OK. I know I said I'd get another WIP piece up on the site but a) the chapter isn't quite ready even in a rough draft state, and b) I work full-time and so it's hard to spend lots of time on O&E right now. But no worries. Slowly it's coming along. In the meantime, I've recently spotted Ancient Persians all over the place!A few days ago I rented One Night With The King, a movie that follows the Book of Esther in the Bible. It's believed by many that the king in the story is none other than King Xerxes I of Persia. Thus I wanted to see how they portrayed Ancient Persia and the Persians in the movie, and see if I could gleam any ideas from it. Alas, the movie isn't very good. The acting by the two main characters is cringe-worthy, and the story moves along at a rather clunky pace. I did however love the special effects and costumes, and was amazed that Luke Gross serpentine eyes are almost exactly how I envisioned Xerxes' eyes to look. I also noticed James Callis is almost exactly how I envision Mardonius in my head (well, him and Eric Bana from Troy).
Xerxes isn't the only Ancient Persian being portrayed on the screen either.Last night I watched the 5th part of I, Claudius, the 70's BBC production based on the book by Robert Graves. The acting in it is supurb and the costumes and sets are amazing. Imagine my surprise however when in one scene what looked like a Persian (and a Mede?) are standing right behind Claudius! I'm not sure what happens to the Ancient Persians after Alexander sacks Persapolis, so someone may have to confirm if I'm right about this one.
At any rate, I now feel inspired to go back and work more on my WIP. Hopefully in the next week it will be up and ready to go.
2 comments:
My husband, looking at the picture on this post said, "That's not Xerxes! He's not a 7 foot transvestite!" Referring to, of course, Xerxes in The 300. :)
Hilarious! (^_^)
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