Gladiator is a film about Maximus, a roman general who was to be the next emperor, succeeding Aurelius. Aurelius’ son Commodus gets angry and jealous at the fact that he was not chosen by his father to be next in line. He then proceeds to kill his father and orders Maximus to be killed. Maximus flees but finds out that his family has been murdered. He later gets enslaved and becomes a gladiator, where he trains under Proximo who also was a former gladiator. He then starts a journey to get the peoples power and to gain revenge over the person who killed his own family (Commodus).
Imperial or political power play * Maximus has to gain the trust and power from the general public * Commodus is jealous that he did not get picked as the next emperor * Maximus is shown as being fearless which makes the crowd like him even more * Maximus has nothing to lose, so Commodus can’t do any more damage to his public image * Maximus was shown to be a noble and powerful Roman general
Power play in relationships * Maximus and Commodus has a strong tension to show each other who has more power * Commodus and Aurelius had a bitter relationship and ended in Commodus murdering Aurelius * Maximus and Proximo where Maximus had learnt to become a fearless gladiator * Commodus’s guards and Proximo, where Proximo gets murdered * The People and Commodus
Power play within individuals * Maximus and his quest on getting revenge * Commodus and his quest to become the next