Gladiator final scene

Gladiator

Final Scene

The scene opens with a close up of Maximus’s face, the shot then switches to a heaven like place which is in a more black and white colour compared with the real life where Maximus actually is, which is HIGH key lighting as it is  bright and golden from the sun, this is so the audience know the difference. In this heaven shot Maximus is getting closer to a gate which signifies the gateway to heaven. This close up of  Maximus’s face  and then the quick change over to this other world visually shows that Maximus is dying and he is slowly getting closer to death and this afterlife. This makes the audience sad and feels for Maximus as they have gone on this journey with him and got to know him. When the shot changes to the heaven the camera also changes to a P.O.V, through the eyes of Maximus, to make this shot more realistic a handheld camera and shaky cam effect is used. This effect puts the audience in the shoes of Maximus to give the most believable experience. The shot then changes back to his face once again to show that it’s him that’s dreaming. We then get a cut-in of Maximus’s hand in the real world; he is what looks like trying to open a door and all comes clear when the shot changes to the gate in the heaven were his hand is also moving, opening the gate. His hand moving in both worlds visually shows to the audience that Maximus is not quite dead. When we get the shot of his hand in the heaven, it is a P.O.V again; this also visually shows that his mind is more in this other world than it is in the real world. After Maximus opens the gate the shot changes back to a close up of his face, where he looks peaceful but then Quintus calls his name, Maximus then stumbles back and opens his eyes. This shows to the audience that he is back in the real world and he has left the afterlife for a minute. The next few shots is of close ups of Quintus and Maximus while they are talking.

 

We then get this wide shot were Maximus is giving the rightful orders. Maximus is in the middle of the shot while Quintus is to the left, also the shot is a low angle shot from behind Maximus so Maximus looks taller than everyone else. These 2 effects visually tell the audience that Maximus is a stronger and bigger man, physically and mentally throughout the whole movie as he and Lucilla were the only ones to stand against the Emperor. The next shot is a medium close up of Maximus and the camera tracks gradually closer to him. This effect visually signifies that he is going back to the afterlife world and coming out of the real world. The shot then changes back to the P.O.V of Maximus in the other world where he is walking in field getting closer to his family. When the shot changes we get a non-diegetic sound of kids laughing, this is usually associated with a peaceful village were kids are playing. Maximus then falls over showing that he is even closer to death and he is losing his physical strength. Lucilla then runs over to Maximus who is on the floor. We then see Lucilla looking down on Maximus with the bright blue sky behind her, this is to visually show to the audience that she is angelic and she has been an Angel figure in his life. The last shot is of Maximus physically still but the floor moving, this also visually tells the audience that he is now dead and he is crossing over to the afterlife. Throughout the whole scene there is the non-diegetic sound of wind and the song ‘now we are free’. The sound of wind is to help the audience understand that Maximus is dying and that he is not listening to anything or anyone. The music helps the audience feel sad and want to cry.