A very good film with accurate production design

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2009)

In my opinion, this movie is good, and I don't understand why so many people despise it because "it is not faithful to the Iliad", or because it "is not historically reliable". First of all, decide what you want: if you want history, you need to throw the Iliad out of the window, because Homer was definitely NOT historically accurate. If you want Homer, you have to get rid of history. Now, some short reflections. Speaking of "historical mistakes" with reference to Troy is nonsense: the movie is inspired to a myth, and the myth is the result of fantastic amplification and transfiguration of historical events. The Trojan war was very different from its poetical (not only Homeric) representations: as historians such as Moses Finley showed, it did not last ten years, but probably was a series of short raids aiming at plunder. As a matter of fact, the post-Homeric epics describe Achilles as a thug and the Myrmidons as a band of robbers, spoiling temples and abducting daughters of priests. Besides, at the time of the Trojan war the Myceneans were considerably impoverished in comparison with the wealth of the previous centuries, and so they needed new lands to conquer and sack (as Pierre Leveque has clearly pointed out). Homer describes the Greek army as powerful and glamorous; he aims to glorify the heroes and their achievements, but after all the poet is a Ionic rationalist, and every now and then he lets us understand how brutal and ruthless these ancient warriors really were. And just as he is a Ionic rationalist, he mixes the archaic mysticism with a sort of scepticism towards the Gods and their astonishing deeds, fascinating relics of an ancestral tradition which Homer remembered well but maybe could not completely understand himself. And now, some words about the so-called 'unfaithfulness' towards the Iliad. First, the movie tells the whole story of the Trojan war and not only the subject treated by Homer (Achilles' wrath, Patroclus' death, Achilles'revenge); therefore,the screenwriter needed other sources, and he found them not only in Greek ancient poetry (post-Homeric epics, tragedy), but also in Medieval and modern literatures (Benoit de Sainte Maure's "Roman deTroie", Christa Wolf's "Cassandra"). Besides, Homer was NOT faithful to the previous epic tradition (for instance, he denies Iphigeneia's sacrifice, or Achilles'stay in Skyros, two episodes which probably date back to a very ancient stage of Greek mythology) and later poets and writers were NOT faithful to Homer. They told the myth of the Trojan war in different ways and from different points of view. For instance,the authors of the Roman era (such as Virgilius, Seneca, Dracontius)show a deep sympathy for the Trojans (who were considered the ancestors of the Romans): they exalt Hector's courage and try to excuse Paris for his faults. During the Roman empire, the applauded public speaker Dione of Prusa (something similar to a modern TV anchorman) criticized Homer for his employ of the Gods in the action; besides, he said that Achilles was killed by Hector and the war won by the Trojans, and that the whole tradition on the matter was conditioned by the Greek point of view. Later writers told about Achilles'love for the Trojan princess Polyxena, how they met in Apollo's temple where Paris treacherously killed the hero, and how she killed herself on Achilles'grave (Philostratos). And so on: the Greek myth is a perpetual work-in-progress. Any scholar in Literature should know this well. So, Benioff's screenplay is an interesting work, which elaborates quite a lot of sources with some personal touch, in order to adapt the myth to an anti-imperialistic point of view. As regards the mise en scène, I loved the breathtaking battle sequences (especially the duel between Patroclus and Hector and the one between Hector and Achilles: the latter is nearly a homo-erotic scene, with the palpable physical contact between the two heroes), the magnificent scenery (especially the palaces of Agamemnon and Priam, and the Greek camp), the accuracy in reproducing weapons and armour (notice that, just like in Homer, only Ajax fights in the Mycenean way, while Achilles and Hector use more recent tactics). With regard to the acting: Brad Pitt/Achilles is awesome (he IS Achilles!), but also Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom are very convincing in their roles (however, Bana, who acts the "good guy", has got an easier job). Rose Byrne/Briseis plays her part very well, and Julie Christie gives as a present her delightful cameo