‘Messalina’ or — More Fun Than ‘Cleopatra’?
As someone who’s rather partial to a mouth-watering slice of Vittorio Cottafavi, I couldn’t resist diving into his 1960 peplum ‘Messalina’ last night, a film co-written by Duccio Tessari and briefly featuring a young Giuliano Gemma, so there’s that extra enticement for fans of those two Italian movie legends, too. And I’m so glad I took the plunge with ‘Messalina’ because it’s a ridiculously entertaining experience. Then again, “ridiculously entertaining” is exactly why I’m so partial to some Cottafavi in the first place.
Roman officer, Lucias Maximus, is madly in love with Valeria (Belinda Lee), a beautiful vestal virgin. At the same time, the wicked Messalina has married Emperor Claudius and is using her sexual wiles to plot his death so she can assume total control over the Empire. So, you can imagine Lucias’ surprise when he discovers that the pure Valeria and lascivious Messalina are — GASP! — the same woman! Oh no! What’s a centurion to do?!
What Cottafavi does, and does brilliantly, is take this historical tale and seriously ramp-up the melodramatic elements whilst wrapping it up in style so fantastical it’s practically a comic book. All this outlandishness, not surprisingly, gives Belinda Lee an incredible free rein to really go to town with her performance as Messalina, something she does with hypnotic gusto as she shags and murders half the Roman Empire.
Sure, historical accuracy might be somewhat lacking here but what isn’t lacking is the delicious relish with which all this is served. I mean, how can you resist lines of dialogue such as — (spat with venomous contempt) “When a man like Lucias Maximus succumbs to the voluptuousness of a woman like Messalina, then one begins to have doubts of himself and lose faith in the things he has always believed in.” Who needs Robert Graves when you have lines like that?!
The only thing more outlandish than this melodramatic vigor is Cottafavi’s style, one that’s an entrancing cavalcade of stunning sets, gorgeous costumes, dynamic camera moves and alluring compositions (he’s particularly adept at rectangles, especially nocturnal oblong fish ponds). There’s always something exciting going on visually, and when you combine all that with a plot that barrels along like a startled horse the result is a 96min epic that’s a complete blast.
The film culminates in a climax that, again, might not be historically accurate (let’s face it — who cares?!) but is so unexpectedly gory and surprisingly violent that it packs more of a satisfying punch than the entirety of ‘Caligula’ (1979).
‘Messalina’ puts many of Hollywood’s Roman epics to shame because, unlike with a few of those examples, it never comes close to being ponderous, lumbering, sanctimonious, overblown, po-faced or pious. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of all those things and is simply balls to the wall fun.
I can understand why Messalina caused so much havoc and mayhem, because she’s utterly irresistible.
