In the film, Gladiator we follow Maximus who is our protagonist. We follow him through his journey from General of an army, to a slave that is treated worse than an animal to his own demise. We begin following Maximus as he leads the Roman army as they storm all the barbarians. This battle is the inciting incident and it helps the audience to become hooked into the action of the movie while simultaneously helping us to understand Maximus as a character. It’s here where we learn him to be a generally ‘good’ character, however because this is a tragedy he is not without flaw. Hubris. This is Maximus’ hamartia, it’s what causes his peripatetic, his reversal of fortune. It’s this defining characteristic that leads to his demise. In medias res we see how how Maximus goes from being the general of an army, to a slave who is worth nothing and we begin to see him rise up again, almost to as great as he once was, then he has his anagnorisis, his recognition. Maximus realizes half way into the story that the empire is greater than him, the society itself is flawed and that no matter what he does, there is nothing he can do to save the day. This helps for a cathartic experience for an audience to indulge in. And that my friends is where we are left with mr gladiator.

In the film gladiator, the story begins in medias res, which means we are introduced to the plot in characters in the middle of the events. This is a deliberate choice made to enhance the effect of tragedy, now why does this have such a potent effect on the audience? Well if this technique is used effectively than we can understand Maximus as a character by how he is acting in this very scene, we don’t need hours of story to tell us that Maximus is honorable and mostly a good character, we can learn this by the way he treats his soldiers and the situation that he in. In the beginning of the film we see Maximus at his best. He is a general in the roman army, he is well liked and respected by his peers and he is considered a fierce warrior. Cinematic techniques reveal this, such as the use of close up camera shots, through out the beginning of the film. We first see Maximus as a brooding figure, he is taking his situation very seriously, as an audience it is very easy to understand the emotions our protagonist. We are given a visual cue when Maximus is sad or upset and that teaches us that he is an empathetic good character.

Yes and no, it is true that Gladiator holds up to Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy. In this story line, we follow one singular plot thread that is explored through a multitude of characters, such as Maximus and Commodus. However, I would not consider this film to be plot driven, the events that occur in this film could only occur because of the characters themselves.