The Trojan War against all Wars

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2004)

The true revelation of "Troy" is David Benioff, the author of a tough, demystifying screenplay, which is also able to give coherence to a scattered, contradictory mythical tradition. Benioff eliminates the gods, lifeless ghosts of an ancestral religion, who already in Homer appeared to be only vain, even ridiculous puppets. Achilles cuts the head of Apollon off, but on the other hand Hector openly contests the useless superstitions of some grotesque Trojan priests. But the main target of Benioff's polemic script is the thirst for power of Agamemnon and Menelaus, the Homeric "hateful sons of Atreus"; the Trojan war itself is condemned as a prototype of every ancient (or modern) imperialistic war. But if the movie blames the war, by presenting it as a dreadful myth of the past (but, unfortunately, of the present too), on the contrary it shows a deep respect towards Homer and his poetry. Entire sequences of the Iliad are carefully translated into images of flawless visual suggestion. If one knows the Iliad well, it is easy for him to identify keen references to single verses of the Homeric masterpiece: the Achaean "phalanx" which tightens itself, "man close to man, shield close to shield"; Achilles who "puts his hands on the chest of" the dead Patroclus, and stays awake near his friend's pyre for a whole night; the impeccable representation of the Greek camp, of the ships and of the tents. The so often criticized 'alterations' of the Homeric text represent a discussion of the myth, not of Homer's poetry. As a matter of fact, the most significant changes do not concern Homer, but the final part of the Trojan saga, which was originally narrated by some modest rhapsodic poets trying to imitate the great Homer. It is worthwhile to indicate that the final of Troy, with its precocious sentimental implications, is inspired to the Medieval tradition, especially to Benoit de Sainte Maure's "Roman de Troie"(very well known also to Dante), while the movie gives less importance to the incoherent, disordered tales of the late Epic tradition. Some more words about the acting. Brad Pitt is incredibly able to identify himself with the melancholic (although lethal)Achilles; but also Eric Bana is convincing in his interpretation of Hector, and Orlando Bloom manages well the anti-heroic character for excellence, that is to say Paris. Only the women are a disappointment, excepting Julie Christie and Rose Byrne/Briseis.