As news of the threatened demolition of the Scala is still hanging, there's a good reason to visit the cinema this Sunday.
The ongoing and successful World Class Cinema series organised by Thai Film Archive continues into 2018 -- regardless of the fate of the Scala in the next few months. The first showing this year is Cleopatra, the 1963 epic starring Elizabeth Taylor as the Egyptian queen.
A grand, sweeping epic like this is best seen in the grand (though faded) majesty of the Scala. Directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz, Cleopatra was the most expensive film ever made at the time of its production -- the US$44 million budget may sound paltry by today's Hollywood standards, but it was unthinkable 55 years ago.
Taylor plays the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Richard Burton is Mark Anthony. Rex Harrison is Julius Caesar. Set in year 48BC, the film tells the story of seduction, deception, power lust, dictatorship, and how Cleopatra goes down in history (or at least the Hollywood kind history) as a woman who had the two most powerful men of the Roman Empire in the soft palms of her hands.
Running at nearly four hours, make sure you eat lunch before the noontime screening. The shooting of Cleopatra was Hollywood lore in itself. It was plagued by so many hiccups, budget bloats, location mishaps, and the off-screen drama between Taylor and Burton, who would later become husband and wife. The lavish production and grandiose set remains spectacular after half a century, and though it may fall into the description of camp by modern tastes, the film is the epitome of a Hollywood classic in scope and execution. Next month, the World Class Cinema programme will screen The Godfather I and II, also at Scala. Stay tuned for more details.
