The scene that I will be analysing in terms of acting and performance is the 2006, film 300. The introduction to the actual film and the main character that I will be focusing on is King Leonidas. King Leonidas is played by Gerard Butler who for this role before becoming 'King' he stated he wanted to look "really strong" for his role. Therefore he trained with a high-intensity workout for four months prior to the film's shooting. As shown below on the right hand side is a picture of Gerard before he began working for 300, and on the left is his accomplishment. Gerard, not only worked on his physique but his facial hair too, he grew out his beard and hair for the role so that he had that masculine influence as well as his physique.
The whole concept of King Leonidas, is that he is portrayed as a cold man. Due to this portrayal this rough and hard look to him which is not only shown through his speech and accent but through the shabbiness of his facial hair. I think it really gives the character his authenticity; because he is a king and a king deserves a beard. King Leonidas, is a character based upon the real-life king of Sparta who led a small army, commonly known as the 300 Spartans, against the overwhelming numbers of the Persian Empire. As stated before, Gerard wanted to get in shape for this particular role, this being because when you think of King Leonidas you think strong and empowered. Due to this, the look in which Gerard aimed for to portray Leonidas went perfectly. Alongside with the look of becoming Lenoidas, Gerard had to become the character, as this film is based upon war and action he had to do his own stunts which he had not done before.
"My stunt guy said because they did 'The Matrix' and 'Bourne Identity,' and I really clung onto this fact because they said nobody in any of those films had to do a piece this long, uncut, with this many moves. So that took a lot of training and I almost didn't do it."
- Gerard Butler on doing stunts within 300
In terms of the acting done by Gerard playing the character 'King Leonidas', he is built up within the introduction to be this cold headed and strong minded man as we are shown his upbringing/ childhood in the first five minutes.We are then shown King Leonidas, as a man with his own child rein-acting the scene whereby he was taught to fight by his own father to his own. Within this scene, we are shown Gerard as a teacher and a father therefore his acting within this scene is seen as passionate yet assured; he has implemented both within his role, by mentioning his father but at the same time being harsh with his own son emphasising the importance of "fear and strength" The acting style that was portrayed throughout this scene is that he has quite the questionable look upon his face, which for this scene is suited. 300, is fantasy, action adventure film therefore for this movie there is an expectation of the actor being able to act a certain way as the film is an adaptation of a well known Comic Series the whole movie had a very high expectation as it was completely different from what was being released back then however the inparticular actors who been chosen have an even higher expectation from the fans as initially they will be portraying a character that many readers look up too.
300, was Gerard's breakout movie because soon after he was featured in films such as 'P.S I love you' 'Olympus has fallen' etc. You wouldn't expect, that after playing such a profound character like King Leonidas and an action/ adventure film straight to a Romantic Drama. I guess, you could say that Gerard has range as he was again impeccable in P.S I love you. In terms of the relationship that Gerard had within the film the most iconic one would be the strong bond he has with his wife. This being, because at the end of the scene King Leonidas kicks a 'Persian messenger' into well due to his lack of respect to his people and most importantly his Queen. Just before, kicking over the messenger Leonidas shares a very intimate look with his wife as if to ask for her permission to do so. By this small look that they both give each other it gave the scene that little bit more authenticity... Made it more personal than it seemed. Due to this scene, it allowed the audience to see another side of Leonidas opening him up more to the actual audience rather than just assuming he is this heartless character who cares for nothing but blood shed.
Throughout this scene, obviously Gerard was unable to portray all different life stages of King Leonidas but the life stage that he does portray is more significant to the whole film as it shows the man that he has become. The character which Gerard plays, is a conclusion of an upbringing of violence, independence, loyalty and strength. Which within this whole scene has been portrayed very well due to Gerard's acting implying throughout everything he has been taught within his life. As an example, just before he decides how he is going to reply to the Persian messenger there is another rein-enactment of Leonidas childhood. Whereby he is faced with his "initiation" which determined whether he came back to his homeland as a Spartan... Or not at all. The scene which he gains "a heightened sense of things" and there is a close up of Leonidas's feet... Which is then again shown in his adult life but shown with again starting with a close up with Gerard's feet, face, an extreme close up of his eyes and an establishing to emphasise the wind.
In conclusion the way in which Gerard suited his voice within this scene was by keeping calm but adding quite a rough edge to his voice when speaking to certain characters; when speaking to his wife he is still on edge but through his facial expression you can see he is quite soft. Whereas when speaking to the Persian messenger, he is sarcastic and ruthless. The introduction of this film is the base to the whole story line of the film, it is the most iconic scene throughout film history due to the one sentence that Gerard executed so perfectly "Madness? This is Sparta!" the way in which this scene ends is by Leonidas walking away in an nonchalant form whereby it again emphasises King Leonidas's whole concept of a stone cold killer. It also shows the multi-task capability of Gerard as he was able to rage to the Persian messenger yet at the same time kick him into oblivion.
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