October 27, 2004. Copyright 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Hollywood turns the spotlight on Alexander the Great
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, October 27, Graphic News:  With Alexander, which has its world premiere in Los Angeles on November 16, Oliver Stone might just have found the epic subject he seems to have spent his career searching for: here, after all, is the tale of one of the greatest warriors of all time, a visionary who conquered most of the known world in his early twenties before dying an early death.

Colin Farrell plays the king and military leader who propelled his Greek and Macedonian troops through 22,000 miles of sieges and conquests against the powerful Persian army to take over more than 90 percent of the known world. In thematic terms, at least, the film appears to reach for the larger than life issues of a bygone age: Alexander is an arrogant youth in whose brief lifespan both triumph and tragedy unfold.

But the film also explores more intimate and, ultimately, timeless themes, such as his relationship with his parents Philip II (Val Kilmer) and Olympias (Angelina Jolie), whose blind ambition for her son contributes to his eventual unravelling. Not only that, it reveals to us how the world might have looked had Alexander the Great not managed to remove the obstacles that might have prevented the expansion of the Roman empire.

Stone reportedly spent six years dreaming about the film and had originally wanted Hollywood veteran Tom Cruise for the starring role, but FarrellŐs relative youth is surely an advantage. The young leaderŐs enduring friendship with Hephaiston (Jared Leto) is another cornerstone of the film, and, in any case, Alexander has heavyweight Anthony Hopkins to provide gravitas as the valiant general, Ptolemy.

Perhaps surprisingly, only four movies have ever been made about Alexander -- the last starring Richard Burton in 1956. Stone will be hoping that his film, which cost $150-200 million to make and was filmed in Spain, Morocco and the UK, will eclipse all others and lay claim to the legend once and for all.
/ENDS