Centurion - Movie Review

Centurion

The film Centurion takes place in 117 A.D., a time when the Roman army was struggling to contain a group of Scottish Celts called the Picts. It tells the story of a small group of Roman soldiers who, after killing the Pict leader’s son, become hunted by the wild Picts. Despite the Romans’ atrocities, the audience is supposed to sympathize and root for their escape from the notorious and frightening “other.”

The film portrays the Picts wholly as barbarians, savages, and a demon threat to civilization. The women are depicted as brutal warriors who revel in violence and blood as much as the men, and who value loyalty above all else. At one point in the film, the Roman legion seeks shelter in the hut of a Pictish woman. She is skilled in potions and herbs, and seems to have magical, druidess properties. This furthers the popular notion that Celtic women were skilled warriors and potion masters, a stereotypical ideal that may or may not be accurate. Modern society has created an image of the Celtic woman, evidenced by Keira Knightley’s portrayal in King Arthur, that is highly sexualized and violent: the women are depicted as near naked, war hungry, and witch-like.

The film Centurion does nothing to explore the complexities behind Celtic culture, rather, they indulge in almost stereotype that exists. The Pictish men are brutal, and the amount of graphic violence is staggering. Rather than represented as a group of people who are avenging the killing of a young boy, they are characterized as ruthless and primitive. Their homes, way of life, and clothing is illustrated as primal and un-evolved, a sharp contrast to the civilized, clean, and more intelligent Romans.

The film’s depiction of the Picts as barbaric directly corresponds to the readings we read in class by Roman scouts, such as the writings of Caesar. The Romans’ opinion of the Celts was a mixture of abject terror