Musings!

Agrippina's handmaiden is swiftly killed in NERO AND THE BURNING OF ROME (1953)

In this movie, people, mostly women, are dispatched in a blink of an eye. It's quite amazing how brutal everything was, or at least in this movie. Agrippina came into power after plotting to kill Valeria Messalina (the infamous Messalina), the third wife of Emperor Claudius, in a swift and brutal scene. The movie starts with this scene! With Valeria Messalina's death, Agrippina married Claudius. Since she was the mother of Nero, Claudius adopted Nero. When Claudius died, Nero became Emperor at a young age. As an adult, Nero was married to his second wife, Poppea, which Agrippina wanted dead. We see her death in a brutal scene (she was pregnant btw). Waiting in line is Statilia Messalina, who was a mistress to Nero. When Poppea was killed by Nero, Statilia became his third wife. In this scene, after killing the handmaiden, the one on the right kills Agrippina and the men toss Agrippina's body into the sea. Also, we see Britannicus killed by poison. Phew! There's more killings than a FRIDAY THE 13TH movie. The portrayal of Agrippina is always different in almost every movie. She's either extremely evil or she's just cunning. BTW, the actors are extras and not credited.