During the spread of the Roman Empire large swathes of
Europe came under the rule of these powerful conquerors. Traditionally associated with Southern Europe
and the Mediterranean, it is easy to forget that the Empire also spread to more
northern regions, from our own Britannia in the west to Eastern Europe and the
shores of the Baltic. Germania was the
name given to the part of the Empire mostly inhabited by Germanic peoples, and
it extended from the Danube to the Baltic and from the Rhine to the Vistula.
Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, is one of my favourite films, mainly for the
superb acting by Russell Crowe as Maximus and by Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus
(he was robbed at the Oscars in my opinion), not to mention the late, lamented
hellraisers Richard Harris and Oliver Reed, who actually died during
filming. Some amazing computer and
filming wizardry brought Reed back to life for the scenes involving him which
were yet to be filmed.
However, the film is also notable for its camerawork, making
use of an array of stunning locations. The
stirring opening scene of Gladiator, depicting a battle in the forests of
Germania set to the warlike music of Hanz Zimmer, was actually filmed in
Surrey, in an area south of Farnham known as Bourne Wood, an area of mainly
coniferous woodland. The woods here have
been purposely designated as a filming area, the Forestry Commission allowing
them to be used for this purpose for up to 8 months a year, subject to certain
restrictions such as the use of helicopters.
Other films making use of the woods include Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ridley Scott’s Robin
Hood and War Horse. On the small screen
the woods featured in the miniseries Band of Brothers, and they were used as jungle
for It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. They also
appear in a number of adverts and in the video for Coldplay’s The Scientist.
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| Bourne Wood - geograph.org.uk - 317184. Photo by Ben Gamble, via Wikimedia Commons |
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