Caesar Must Die 12A

Each year the inmates of Rome’s high security Rebibbia prison, incarcerated mostly for Mafia-related crimes, put on a play. The Taviani brothers follow the rehearsals and performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a play where the conspiracies and betrayals echo the past and present lives of the prisoners. The actors become prisoners once again as they are accompanied back to their cells. As one of the prisoner-turned-actor remarks towards the end of the film: “Since I discovered art, this cell has become a prison." A highly enjoyable film by the legendary directors of Padre Padrone.

Golden Bear, Berlin Film Festival
Winner, Ecumenical Prize, Berlin Film Festival

Please note: this film will no longer screen from 8-14 March as originally advertised. Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this change in our schedule. 

what the press are saying...

'An innovative film, a drama-documentary about prisoners staging Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that’s so clever in the way it slips from play rehearsal into real squabbles, and absorbs the psychogeography of prison into its miss en scène, that its self-reflexivity feels seamless... It’s all the more impressive how vividly the play comes across when performed by these harsh-faced, muscle-bound street thugs (fine actors indeed).'

Nick James, SIGHT & SOUND

‘The film’s mere 76 minutes are more resonant than many far longer films, thanks to the way the Tavianis explore the complex relationship between life and art... a witty cautionary tale of failed idealism, revolutionary communal action, endless cyclical Utopianism and the value and concomitant cost of a commitment to art... humane, intelligent and affecting.’

Geoff Andrew, TIME OUT