Socrates (film)

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Socrates
Socrates (film).jpg
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Written by Jean-Dominique de La Rochefoucauld
Marcella Mariani
Renzo Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini
Screenplay by Roberto Rossellini, Marcella Mariani
Produced by Renzo Rossellini
Cinematography Jorge H. Martín
Edited by Alfredo Muschietti
Music by Mario Nascimbene
Production
company
Orizzonte 2000, RAI
Running time
120 minutes
Countries Spain, Italy, France
LanguageItalian

Socrates is a 1971 Spanish-Italian-French television film directed by Roberto Rossellini. The film is an adaptation of several Plato dialogues, including The Apology, Euthyphro, Crito, and Phaedo.

Contents

Plot

The film tells the personal and historical events of the last period of the life of Socrates, the famous Athenian philosopher. The historical background is the period of the decay of the Greek Polis and of the democracy of Athens: the opening scene shows the demolition of the city walls by the Spartans, now victors of the Peloponnesian War, with the subsequent establishment of the Government of the Thirty Tyrants (404 BC).

The city is in turmoil for the defeat and humiliation suffered, as well as for the organization of military counter-moves for the liberation (which will lead to the fall of the Thirty the year following the establishment of the Regime). In this context it is introduced the character of Socrates, now seventy years old and engaged every day in his philosophical research with a large following of young people.

During the film many excerpts from some of Plato's famous Dialogues are presented, including Hippias major, Euthyphron, Republic, Crito, Socrates' Apology and Phaedo. There are also some explicit quotations, by a detractor of Socrates, of The Clouds, the comedy of Aristophanes in which the philosopher is described as a scoundrel, expert in sophisms and rhetoric, able to always make the unjust cause just.

These references contribute to outline the thought and philosophy of Socrates: the awareness of one's ignorance as a necessary prerequisite for the search for truth; the Socratic method that uses dialogue as a means for philosophical investigation; irony and maieutics as moments of the dialogue itself; the importance of virtue in achieving happiness; contempt for money, power and other material values; the opposition to the Sophists and their abuse of rhetoric as an instrument to flaunt a false wisdom; the criticism of the validity of the writings.

In the background is the reconstruction of his family and economic situation: the philosopher lives in poverty with his three children and his wife, Xanthippe, a shrewish woman with hysterical attitudes, continually critical of her husband. who does not provide for the maintenance of the family and the house, intent only on his philosophical investigation which she considered a useless waste of time.

The aforementioned historical and political events, however, determine the decay of democracy in Athens even after the expulsion of the Thirty Tyrants. The Athenians, upset by the events, are less and less democratic, mentally open and tolerant with those who show themselves critical in comparisons of official culture and traditional values. Socrates pays the highest price for this climate of tension and insecurity, as he is unjustly accused and condemned for having, according to the accuser Meletus, corrupted the youth with his "teachings" and despised the gods and the traditional religion of Athens.

The defense of Socrates, presented as in the "Apology" written by Plato, is clear, linear and calm, but it is not enough to avoid capital punishment in the form of suicide. He himself rejects any other type of sentence (such as prison, exile or the payment of a fine), provocatively proposing, as a just "punishment", to be hosted at the Prytaneion as a worthy citizen, and accepting the verdict of his judges. He also refuses the possibility offered to him by his friends to escape from prison before the execution of the sentence, faithful to his philosophical convictions whose pillars are justice and unconditional respect for the laws.

The film ends with the suicide of the philosopher, who is forced to drink a poison obtained from hemlock and who, until his last breath, does not stop reasoning and talking with his friends about life, death and the immortality of the soul.

Production

Rossellini wanted to make a film on Socrates many years before starting production. He would joke that like the Athenian philosopher he failed to make money. Location shooting could not take place in Greece because of the dictatorship so the movie was filmed in Patones Arriba, a town in Spain that was dressed up to look like Athens. Most of the script is lifted directly from de la Rochefoucauld's translations of Plato dialogues, particularly the Apology. Christian symbolism is also used heavily in this film. Socrates refers to his followers as his "disciples" and they all drink from a chalice in a scene heavy with symbolism. [1]

Cast

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crito of Alopece</span> 5th-century BC Athenian philosopher

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<i>The Death of Socrates</i> 1787 painting by Jacques-Louis David

The Death of Socrates is an oil on canvas painted by French painter Jacques-Louis David in 1787. The painting was part of the neoclassical style, popular in the 1780s, that depicted subjects from the Classical age, in this case the story of the execution of Socrates as told by Plato in his Phaedo. In this story, Socrates has been convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing strange gods, and has been sentenced to die by drinking poison hemlock. Socrates uses his death as a final lesson for his pupils rather than fleeing when the opportunity arises, and faces it calmly. The Phaedo depicts the death of Socrates and is also Plato's fourth and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days, which is also detailed in Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito.

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Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euthyphro (prophet)</span> Classical Athenian prophet depicted by Plato

Euthyphro of Prospalta was an ancient Athenian religious prophet (mantis) best known for his role in his eponymous dialogue written by the philosopher Plato. Euthyphro's biography can be reconstructed only through the details revealed by Plato in the Euthyphro and Cratylus, as no further contemporaneous sources exist.

<i>Socrates on Trial</i> Play written by Andrew David Irvine

Socrates on Trial is a play depicting the life and death of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. It tells the story of how Socrates was put on trial for corrupting the youth of Athens and for failing to honour the city's gods. The play contains adaptations of several classic Greek works: the slapstick comedy, Clouds, written by Aristophanes and first performed in 423 BCE; the dramatic monologue, Apology, written by Plato to record the defence speech Socrates gave at his trial; and Plato's Crito and Phaedo, two dialogues describing the events leading to Socrates’ execution in 399 BCE. The play was written by Andrew David Irvine of the University of British Columbia and premiered by director Joan Bryans of Vital Spark Theatre Company in 2007 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver.

References

  1. "Socrates".