Admittedly, the scene where the Guard changes in "Reign of Terror" has me thinking: Monty Python! "
Me too! Monty Python must have watched all this stuff, and thought, "what can we do with it?". It's interesting that they seem to have lampooned I, Claudius rather than the sword 'n' sandal epics of the sixties which seemed to pour out of Italy. (Although there is a touch of Ben Hur here and there too.)
By the way, I've just watched a hilarious send up of Becket by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Even though they don't actually specify what they're sending up, it's obvious in the time context. In the same way, MP didn't have to specify IC when they did that film... most people would remember it well.
"My question to that criticism is: is outdoor locations necessary?"
Definitely. We're talking about television here, not a stage play. A stage play is nearly always inside.
There were many bits where I thought IC needed proper outdoor locations... for example, at one point a character is imprisoned on a small island. It would have been good for us to see just how small that island was... Even a walk in the street would have been good.
In a lot of places, the other big problem with IC is the lighting. It's often either that cold British light, or very artificial lighting. In Rome the sun streams through the window a lot of the time. We don't get that impression in IC.
Certain other things, such as the acting and most of the dialogue can't really be faulted. But I would have liked to see them venture outside occasionally.
---
It's not "sci-fi", it's SF!
[deleted]