(no subject)

[rhienelleth]

Where to begin? First of all, this movie was beautiful, and I will be owning it on DVD. When I say beautiful, I don’t just mean all the naked male parts, although those were very pretty to look at. ;) I mean Wolfgang Peterson filmed a beautiful piece of work. IMHO, The Iliad and The Odyssey are among the greatest epic stories ever written. I’ve read them several times over the course of my school career, and when I read them (unlike some other classics I could mention), I am enthralled. Homer was one very talented man. I should also mention, I choose to believe (like many scholars theorize) that Homer based his works on real events. That Agamemnon, Menelaus, Hector, Achilles, and Odysseus really did live, and that the battle of Troy is, in fact, one of the greatest battles in all of history.

Do I think the battle was really about Paris stealing Helen away? No. I think, like the movie portrays, that the battle was about politics, and Paris and Helen were young enough and foolish enough to give Agamemnon and Menelaus the excuse they needed. History and time have romanticized the tale. Do I think Achilles was the son of a God and immortal? Absolutely not. But he must have been one seriously bad ass warrior to get that legend attached to his name. One of the greatest to ever live.

Now, on to what all this has to do with my review of the movie:

The Performances

Brad Pitt: Did an excellent job. I’ve enjoyed some of his work in the past, but I am by no means a huge fan, and I was very, very skeptical when I heard he was playing this role. As I’ve stated, Achilles needed to be a bad ass. The type of warrior who excels at killing. I didn’t think Brad could pull it off, but he did. I especially enjoyed his performance when he is told of Patroclus’ death. His transformation from happy and at ease to cold, murderous rage was chilling, and very much how I imagined the character. Additionally, his scene with Priam and subsequent break down over Hector’s body was very believable and well acted.

Eric Bana: I’d heard great things about his performance before going, so I expected great things. I was not disappointed. Hector was a true leader of his people, both a prince and a general, not to mention the greatest warrior of Troy. The scenes with his wife were poignant and lovely. His scenes leading his men on the battlefield were inspiring. His fight scenes? Disappointing. The only thing that disappointed me, and not really Bana’s fault. It was all in how they were choreographed. Hector’s supposed to be the best Troy has to offer, the best opponent Achilles has ever faced, and he struggles in nearly every battle he’s in. Ajax? Nearly killed him. At least his battle with Achilles lasted for awhile, but I wanted to see him defeating other foes easily. You know, even if you’ve never heard anything about this legend before, that Hector is going to die when he walks out to face Achilles, because he’s just not that good. So, Bana’s acting was superb, but the fight scenes could have used some sprucing.

Orlando Bloom: I thought he did a great job with the material he had. It was nice to see Paris as young and naïve and foolish as he probably really was. I mean really, you’ve got to be all those things to steal away your enemy’s wife in the first place. The character isn’t really admirable, but I don’t think he’s supposed to be.

Brian Cox: Not a bad performance, exactly, but I really, really felt he overacted this part a tad. Some blame belongs to the writers, because Hollywood needs someone to be the villain, and I suppose Agamemnon is the closest the story has. But really, I kept being reminded of the villain he played in X2, and it just didn’t work for me. Particularly at the end, but pretty much through the whole movie.

Diane Kruger: The face that launched 1,000 ships? Maybe not, but she is, very pretty, and I think history has exaggerated Helen’s beauty. I enjoyed her performance, felt she and Orli had good chemistry and that her more complicated scenes later in the movie, involving remorse and maybe even gaining a little wisdom for her character, were pulled off very well.

Rose Byrne: This actress really sold me not only on her role as Briseis, but on the expanded and Hollywood-ized romance between her character and Achilles. It was actually my favorite part of the movie that wasn’t canon. (In the canon version, she really was given to Achilles as a gift, and Agamemnon really did taker her away from him in a fit of pique, but no where are we led to believe that Achilles loves her. In fact, he supposedly develops feelings for Polyxena, Paris' sister.) But I liked this version better. It gave a lot of things greater emotional impact, including Hector's death. Plus, it was a neat little love story for us girls. ;)

A very clever way, I might add, of making Achilles a sympathetic character to the audience.

Canon vs. Hollywood

Actually, this movie is a lot like a fanfiction version of Homer. It takes The Iliad, adds a couple of new and/or expanded storylines (at least one of which I really enjoyed, Achilles/Briseis), kills off a couple of characters (ahem – Menelaus and Agamemnon) for the sake of movie audiences, and calls itself Troy. Clever. And not quite how I would have done it. For instance, I think killing off both the “villains” was too Hollywood. I’d also like to know how a ten year war managed to get condensed down to less than two weeks. Part of the grandeur, if you will, surrounding the battle of Troy is its length. For example, they mention after the first day of battle allowing the Greeks to come and bear away their dead. What they don’t tell you, is that for ten years the Greeks and the Trojans would fight ferociously during the day, and then both sides would remove and burn their dead at night, with no hostilities.

Shortening the war robs the movie of some of its potential impact: watching sons of Troy grow up to fight in the same war their fathers have been dying in for ten years. Wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters, all waiting each excruciating day to see which of their men would come home safely. The desperation of these men, of Odysseus in particular, to finish this damn war and get back home to their families. It was this desperation that gave birth to the Trojan Horse.

And of course, we have the complete removal of the Gods. Oh, they're mentioned, but in Homer's works, they walk among the mortals, they have councils of their own to decide what they're going to do. Whole chapters are devoted to them. I undertsand why they were removed (having them in it probably would have added another half hour to the movie), but I think it was a mistake. Mortals in Greek times lived in fear and awe of the Gods, and for good reason. Their lives were often like pieces in a massive chess game, their fates decided by the deities they worshiped -- or offended. Having Apollo come down and tell Paris how to kill Achilles, for instance, is the only reason Achilles is able to be killed. (Killed because Posiedon hated him for killing his son, and asked for Apollo's aid in a little vengeance.) I mean come on, Paris just isn't that lucky. Not to mention the fact that Aphrodite, bless her little heart, is largely responsible for the whole mess in the first place, by having Paris and Helen fall in love. Her presence in the film would have given a little more reason to the foolish actions of the young lovers.

And just how, if they decide to make Odysseus (I imagine that's what they'd call it), are they going to explain Odysseus' ten year journey home against all manner of monsters and mishaps? I mean, the whole thing happens because he pisses off Posiedon.


To Sum It All Up

All in all, a great movie. The departures from canon are, for the most part, things I can live with even if I don’t agree with them. Hmm, I’m really tired now, and Mark is still really sick, so I’m going to wrap this up now and say good-night.

Comments

[ageofaquarius.livejournal.com]

I could not think of the woman's name who was Achilles' lover. I loved that part of the film. I thought it was great. Yes, the man parts were oh so pretty but Brad and Eric were faboulous.

[kismeteve.livejournal.com]

Well, about the whole fanfic aura of Troy, David Benioff, the screenwriter, mentioned in an article that he approached writing the script from a fan's perspective. He said he combined The Iliad, The Odyssey and aspects of the sword and sandals movies of the '50's. I can't wait to see it!!