The adaptation of the comic book by Frank Miller (from “Sin City”) and Lynn Varley, “300”, opens today in Brazilian cinemas. A lot of violence and brutality should be expected in this film, which tells us about a bloody and historic battle. “300” tells the story of Spartan warriors who, with just three hundred men and some allies led by King Leonidas, resisted for three days an invasion by thousands of Persians under the command of the tyrant King Xerxes, in the 5th century BC. The person who plays the antagonist of this Manichaean plot is Rodrigo Santoro, as Xerxes. According to the magazine “Hollywood Reporter” published, “King Xerxes comes full of jewels, like a depraved giant, carried from the top of a tower by his slaves. The monarch unsuccessfully tries to seduce Leonidas in a homo-erotic passage as was common in the Old World.” And the tabloid criticism didn't stop there. For the American magazine “Variety”, the film is “an angry, bombastic and visually attractive story about the battle of Thermopylae”. According to the publication, the Brazilian's performance was not very exciting. “An enraged Xerxes, strangely with his body completely shaved, full of holes and lots of jewelry, looks more like he came from a New York club than a battlefield.” “With his metallic screams when he calls his guards 'immortal', he becomes a giant cretin, an aggressive rhinoceros of little effect”, adds “Variety”. 300 (300) USA. 2007. Director: Zack Snyder. With: Rodrigo Santoro, Gerard Butler and Lena Headey. 117 minutes. 16 years
