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>> TROY (2004)

Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom and more ...
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Genre: Action & Adventure




in 1193 b.c., prince paris of troy (orlando bloom) kidnaps legendary beauty helen (diane kruger) from her husband, king menelaus of sparta, setting the two nations on a collision course for war. the greeks, including achilles (brad pitt), marshal their entire armada, sail to troy and begin a decade-long siege. eric bana plays hector, the leader of the trojan forces, and sean bean is the wily ulysses (of trojan horse fame).

the movie recounts the legend of the trojan war, as the fortress city is attacked by a greek army led by menelaus of sparta and agamemnon of mycenae. the war has become necessary because of the lust of the young trojan prince named paris (orlando Bloom), who while during a peace mission to sparta, seduces the city-state's queen, helen (diane kruger). this action understandably annoys helen's husband, menelaus (brendan gleeson), not to mention paris' brother, hector (eric bana), who points out, quite correctly, that when you visit a king on a peace mission, it is counterproductive to leave with his wife.

what the movie doesn't explain is why helen would leave with paris after an acquaintanceship of a few nights. is it because her loins throb with passion for a hero? no, because she tells him: "i don't want a hero. i want a man i can grow old with." well, not in greek myth, you don't. if you believe helen of troy could actually tell paris anything remotely like that, you will probably also agree that the second night he slipped into her boudoir, she told him, "last night was a mistake."

the seduction of helen is the curtain-raiser for the main story, which involves vast greek armies laying siege to the impenetrable city. chief among their leaders is achilles, said to be the greatest warrior of all time, but played by brad pitt as if he doesn't believe it. if achilles was anything, he was a man who believed his own press releases. heroes are not introspective in greek drama, they do not have second thoughts, and they are not conflicted.

troy is an epic in every way. the movie is beautiful in its detail and you can tell they did their homework on the cultures of that period. the sound is just right, not noisy, and works well with the movie. CGI is minimal and blends in seamlessly with the live action. the fight scenes and acting scenes are excellent. there is dramatic license taken with some of homers illiad, but it doesn't hurt the movie, although honestly, i was a bit disappointed that it was not told as how the legend goes. however, i must admit that the omission of the Gods, other than them being spoken of, makes the story much more real, as now we all know homers tale was taken from very true events and an actual city named troy, has been discovered. the ending is not quite as morbid as in homers illiad, but the movie has much pathos and two women, besides helen, play critical roles. troy was given the royal treatment and isn't just a dumb sword and sandal movie.

eric bana was the star of this movie. he played "hector" to the hilt and was able to develop the character, with pathos and humanity. he was the hero and he really steals the lime light from pitt. as for Pitt, he is a good actor and a handsome man *drools*, and he worked out for six months to get buff for the role, but achilles is not a character he inhabits comfortably. also, he played the part in a conflicted state, one minute, tearful and counting his slain enemies and on the other fierce fighting simi god that he was; he brings complexity to a role where it is not required. achilles was a strutting self indulgent, much loved warrior, who had no self doubts and always caught his immage in the polished metal and stopped to look. by treating achilles and the other characters as if they were human, instead of the larger-than-life creations of greek myth, director wolfgang petersen miscalculates. what happens in greek myth cannot happen between psychologically plausible characters. that's the whole point of myth. don't get me wrong the movie is really good, just that one character flaw does not ruin this epic.

the best scene in the movie has peter o'toole creating an island of drama and emotion in the middle of all that plodding dialogue. he plays old king priam of troy, who at night ventures outside his walls and into the enemy camp, surprising achilles in his tent. achilles has defeated priam's son hector in hand-to-hand combat before the walls of troy, and dragged his body back to camp behind his chariot. now priam asks that the body be returned for proper preparation and burial. this scene is given the time and attention it needs to build its mood, and we believe it when achilles tells priam, "you're a far better king than the one who leads this army."

this movie was beautifully made. the action scenes was good but real. the cinematography was really grand. although the story does not quite how the legend says it, i thought it was pretty entertaining yet confusing in some way (hey, i'm one of those gal who believes legend should stay the way it is.. but heck, it was good anyways!). one thing i thought was disappointing. although i know that bloom was meant to play the "i'm-a-lover-not-a-fighter" figure of paris of troy, the scenes and the dialog were pretty cheesy and the chemistry was not developed very well between orlando and diane who plays helen of troy. if you never knew the legend before, you'd see this movie and you'd think how corny it is that these two people fell in love and created such war, although they were just martyrs to agamemnon's greed. it was just not well-believed.

although i'm not so sure about the legend on achilles & perceous, i thought she gave a best line that fits today's headlines, "you are a warrior who seeks for war. peace confuse you."


[some words taken from roger ebert's review for "chicago sun times"]


>> rated by :: sLesTa | [ ]

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