Peripheral Vision: ‘Centurion’ Is Myth Made Real

Neil Marshall has got a reputation. The British writer-director of Dog Soldiers, The Descent and Doomsday has been likened to, among others, Eli Roth and Rob Zombie. That's by virtue of being named with them as a member of the so-called Splat Pack.

If you have seen any of their films you'll know that their connection is obvious. Bloody obvious. The gushing red stuff comes in buckets when Roth and Rob Z. are behind the camera and Marshall can clearly stand the sight of it, too. Dog Soldiers and The Descent were fine suspense films but you wouldn't watch them with your granny. Unless, that is, she once worked in an abattoir.

Marshall has followed up those films with the equally bload-soaked Centurion, which was recently released on DVD by eOne. Part Roman epic, part chase film and part sword-and-sandal adventure, Centurion is a thematic departure for the director in ways that should strengthen his filmmaking credentials. It has faint hints of the supernatural here and there but clearly Marshall intended it to be grounded in reality. Yet, the inspiration was a myth, however, as Marshall explains in an interview on the recent DVD release.

"Somebody told me about the legend of the Ninth Legion, this Roman Legion that marched into the mists of Scotland and vanished without a trace." Marshall says. "It's this huge great mystery and books have been written about it. I started doing my research and found out that it is just that: just a myth, and historians have since disproved the whole idea. But I just thought the legend is better than the truth in this case."

In Marshall's version of the fate of the Ninth, the Legion is sent north to eradicate the troublesome Picts. These Celtic tribes object to Rome's occupation of their land and have been helping to keep the Romans from securing a hold on Britain. Despite their supposedly superior training and organization, the soldiers of the Ninth are no match for the Pict's guerilla tactics and familiarity with the bleak, cold mountainous terrain. The Legion falls into an obvious trap and is decimated by a decisive. Only a handful of Romans survive. Led by the Centurion of the title, Quintus Dias (played by Michael Fassbender), the lucky few set out across the forbidding landscape pursued by an enemy that has condemned them to a brutal death.

"I wanted to find out what might have actually happened in the myth if they did disappear," Marshall says. "Were they ambushed by the Picts and what did the Picts do to them and if there were any survivors, how would that have worked out. "

For Marshall, Centurion is a temporal about-turn after his last film, the futuristic sci-fi thriller Doomsday. Both Doomsday and Centurion, however, suggest that Marshall has a fascination with the cunning tribal warriors in Britain's early history. It was mediaeval history he referenced in Doomsday. In Centurion he turns the clock back as far as 117 AD.

Although Centurion is history not horror, Marshall can't entirely escape his inclinations towards the latter genre. The hints of the paranormal are embodied in the character of Etain, the Picts' best hunter (played by Olga Kurylenko).  At times her abilities seem almost preternatural. She is also reminiscent of a Predator in the ruthless dedication she shows to hunting down and killing Quintus' band of fugitives (coincidentally the plots of Centurion and Nimród Antal's Predators have much in common). Horrific imagery is also inherent Marshall's style. Marshall, himself, described fighting in the age when the film is set as 'barbaric.' Combat was hand-to-hand. Being able to maim your opponent first was the difference between life and death. Centurion thus provided its director with historical justification for grisly imagery.

"I'm not one to hold back when it comes to the bloodletting on screen and certainly not on a film when it comes to people hacking at each other with axes and swords," Marshall says with a smile. "I figure, lets depict it as it probably was, which is brutal and nasty."

Notwithstanding the nastiness, Centurion should not be dismissed as merely an excuse for Marshall to indulge his taste for bloodletting. First of all, it is an effective thriller with a convincing period atmosphere, an intelligent (if sometimes clichéd) script and some excellent performances. It is also elevated by some fantastic scenery and a dramatic score by Ilan Eshkeri.

Standouts in the cast include The Wire's Dominic West and Magneto-to-be, Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class). Both men, it seems, were born to play Romans. It may be no coincidence that each is reminiscent of another famous actor who featured in one or more memorable Roman epics.

In West's case that actor is Oliver Reed (Gladiator). West and Reed share a similar physical appearance and the former brings the same air of authority to the role of doomed Roman General Titus Flavius Virilus that Reed was capable of. Fassbender, meanwhile, has the something of Charlton Heston (Ben Hur, Antony and Cleopatra) in his facial features. Like Heston, he suits the role of an underdog driven by pride and duty to overcome a seemingly hopeless cause. His physical stature, body language and enunciation are perfect for Qunitus. He is both the film's titular character and its emotional heart. Through Fassbender, Quintus gives the Romans an admirable face despite the Picts' accusations that the invaders have raped, brutalized and murdered the local people.

"[He is] somebody who lives in the shadow of his father, as such, and feels like he's got a lot to prove and basically volunteers for the post to come here [to Scotland] basically to, I guess, prove himself," Fassbender explains on the DVD. "As the film progresses he's thrown in the position of command. I thought it was quite interesting to sort of play with his doubts and the journey of the man in terms that he actually steps up to the plate and takes command."

Also worth noting about Centurion is the lengths the cast and crew went to in making  the film feel real in more ways than just being brutal. Most of the action takes place on and around the mountains of Scotland. Unusually for a film of this type, that is also where it was filmed. It can be a bleak, wet, cold environment now and it would have been far more of a wilderness in Roman times. Marshall's intent was to make the audience feel what it would have been like to be stuck out there in the mud, fog and snow.

"It was vital that we captured the landscape when we were up in Scotland and get the big shots and get the mountains and all that kind of stuff," Marshall said in the behind-the-scenes DVD featurette 'Blood, Fire and Fury,'. "My only comments about the palette when we were filming it [were] that I want it to feel cold. I want the audience to feel what the actors are feeling."

To capture the forbidding landscape, the crew of Centurion had to carry their gear into the piercing wind on the moors and mountainsides that were used as locations. This included cameras, wardrobe pieces, weapons and, of course, bags and bags of fake blood. The result is film with a haunting beauty. It could sell the Scottish Highlands to tourists if scenes of stunning scenery were not often punctuated by dismemberments, decapitations and stabbings.
 
Given the excellent period detail and high production values Marshall has achieved on a relatively small budget, <
em>Centurion could be his most accomplished movie to date. It is not perfect: the final resolution felt a little too romantic in light of what had gone before and there were places in which the brutality did seem to go beyond what was necessary for capturing realism. Overall, though, it succeeds at being a grim but accessible and convincing historical action-adventure. There is an expansive feel about it but its style is a far cry from classic Hollywood Roman epics. In terms of its depiction of ancient combat, it might be the sword-and-sandal equivalent of Saving Private Ryan. When people fight with swords and axes, limbs are gonna get lost.

Sounds like the perfect film for a man with a reputation for spilling blood.

Centurion was released on Blu-ray and DVD in North America by eOne (left). The special features accompanying the film include a commentary by Neil Marshall, Sam McCurdy (Director of Photography), Simon Bowles (Production Designer) and Paul Hyett (Special Make-Up Effects Designer). There is also a behind-the-scenes featurette and a selection of interviews with members of the film's cast and crew (from which the quotes in this article were taken).