Dragon over Troy

WARNING!!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Saw Troy last weekend and thought a lot about it. I will not write a review, as it would just lead into pointless comparisons between the movie and Iliad. I will simply write some of my reflections and thoughts running through my head after seeing it. As a movie it was OK -same as rest of the Hollywood movies. But as the subject matter is dear to me I analyzed it more than I normally would.

Ajax was brilliantly cast, as were Agamemnon, Nestor and Menelaus. Odysseus was good, though we did not see much of him or witness his legendary cunning -even the wooden horse was added as if an afterthought. Helen was a disappointment -as was most of the female cast.

I understand why the ten-year war was cut to just a few days, but I think it truly ate away the sense of doom and struggle, and mocked the efforts both sides had to put into the war. The whole point of the war at Troy was that it robbed ten years of life from the greatest and most vibrant men of their generation, even if they survived the slaughter. Now we had a quick siege in fifteen days or so.

Historically the movie was a mixed bag: some things such as funeral traditions of placing coins over the eyes of the dead and spilling first drink to the gods were good touches while others were atrociously bad, such as the port of Sparta (Sparta is a land-locked city) and the use of classic Greek battle ships which were invented much later. But then, the movie makers probably want to use the strongest visual images possible. Battle scenes were thrilling, though pure fantasy. It did not matter over-much, for all the duels of the movie were really exciting and well choreographed.

It is strange that Paris was not killed at all -after all if anyone was the villain of the movie, it was the young prince of Troy. Then again Orlando Bloom is such a heart-throb for the millions of teen girls that the film-makers probably did not have guts to do it. Being scratched to death is a painful way to go I hear. Perhaps if Oenone, his first wife would have been added, he would have been seen more as Homer meant him to be: the death of his nation who cast his wife aside.

I was glad how heroic Hector was in the movie, though I guess even that might be problematic for modern audiences. He was too pure and fair to be in any way realistic in today's terms, though in Iliad he was even more heroic: in Homer's epic poem Achilles was invulnerable save for his heel, so when Hector faced him he knew he was going to die -there was no hope of victory at all. Hector embodied the virtues of the ancient Greeks, where the good of many outweighs the good of the individual. But I liked him –call me old-fashioned but I prefer my heroes like this.

This brings us to Achilles... No, this role was beyond Brad Pitt, though I have to admit he gave it his all. But his mannerisms and physical presence simply did not reflect those of an utterly invincible warrior. He was arrogant and angry, yet he lacked some of Achilles' pride. His love for Patroclus did not seem real enough, either. This was most likely due the crow-barred romance which ate away from his Philadelphia, love for the comrade of arms.

Finally, the ending. I liked the last stand of the Troyan warriors at the palace gates, but the death of Agamemnon was done clumsily. In the Greek legends he was slain by his wife who coveted his throne, a fitting end to his ambition.

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