Troy

Troy

Troy is a war/action which debuted in 2004, directed by Wolfgang Petersen.  The main actors are Brad Pitt he plays Achilles, Eric Bana who plays Hector, Orlando Bloom he portrays Paris, and Diane Kruger she plays Helen of Troy.  The film is based on Homer’s “Iliad” that portrays the war between the ancient kingdoms of Troy and Sparta.  With dissent among critic reviews and audience reviews Troy is a film that could’vedone better.  When it comes down to historical accuracy the film gets some events right whileseveral events are inaccurate to appeal to audiences.

There are many differences in how critics reviewed the film, some critics liked it while others not so much.  David Denby from the New Yorker says “harsh, serious, and both exhilarating and tragic, the right tonal combination for Homer.”  Mr. Denby clearly enjoyed the film as he feels like the film did a good at portraying Homer’s epic.  Felix Vasquez Jr from Cinema Crazed disagrees with Denby saying “while an achievement in visuals, Troy fails in every other aspect including its writing and storytelling.”  Vasquez like many other critics felt like Troy had the potential to be a great movie with its big-name actors, but Vazquez feels like the movie was put in the wrong hands as it “dragged on.”Vazquez also feels like the film doesn’t pay homage to its true storyteller Homer, the exact opposite of how Denby feels.Troy is a long film that spans over three hours, in Vazquez’s review he continues to rip the film saying it lacks dimension and such shallow characters in a film that is so long.  Will Self with the London Evening Standard opposes Vasquez’s view on the characters in the film.  “Brad is worth the ticket price alone and others turned in credible performances, particularly Eric Bana as an upright family man who just happens to be the prince of a warlike city-state, and Sean Bean as Odysseus the Ironic.  The differences of opinion from these critics in their reviews make for an interesting watch for viewers and certain things to look out for while watching Troy.

Troy like most Hollywood films didn’t get everything right portraying Homer’s “Iliad.”  There are several inaccuracies in the film to appeal to a modern audience.  Probably the biggest thing the film got wrong was the time span of the war.  The Trojan War was known to last at least ten years, as the Greeks tried to constantly get into the city of Troy but got in with no luck until they came up with the plan of the Trojan Horse.Even though there is no clear timeline in the film it doesn’t seem like ten years from the moment the Greeks land on the beach to the moment Achilles is killed by Paris.  Another way the movie tried to bring interests to a modern audience was having King Agamemnon killed, but in Homer’s Iliad Agamemnonsurvived the war.Menelaus Agamemnon’s brother who was also killed in the film, by Hector during his battle with Paris, survived the war in the Iliad.  In the film Patroclus is Achilles younger cousin, but they weren’t cousins they were thought to be close friends if not lovers.  Maybe that is why Achilles was so emotional when Hector killed Patroclus.The armor used in the film doesn’t fit in with the era of the Trojan War.  The average soldier’s armor would have been much smaller than what it was in the film.  Once again, the armor in the film was mostly used to help the audience tell the difference between who a Trojan was and who was a Greek.During the Trojan War civilization was still in the Bronze Age so the iron weapons used in the movie wouldn’t have been used during the Trojan War as the Iron Age didn’t start until several years after the war.

As much as the director and screenwriters got wrong, there were some events they got historically accurate.  Helen is a big part in the story of the Trojan War, but her role in the movie isn’t as big as it should be.  The film was right on how Helen and Paris’ decision to take off to Troy after the peace treaty between Greece and Troy did spark the war.  The film was true to how Achilles felt after learning of the death of Patroclus.  They were also right about how Achilles treated Hector’s body after killing him during their battle.   The way Achilles treated Hector’s body was intolerable and over the line.  The events that follow the treatment of Hector’s body are also historically accurate.  Priam, Hector’s father sneaks into the Greek camp and begs Achilles to let him take Hector’s body so he can get the proper funeral.  Achilles accepts Priam’s plea to let him take his son as the fighting is put on hold so the funeral could take place.In the film Achilles and his group of warriors, the Myrmidonsare given a lot of respect and could do what they pleased while fighting, this is historically accurate.  Even though Agamemnon and Achilles didn’t see eye to eye, Agamemnon let Achilles and his group do whatever they wanted because he knew how important the Myrmidons were to win the war for the Greeks.  Some minor details that the film got right was the architecture in the city of Troy.  Troy was an incredibly advanced city when it came down to architecture.  Troy couldn’t be invaded because of the gigantic wall that protected the city and its civilians.  It took a clever plan like the use of the Trojan horse to be used in order to invade Troy.  The character of Odysseus was portrayed in the correct manner as he was known to be very clever and intelligent.   He is the one who convinced Achilles to come fight for the Greeks and he came up with the plan of the Trojan horse that eventually sealed the win for the Greeks and put an end to the Trojan War.

For me personally I enjoyed the film as it made for a good watch.  I do agree with some of the critics that the other characters like Helen and Paris could have played a bigger role in the film since the story of the Trojan War began with them.  The only other thing I didn’t enjoy about the movie was how long it was, they could’ve done a better job at showing the time span of the war and allow more screen time for the characters that deserved it. Achilles played by Brad Pitt takes up most of the screen time even though he did a good job of playing Achilles.  His and Hector’s square offs are interesting to see, but the film could have done more in expanding on the story of Helen and Paris instead of leaving it in the background of the movie.  The film was interesting to watch because it was fascinating to get a look into what ancient times looked like.  How they did battle, how they interacted with one another, and how they celebrated.Watching films like Troy also makes for a good learning experience especially when there are multiple historical accuracies in the film.What I also liked about the film was the job they did at showing the drama that led up to certain battles like the one between Achilles and Hector, and Between Paris and Menelaus.  When it came down to showing the culture of the Greeks and Trojans the film did a decent job at portraying what their culture was like during that time.