Greatest Film Scenes
and Moments



Spartacus (1960)

 



Written by Tim Dirks

Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
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Spartacus (1960)

In Stanley Kubrick's ancient 1st century BC epic:

  • clenched jaw slave-revolt leader Spartacus (producer/actor Kirk Douglas) and his gladiator-training school slave dealer Lentulus Batiatus (Oscar-winning Peter Ustinov)
  • Spartacus' shout from a caged cell: "I am not an animal"
  • the scene of the savage duel/fight to the death with fellow Ethiopian slave Draba (Woody Strode)
  • scenes of Roman decadence and gluttony including the controversial, homo-erotic bath scene in which bisexual Roman patrician Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier) questioned young slave Antoninus (Tony Curtis) about his gender/sexual preferences ("Do you eat oysters?...Do you eat snails?....My taste includes both snails and oysters")
  • the independent-minded, slave girl Varinia's (Jean Simmons) near-nude bathing scene
  • the colossal slave rebellion against Rome and massive final battle sequence (with projected fireballs)
  • Marcus Crassus' deal for betrayal - foiled when each devoted slave - in an inspirational scene - proclaimed: "I'm Spartacus" to save the real Spartacus from execution by standing up and daring to be identified as such
  • Spartacus' short heroic statement to Antoninus after being asked: "Are you afraid to die, Spartacus?" ("No more than I was to be born")
  • Antoninus' and Spartacus' sword-duel to the death, with Antoninus' dying last words: "I love you, Spartacus, as I love my own father"
  • the last scene of Spartacus' crucifixion along the roadside with his wife and child at his feet (she assured him: "This is your son. He's free, Spartacus, free. He's free. He's free. He'll remember you, Spartacus, because I'll tell him. I'll tell him who his father was, and what he dreamed of")
  • her final tearful words of goodbye: ("Oh, my love, my life. Please die, die. Please die, die my love. Oh, God, why can't you die?...(Looking back) Goodbye, my love, my life. Goodbye, good-bye")

"I am Not an Animal"

Spartacus vs. Draba

Controversial Bath Scene

"I'm Spartacus"


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