The Last Legion

BASED IN PART ON: 'The Last Legion' by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
RELEASED: Russia...19 April 2007 The Netherlands...2 August 2007 Portugal... 16 August 2007 USA...17 August 2007 Canada... 24 August 2007 Pakistan... 24 August 2007 Spain... 24 August 2007 Germany... 30 August 2007 Singapore... 30 August 2007 Italy... 14 September 2007 Belgium... 19 September 2007 France... 19 September 2007 Brazil... 5 October 2007 Malaysia... 11 October 2007 Iceland... 19 October 2007 UK... 19 October 2007 Greece... 6 December 2007

RUN TIME: 101 Minutes		AKA: The Last Legion (working title) Dernière légion, La – France Posledniy legion – Russia Letzte Legion, Die - Germany Ultima legione, L' - Italy

FILMING LOCATIONS: Tunisia Spis Castle (near), Zehra, Spisska Nova Ves, Kosice, Slovakia Cerveny Castle, Pezinok, Bratislava, Slovakia Tabarka Island, Tabarka, Tunisia, Africa Empire Studios, Hammamet, Tunisia, Africa Shepperton Sudios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK

Filming - Tunisia - 5 August 2005 through 20 September 2005 Slovakia - 21 September to 11 November 2005

DIRECTOR: Doug Lefler		WRITER: Valerio Massimo Manfredi (novel), Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth (screenplay), Carlo Carlei, Peter Radar (story)
PRODUCER: Tarak Ben Ammar, Chris Curling, Phil Robertson, Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis, Lorenzo De Maio, Salvatore Morello, Rafaella De Laurentiis, Hester Hargett, James Clayton, Duncan Reid, Harvey Weinstein		CINEMATOGRAPHER: Marco Pontecorvo

CAST: Colin Firth.......Aurelius (Aurelianus Ambrosius Ventidius) Ben Kingsley.....Ambrosinus (Merisdius Ambrosinus aka Myrdin Emreis) Aishwarya Rai....Mira Peter Mullan....Odoacer Kevin McKidd....Wulfila John Hannah.... Nestor Iain Glen.... Flavius Orestes Thomas Sangster....Romulus Augustus (Romulus Augustus Caesar Aurelianus Ambrosius Ventidius Britannicus) Rupert Friend....Demetrius Nonso Anozie.... Batiatus (Cornelius Batiatus) Owen Teale....Vatrenus (Rufius Aelius Vatrenus) Alexander Siddig.... Theodorus Andronikos Robert Pugh.... Kustennin James Cosmo.... Hrothgar Harry Van Gorkum... Vortygyn Beata Sonczuk-Ben Ammar.... Flavia Serena Tasha Bertram... Egeria Zarrak Brahim... Slave Robert Brazil... Scorpion Commander Ouerghi Chedly... Fisherman Igor de Laurentiis.... Septimus Vladimir 'Furdo' Furdik... Executioner Lee Ingleby... Germanus Rory James... Young Arthur Ferdinand Kingsley.... The Druid Trevor Lovell... Orosius Murray McArthur....Tertius Kathleen Segal... Flirting Girl Mark Sangster... Metellus Alexandra Thomas-Davies... Ygraine Andrew Westfield... Marcallis Jaysha Patel...		Production Companies Dino De Laurentiis Productions Ingenious Film Partners Quinta Communications Zephyr Films Ltd Distributors Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical) Benelux Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (Theatrical) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), (2007) (USA) (theatrical) Paradise Group (2007) (Russia) (All Media) Quinta Communications (2007) (France) (theatrical) Shaw Organisation (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical) TOBIS Film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical) The Weinstein Company (2007) (USA) (theatrical) Momentum Pictures (2008) (UK) (theatrical)

Music: - Patrick Doyle Recorded at Abbey Road Studios by The London Symphony Orchestra James Shearman - Conductor Sacred Pantangle Coronation Goths Seize Rome Wrong Answer Secret Sword Escape From Capri Nestor's Betrayal Journey To Britannia Hadrian's Wall Excalibur Sword Play Romance Who Killed Them? The Battle of Hadrian's Wall Death of Vortgyn No More War

The story opens on the day that the Western Roman Empire collapses finally in 470 AD, with the city itself over-run. In the preceding months a small group of British Roman soldiers, led by a true hero, have journeyed to the city and have arrived just before the final climax. The task they have set themselves is to save the spirit of the empire by rescuing the young son of the last Emperor, Romulus Augustus. Having found him and taken him away they decide to journey across northern Europe as there are strong rumors that an entire Legion of the Roman Army has remained loyal to Rome and has become an independent unit. They hope by finding the Legion and establishing the boy as the legitimate Emperor a stand can be taken and the Empire revived. However, their search is fruitless and eventually the leader and the child return to the Britain of the Dark Ages, where they re-emerge in legend as Merlin and Arthur Pendragon

Firth & Kingsley Enlist In "Legion"
Posted: Wednesday May 11th, 2005 11:47pm
Source: Dark Horizons
Author: Garth Franklin

Colin Firth & Sir Ben Kingsley have been cast in the upcoming independently financed "The Last Legion", a Dino De Laurentiis presentation. "Spider-Man" and "A Simple Plan" second unit director Doug Lefler will helm, with principal photography scheduled to begin on 8th August 2005 in Tunisia and Slovakia.

Part fact, part legend, "The Last Legion" is an action/ adventure story surrounding the Fall of the Roman Empire and its last emperor, 12-year-old Romulus Augustus, who would rule for a day before losing all that he loved: his family, his home and an empire that once stood for truth and honor. Imprisoned on the island-fortress of Capri, Romulus, aided by the clever strategies of his teacher Abrosinus (Sir Ben Kingsley) and the heroic skills of his legionnaire Aurelius (Colin Firth), escapes the island.

Accompanied by his friends and a mysterious envoy from Constantinople, Romulus travels to Britannia in search of the Last Legion - the fabled Dragon Legion. There, Romulus will fight alongside his friends to make his last stand for Rome, and take his first steps to becoming the man and the king who started the Arthurian legend.

Tarak Ben Ammar, Chris Curling, Phil Robertson and Martha De Laurentiis will produce. All four are currently at work on "The Decameron" starring Hayden Christensen and Mischa Barton.

Alexander Siddig - on working with Colin, Ben, Ash on set of TLL

Quote Courtesy of Mel from SidCity.net

"They had a great cast on the movie, what little work I did was alongside Aishwarya [Rai] and Colin [Firth], both of whom were easy going and relaxing. Colin was everything he appears to be in his other film work - kind and gentlemanly and a lot of fun. Sir Ben [Kingsley] was also a pleasure to hang around with. I didn't work with him but we had dinner a couple of times - he's very spiritual and wise. Aishwarya is disarmingly beautiful, and I, having been disarmed, didn't spend a great deal of time with her on or off set. But she will be a serious name to contend with in years to come in the US and Western Europe. "

REVIEWS

Apollo Movie Guide

You’ve perhaps got to be a bit sceptical when the main appeal of a swords and horses action movie is an almost melancholic nostalgia rather than a pure adrenalin rush, but I must say that it’s refreshing – if not totally exciting – to watch an old style film like The Last Legion. Those characters you see onscreen fighting? They’re real people, not a computer whiz’s animated fantasies. And those flames rising from a tree? At least some of those are real flames caught on film.

In an age where computer generated images run rampant in our movies, there’s an appeal to seeing the real thing, even if that is one of the few remarkable aspects of the film. More quaint than thrilling, The Last Legion also benefits from the talents of Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, delivering old style action and an interesting cross-over between fifth century A.D. Rome and the British Isles a generation before King Arthur.

First let’s be clear: there are digital effects in this movie. But it’s a movie that’s not dominated by those effects, even though much of it is battle scenes and vistas of old Rome and other sights of more than 1,500 years ago. Instead – more often than not – we get the tricks and stunts that Hollywood depended on for the vast majority of its first century. Sword fights involve people, soldiers on horses really are riding horses, and that spear sticking out of a guy’s chest – well, it might not be really sticking through his chest, but it’s at least a real piece of wood and not just a digital image of one.

The Last Legion feels like a 1950s film, and while that means it’s not as much of a visual spectacle as most of today’s big budget productions, there is something reassuring about old style filmmaking. Unfortunately, this film’s obvious budget limitations (perhaps partially compensated for by the use of Tunisia and Slovakia to stand in for Italy and the United Kingdom) mean that you’re going to see a lot of shortcuts along the way – people get struck by arrows and spears and such off-screen, infernos are similarly lit away from our view and so on – which are all the more noticeable to filmgoers accustomed to the ‘we can do anything and show it all to you’ of 21st century movie-making.

The story here revolves around the struggle of a Roman army officer (Firth) to protect the overthrown young emperor Romulus Augustus Caesar (Thomas Sangster) following the successful invasion of Rome by the Goths, who are led by the vindictive Odoacer (Peter Mullan knows how to play nasty as well as anyone). Forced to run in search of help, a small group of good guys flees to Britannia in search of the Ninth Legion, their last hope for military support.

The Last Legion is filled with swashbuckling action, minus the extremes provided by CGI battle scenes and with just barely enough character development to make us mildly interested in these characters, and enough plot twists to make us constantly question whether Romulus and company are doomed. It’s hokey and corny, and if you don’t enjoy sword fighting, you’ll likely also find it a bit dull.

But for old times’ sake, it is fun to see a movie made mostly the way movies were once all made. That plus the better-than-the-movie-they’re-amidst involvement of Firth, Kingsley and Mullan nudges this movie ever so slightly into the category of worth seeing.

Brian Webster