I might post an odd review here but I will not return ratings or reply to communications. Feel free ...
I might post an odd review here but I will not return ratings or reply to communications. Feel free to contact me through dooyoo, Helium or igougo - or directly on magdadh@hotmail.com
Member since:22.04.2004
Reviews:175
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***Please note as that as per scales located unfortunately at the very end, this is a review of JUST THE FILM!!!! Readers interested in the DVD extras and similar please look elsewhere***
I was wondering if I should write the review assuming that the knowledge of at least the skeleton of the Trojan War story is a common cultural universal amongst people who are literate (=can read and write as everybody on Ciao) and were brought up within the European cultural shadow; or should I assume no previous knowledge and risk being patronising. I have not found a clear solution and thus in the tradition of the Ciao review let me start with the bare bones of the movie's storyline as it was.
The plot is inspired (more than loosely) by the Trojan War myth and the Iliad. Paris the prince of Troy steals the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus who, enraged and wanting revenge asks his Mycenaean brother Agamemnon for help. Agamemnon, a nasty tyrannical character with imperial ambitions, sees this as a convenient pretext to invade and subjugate Troy. A united Greek army is raised and the fleet of 1000 ships leaves for the shores of Asia Minor. A mighty warrior Achilles joins the army – despite his intense dislike and contempt of Agamemnon and all he stands for – in the view of the future glory and having his name remembered forever. The Trojans defend, led by the valiant prince Hector and guided by the elderly buys statesmanlike dignified king Priam. Now, if my initial assumption is true and the story is universal, you will
roughly know what happens next and how it all ends and thus I don't need to go on. If my assumption is not true, I should leave it here hanging in suspense.
But, the story doesn't really matter that much. 'Troy’ is first and foremost a monumental, historical (or rather mythological) spectacle and as such is almost perfect. The sets are magnificent: painstakingly designed and created, convincing, aesthetically pleasing: the Greek ones (Sparta) suitably rugged, the Trojan ones hieratically Middle-Eastern, Egyptian even.
The cinematography is also rather lovely, with sweeping vistas of landscape and the preparation-for-battle scenes, all in the yellow and blue tones of sand and sea, bathed in the warm Mediterranean light. The Greek landscape is suspiciously tree-less (they did have some 3 thousand years ago) but apart from that it couldn’t be better.
The battle and individual fight scenes are magnificent too: not too long, not too boring, impressively choreographed and, again, well photographed. Gore is present but not gratuitously in your face.
The soundtrack was rather good too: with strong ethnic elements (Middle Eastern? Balkan?); sometimes ascetically reduced to the percussion beat, sometimes sweepingly ornate, it works well to compliment and enhance the whole show.
Overall, on what can be called the ‘Cleopatra’ dimension, ‘Troy’ scores pretty confident 5 stars. I could just leave the review here; say that I very much enjoyed watching it but I doubt if much of it will stay with me in the future. I suppose; however, that I need to cover the other aspects of the production and also justify my 3 star overall rating of the movie.
‘Troy’ differs significantly in many aspects form the traditional /Homeric version of the myth. Most of the differences do not matter, really, as long as one is prepared to approach the movie with an open mind and leave the standard version behind. The fact that all the supernatural elements have been removed from the story (the gods don’t intervene in the fate of the mortals in the film’s version) is there to take or leave. The tragic qualities of the story are less obvious as we don’t know that the fates of the humans are sealed from above. The change from the mythical to historical doesn’t have to spoil the story, though.
Achilles is the main character of the film and his role is played very competently by Brad Pitt. His delivery is somehow muffeled at times, but it ties quite well with the warrior character. At the beginning he is suitably psychopathic (and fatalistic), a born soldier-of-fortune type; perfect killer in pursuit of immortality through fame. As the story progresses his figure achieves more and more human dimensions, through his conflict with Agamemnon where his is a role of a rebellious but just soldier-leader opposing Agamemnon's cynical king hiding from battle behind the lines and then taking all the credit; and especially after his young protégé Partocles is slain by the Trojan prince.
And here we have the most significant, and in my personal opinion, thoroughly unnecessary divergence between the original myth and the current film version is the nature of the relationship between Achilles and Partocles who in the film is a cousin and perhaps a student of Achilles, but nothing else. In the original story, in line with the Greek tradition (and ideals of love) Partocles was Achilles’ young protégé and an apprentice but also the dearest friend and a lover. Achilles’ rage and psychological crisis which ensues as a result of Partocles’ death is understandable and justified in the context of the original story, while in the film it verges on inexplicable.
I understand that the homosexual element would be hard to pass on in a mainstream Hollywood action blockbuster, but the psychological validity of the plot suffers a lot as a result.
The way the other characters are written, cast and played is, delicately putting it, mixed. Brain Coxe's Agamemnon is a sad caricature, while Sean Bean as Odysseus, Peter O'Toole as Priam and Eric Bana as Hector are all - within the convention of historical action drama - well cast and convincing.
The most disastrous casting is one of Helen: Diane Kruger is a beautiful woman but somehow her Helen, clad in the prehistoric Greek gear and make up looks more like a cheap and lowly tart, with an often scornful face and hysterical demeanour. In other words nothing, but nothing like my vision of (a) the most beautiful woman of the world (b) a great queen and a demigoddess (her father was Zeus himself). The turn-of-the century image below looks much more like it! Luckily she didn't get too many appearances or lines in the film.
OVERALL
'Troy' is a very watchable spectacle, the main character of Achilles rather simple but enchanting 'cynical mercenary with a heart of gold' figure from the same vaguely defined family as 'Dogs of War's Shannon and 'Casablanca's Blaine.
Psychological (and mythological) simplifications and some terrible casting mistakes mean that the film fails to be anything more than that.
Those who know and love The Iliad would be annoyed by the deartures from the 'original', though for those who just have a basic knowledge of the myth it shouldn't matter too much.
There is mild sex and some gore, all of which make the 15 rating bit conservative in my opinion, most of people aged 13+ would be probably perfectly safe with this movie.
Pictures of Troy (Special Edition) (DVD)
Helen as imagined in the end of 19th century
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
The best way to watch this film, I feel, is just to forget the Iliad and enjoy it for itself. Maureen
JayHall1991 09.07.2005 17:09
Great Op! I only watched half of this because we got bored of it. From what i could see it wasn't really my kind of film, overblown, unconvincing and a little bit naff, visually it looked great though.
There are many reasons to recommendTroyas a good ol' fashioned Hollywood epic, especially ... more
if you've never read Homer's The Iliad. Dispensing with Greek gods altogether, this earnestly massive production (budgeted at upwards of $200 million) will surely...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
For honour... In 1193B.C. the dandy Trojan prince Paris (Bloom) irresponsibly spirits ... more
away the unhappy wife of Menelaus (Gleeson) the Spartan king. Demanding the return of Helen the Greeks launch a thousand ships and lay siege to Troy. Under the com...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Fantastic cinematography, Great acting by Bana and Pitt especially, Gripping battle sequences Disadvantages: Bloom and Bean's performances are flawed , Slightly over-long
Advantages: Fantastic cinematography, Great acting by Bana and Pitt especially, Gripping battle sequences Disadvantages: Bloom and Bean's performances are flawed , Slightly over-long
![Troy : The Movie&More (2 Disc Special Edition) [2004] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78483204.jpg "Troy : The Movie&More (2 Disc Special Edition) [2004] [DVD]")
![Troy (2-Disc Edition) [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78503902.jpg "Troy (2-Disc Edition) [DVD] [2004]")
Jun 25th, 2005
exceptional by (23%):
very helpful by (77%):
