When we first see the character of maximus he is daydreaming walking across a field of wheat with his hand caressing the wheat. The lighting used is bright yellowish, which to me gives a warm filling to the audients. In this scene we don’t see the whole person, we only see his hand and on his hand there is a ring showing the audients that maximus is married and possible have children. After the daydream we see maximus preparing for a battle, and the lighting becomes dark and dim sort of gray. By comparing these two scenes I thing maximus would rather be in a farm than a battlefield.
In the battle scene maximus is dressed in his soldiers uniform and on his shoulders there is wolfs’ skin which symbolizes that he is the leader of the army. During the battle, maximus confronts one of his own soldiers but he quickly realizes it, which shows that maximus is a loyal soldier not a killer.
In order to have a tragic ending you need a villain. When we first see commodos in the coach. The lighting is dark and we cannot even see his eyes. Which gives the impression of a mysterious character to the audients. Commodos sword fighting is deadly and its main purpose is to execute. This makes the audients see him as a killer and a villain in the gladiator movie.
When we first see maximus during the battle scene he is speaking in Latin, as he gives his soldiers orders. And also when we see maximus fighting in the coliseum the crowd are cheering at him in Latin which is the main language spoken in Rome. Maximus tone of voice is low and this gives an impression of a reliable character as well as trustworthy.
How ever commodos speaks in a high tone of voice and with his eyes dark in most of the scenes commodos is seen as a suspicious character.
The character juba first appears when they find maximus laying injured and unconscious. Then juba helps maximus by covering his wound. In the movie this is the first time we see maximus being helped by anyone. Before juba was a gladiator he was a hunter then he was sold to be a gladiator.
Conclusion:
In conclusion I think Ridley Scott presents the character of maximus as a tragic hero. Because in the beginning maximus is a loyal brave soldier and victorious in his battles. He could have been the emperor of Rome, but commodos had other plans and he ended up being the emperor Rome, even if it meant killing his own father. But I think the ending of the movie was just right even if maximus dies. Maximus had nothing else to live for his family was killed and he had his vengeance by killing commodos. So even if it was tragic it was the appropriate ending.
