Review – Quo Vadis

Did Nero’s actual reign last this long? Here we have the religious right’s wet dream: a story about real, genuine, actual persecution of Christians. It’s a very Hollywood production, with lavish sets and massive crowd scenes and a three-hour running time and the whole nine yards. Obviously one doesn’t turn to such a spectacle for an absolutely historically accurate recounting of the burning of Rome and the subsequent anti-Christian genocide. However, if you like this sort of thing then this is a fine example of it. Peter Ustinov in particular does an impressively hammy job as Nero. It was also strange to see Deborah Kerr in anything besides The King and I. Overall I thought it was over-long, but beyond that I had nothing against it beyond the violent death of a bull toward the end. Mildly amusing