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with the reluctance of Maximus to assume it. Commodus finally receives
the paternal embrace he longs for, as he strangles the emperor to death in
his trembling arms. When Maximus accuses him of the murder, in a scene
that sets up their final duel, Commodus transfers the lethal embrace to
Maximus and stabs him with a poisoned knife in the back, whispering
in his ear: “You loved my father, I know. But so did I. That makes us
brothers, doesn’t it?” This last encounter recalls and builds on an earlier
awkward embrace after the battle in Germania, when Commodus first
calls Maximus “brother” and incurs an agonizing pang of jealousy over his
father’s display of favoritism towards the victorious general.
For the role of the evil young emperor Commodus, director Scott tested
Jude Law, but made an inspired choice in Joaquin Phoenix, a talented
young actor with only a few films to his credit, such as Return to Paradise
(1998). Phoenix subtly avoids a rotten-villain caricature of the Roman
tyrant archetype, and for this quietly menacing performance he earned an
Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Although not nearly as outrageous
and juvenile as Peter Ustinov’s hammy Nero in Quo Vadis, Phoenix
plays the young autocrat coming unhinged with delicious and petulant
perversity. When confronted by Maximus’ enduring popularity, he hisses
elegantly, in one of the film’s most often-repeated lines: “It vexes me ...I’m
terribly vexed.” Commodus’ insecurity and cruelty are given a modern
psychological motivation as the result of his having been a child unloved
by his family. Now an adult, Commodus harbors vicious fantasies of hurting
others to alleviate his own emotional pain. The film suggests his depravity
arises out of a twisted and unsuccessful need to form family
connections with others. When the Senate elders question his limited
knowledge about the Roman populace, Commodus eerily counters: “I call
it love, Gracchus. The people are my children, I am their father. I shall
hold them to my bosom and embrace them tightly.”
Commodus’ tender feelings are warped, smothering, and toxic. His incestuous
cravings for his elder and politically more mature sister Lucilla
might also indicate his search for maternal affection. He curls up next to
her in the fetal position, and longs for the peaceful security enjoyed by her
son, Lucius: “He sleeps so well because he is loved.” But Commodus has a
zero-sum understanding of love. When Lucilla does not respond to his
creepy overtures, and when he discovers she is at the heart of the plot to
depose him, he attributes the loss of her devotion, like that of his father,
to the interference of Maximus. As Lucilla explains: “My brother hates all
the world and you most of all.” Maximus nods: “Because your father
chose me.” But Lucilla corrects him: “No. Because my father loved you. And
234 GLADIATOR (2000)