@mazingerz88: It is visually very interesting:it is the story line that gets bogged down. Perhaps better editing would have helped. The camera was in love with the stuff. And Christian Slater (aged 15) was a wooden teen-ager with only three expression, none of which were particularly helpful to the drama.
All the sets, props, clothing, foodstuffs, and manuscripts are copies of the authentic articles.
Many of the props themselves are now in museums.
Apparently a lot of the movie was filmed in Rome, and the sky was usually too blue and bright. The director had six jeeps circling the set with smoke machines in order to replicate the gloomy atmosphere he wanted.