Review of Troy (2004) by Jennetp — 15 Jan 2011

"Troy" is a terrific piece of entertainment. When it opened, I'll admit, my companion and I went solely to heap derision and abuse on it but we walked out smiling. It's pseudo-scholars, not scholars, who whine about deviations from Homer; scholars know that the Troy material has always been altered and adapted by artists, whether by ancient Greek dramatists, medieval poets, or modern historical novelists.

I actually found the film acceptably Homeric, treating the Iliad's main conflict (Agamemnon's insult to Achilles and the resulting disasters), as well as many of its themes, (honor and dishonor in war, e.

G.) and strategies (compression, e.g.). And the decision to take the gods out of the action was a good one; no filmmaker yet has managed to make them look anything but silly. The biggest surprise in the film is Brad Pitt's Achilles, which I expected to deplore and actually rather liked.

He combines preternatural power and grace, pride, contempt and melancholy into a coherent whole, and, aside from wishing him genuinely berserk (not just p*ssed off) when he goes after Hector, I was impressed.

The film has a lot of smart casting, especially Peter O'Toole, whose dignified, suffering Priam makes the fall of Troy searing, Brian Cox, his greedy, unprincipled counterpart on the Greek side, and Orlando Bloom as Paris (though it was hard to watch Bloom shoot arrows at human, rather than elf, speed).

The only real weak spot is Diane Kruger's insipid Helen, but no actress has yet managed to convince as "the face that launched a thousand ships," and, yes, I'm including Elizabeth Taylor. They need an Aishwarya Rai: now there's a woman to start a war over.

I also grew weary of self-reflexive portent in the dialogue ("They'll be talking about this war and the heroes who fought in it for thousands of years"). But the film has many more strengths, including naval and battle choreography, sets, costumes, and the infamous Trojan Horse, which was perfect.