The Art Neuro Weblog

Troy, the Movie
Don't read on if you haven't read 'the Iliad'.

It must be sign of the times when 'Lord of the Rings' makes it to the big screen in three gigantic installations, that the hoariest of the old war stories, 'The Iliad' clambers on to the stage. It is possible that every generation should get a shot at the classics, and this is the time when uncertainty doesn't pay. The top grossing films of all time now include 'Titanic'; Mel Gibson's 'The Passion', 'Lord of the Rings' 1,2 &3; and now this entry, 'Troy'. What can we say? People like watching films where they know how it ends? The ship hits the iceberg and sinks, they nail the sad guy with the beard to the cross, the Hobbits destroy the evil ring, and they sack the mighty city of Troy.

In fact, the resemblance to Lord of the Rings is pretty remarkable. Orlando Bloom plays a rather prissy Paris, who through the LOTR prism might be misconstrued as a fey, over-amorous elf. Sean Bean plays Odysseus, which seems appropriate, seeing that Boromir had good ideas too; Tolkien just didn't agree with them so he killed off Boromir in a hurry. Then there are the hirsute Atreus brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus, who come over like a pair of greedy dwarves. Even the battle action is reminiscent of the action in LOTR, which I guess is not such a bad thing.

The thing that gets me, is that combined with a very buff Brad Pitt and formerly hulking Eric Bana, it adds up to a rather un-memorable rendition of the Iliad. Perhaps the problem is that since childhood we have imagined a better siege of Troy. The walls look good, the costumes look great, the boats look menacing, the fight scenes are pretty good, but it all adds up to less than what you would expect of a dirty big-budget movie about the fall of Troy.

What's wrong with this?
In 'The Art of Fiction', John Gardner writes what amounts to a nice treatment of a short story based on Helen. If I recall correctly, what Gardner works towards is a psychological portrait of Helen, and the surprise she feels when she sees the vast Greek armada from her window in Troy one morning. Gardner argues the merit of the choice of character, place, time, to get to this moment in the story. That being said, I waited with baited breath for Wolfgang Petersen's treatment of this moment. First, he telegraphed it by having Helen expect it. Then, when the Greeks do arrive, there is a shot of her passive, almost irritated look. You know folks? It's just plain wrong. One wishes that Petersen was shown that passage by Gardner and he might not have made something so mundane out of that moment. It's one thing to look out and see ships from Sparta to come and retrieve her; the entire Greek armada? Where's her surprise?

The slaying of Hector is pretty mundane too. Brad Pitt grabs some leather and ties the corpse, does half a turn on his chariot and goes home. Where are the seven and half turns around the castle walls? Priam should watch in even deeper horror as his son's body is treated so badly. Well, they have none of that in this movie, and I think therein lies its problem. Also, the scene between Priam and Achilles is a weird one too. It is the most important scene in the Iliad, where Priam begs Achilles to return the body of Hector. While Peter O'Toole and Brad Pitt put in fine performances, there is not enough of the grimness that you expect in that scene where Achilles must consider his own end.

Oh yes. Menelaus and Agamemnon both die in this flick.
Agamemnon in particular gets a sad treatment in this film. (Electra? Where are you now?) He's essentially a nasty little megalomaniac despot who has conquered the city-states of Greece in his bid for an Empire. There is nothing grand or profound about this character; just your typical movie-bad-guy offering obstacles to the hero Achilles. All the Greeks come across as being petty in this film. Even Odysseus comes across as a small man in this film, and I wonder if this is what Petersen wanted.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth
I, so longed long to hear that line, when the Trojans find the wooden horse statue on the beach after the Greeks have pulled out. Unfortunately, there wasn't somebody witty enough in the script team to slip that one through.

Why Troy? Why now?
The most classic story about war and the horrors therein is brought to the screen with a prosaic quality that is more in line with a Merhcant Ivory production than what we would call cinema epic. It's interesting to meditate on the significance of Troy. Troy is the first moment in history where the West triumphs over the East, and delivers a migthy blow. Troy presages Marathon, the Greek struggle against Persia, Alexander's campaigns, the Roman conquest of the Middle East, and even the Crusades. I guess the victory that the East get to gloat over would be the fall of Constantinople. As such, the text carries much significance in being taken to the big screen in our times. When you watch 'Troy' you cannot help but think about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A-chilles? I was thinking A-Rod
I know it's sad, but it's true. The way Achilles comes across in this film is a bit like the way Alex Rodriguez comes across as a New York Yankee. You know, they're already pretty damn good; why do they need the eminently best slayer/player of his generation as well?

- Art Neuro