Troy and the Fog of War

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2004)

Note: There are some vague spoilers here, but nothing new if you've read any Homer, or even the Cliff Notes of the Illiad.
Anyone who has read Homer should know the plot of Troy. But you don't, and perhaps that's a good thing. The costuming, hair, and fighting are correct for the time period, but the plot definitely isn't Homer. This movie is "inspired by" the Illiad, not based on it. People die that are supposed to live and those that are supposed to die rarely die at the right time or at all. But what are timelines in the face of modern cinema? You cannot tell that the war lasted ten years in Wolfgang Peterson's version, but, frankly, you probably won't care. Peterson has given us characters to cheer for, wince at, and question.
The questioning is probably the most attractive part. Achilles is by no means perfect, and although Paris is more appealing than he seems in the Illiad, he is still a coward. But we forgive him, and not just because he is Orlando Bloom. We forgive Paris because he tries to be a hero, and he fails. He is human in that sense.
I'm actually incredibly surprised by Orlando Bloom's performance in this movie. His scenes with Hector are incredibly well done. His Paris is much more forgivable then I like to think of him as, but Paris is in love. Ohhhhhhh love, not lust, love. What a change.
Brad Pitt and Eric Bana are great as two incredible forces on the battlefield who are fated to bump into one another. Bana has the perfect face and stance for a Mediterranean in Troy's time period, and I couldn't help comparing him to pre-classical statues. Pitt is not the Achilles I imagined, but few men are. He is brooding and philosophical, and has as much a sense of fate as Hector does.
Troy shows all the stupid reasons we go to war and all the stupid reasons we stay at war. It shows senseless killing, huge egoes, and pointless death. It is war as it has always been and always will be.
Many will see Troy's political aims, especially those who heard Wolfgang Peterson's comments on the films, but please don't let that make up your mind for you. Troy shows war as it truly is: chaos that can cause a kind-hearted, peaceful man to kill a defenseless kid in his cousin's armor.