A missed opportunity for true epic movie making.

Rating: 6/10 (17 May 2004)

After watching "Troy" last night, I had mixed feelings at best. I had been looking forward to this latest adaptation of Homer's great epic for the last couple of years. "The Iliad" had been my favorite book since I was a kid - I've read several translations over the years, and have also read Homer's "The Odyssey", Virgil's "The Aeneid", Quintus of Smyrna's "The Fall of Troy" (also called the "Posthomerica"), Aeschylus' "Agamemnon", "The Libation Bearers" and "The Eumenides", Sophocles' "Ajax", and Euripides' "Iphigenia in Aulis", "Hecuba", "The Trojan Women" and "Andromache" for good measure. These books (along with the now-lost "Cypria", "Aethiopis", "Ileupersis", the "Little Iliad" and the "Nostoi" of which we have only fragments) provide the complete back-story to the decade-long Trojan War. Finally getting to see a big screen adaptation (with Brad Pitt as Achilles and Aussie hunk Eric Bana as Hector, no less) was certainly an exciting prospect. The last big screen adaptation of "The Iliad" was made in the 1956 ("Helen of Troy") and centred on the characters of Paris and Helen, beautifully portrayed by Jacques Sernas and Rosanna Podesta. Rosanna Podesta looked divine  her face could have launched a thousand ships. The more recent 2003 TV mini-series adaptation, likewise called "Helen of Troy", also focused on Paris and Helen. Both the 1956 and the 2003 versions were serviceable, although I disliked the latter version for the number of unforgivable liberties it took with the story of the Trojan War, like having a BALD Vin Diesel wannabe portray a savage, cowardly and irredeemable Achilles.
Unfortunately, "Troy" is typical Hollywood - all pomp and circumstance, blood and gore, with little heart or emotional resonance. "Troy" is certainly mixed bag. It is entertaining - there are enough blood and gore to satisfy the blokes and plenty of hunky male flesh (the buffed-up Brad Pitt and Eric Bana, and the lithe and toned Orlando Bloom) to satisfy the ladies. The battle scenes are fantastic, and the climatic fight scene between Brad Pitt's Achilles and Eric Bana's Hector is heart-stopping stuff. If you haven't read Homer, you would probably enjoy it. But if you are a Homer fan, you would probably squirm at the liberties taken with Homer's great epic. In terms of characterisation and back-story development, 2003's 'Helen of Troy' actually did a better job (except for its characterisation of Achilles): you get a much better sense of why Helen and Paris fell in love (and their love for each other was much more convincing than Orlando Bloom and Diana Kruger would have us believe), why Agamemnon hated Troy so (at first, he was merely opportunistic in exploiting Menelaus' distress as a chance to conquer Troy  but the fates and the Gods soon overtake him), and how, despite being a weakling under his brother's thumb, Menelaus is actually a pretty decent man (he was a not a cruel and crude man as 'Troy' portrayed him but truly loved Helen  his honour had to be restored because Paris' act of stealing Helen broke the sacred law that a guest MUST NEVER violate the hospitality that his host has granted  and of course, he survived to bring Helen home to Sparta). And now, for my gripes. There are spoilers ahead, so do not read further if you do not want to know any major plot points in the movie.
1. One of my biggest gripes is the tampering done with Homer's sublime scene in which King Priam of Troy begged Achilles for the body of his son, Hector. In Homer's original, Priam softened Achilles' heart by comparing himself to Achilles' father, King Peleus of Phtia. Once great and noble warriors - both were now old and defenseless men who relied on their sons for love, hope, security and protection. But while Peleus still had hope that Achilles would return from war one day, Priam was devoid of hope since his most beloved son and heir was dead. And Priam had endured what no other man had ever done - kissed the hands of the man who killed so many of his sons. In Homer, it was this appeal to Achilles' feelings for his own father that softened the great warrior's heart. In "Troy" however, Achilles' father was supposedly long dead by then, which renders that whole pivotal scene senseless. Achilles' sorrow was stirred by his thoughts of his lonely father waiting fruitlessly for his return  Achilles knew he would be doomed to an early death. Weeping over Hector's body makes no sense otherwise. [Note: Priam actually had 50 sons (and several daughters) with Queen Hecuba and various concubines. Most died during the course of the ten-year war. One son, Helenus, survived the war. Paris died along with the rest, contrary to what 'Troy' suggests.]
2. The Trojan War was supposed to have lasted for TEN long gruelling years. Homer's epic actually covers only several weeks during the ninth year of the war. "The Iliad" ends with Hector's funeral, and it is actually other works like "The Odyssey", "The Aeneid" and "The Fall of Troy" that go on to provide the details of how Troy lost the war. And yet "Troy" resolved the entire war in a matter of days. In 'Troy', one does not get a sense of how weary and despondent both the Trojans AND the Greeks had become by the end of the ninth year of the war.
3. In one of the final scenes in 'Troy', Paris gave the so-called 'Sword of Troy' to a young stranger named Aeneas who was fleeing the city carrying his aged father. Paris gave the "Sword of Troy" to the first Trojan refugee he found? He entrusted the future hope for the Trojan race to an unknown stranger? In the ancient epics, far from being an anonymous refugee, Aeneas was Troy's second best warrior. It was he who fought at the forefront of war with Hector most of the time. It was he who would go on to revive the lot of Trojans by setting up a new colony for the refugees that would later become Rome. [Note 1: When the Roman poet Virgil wrote an epic detailing Rome's origin to celebrate the Emperor Augustus' ascension, he weaved the work called 'The Aeneid', modelled on Homer's 'Iliad', which tells of how Aeneas escaped from the sack of Troy with many Trojan refugees and founded the colony that would later become Rome. 'The Aeneid' also provides a romantic version of how Rome and Carthage came to be such deadly mortal enemies  Aeneas fell in love with Queen Dido of Carthage on his way to Italy  he was commanded by the gods to abandon her and sail on to Italy to fulfill his destiny. Queen Dido committed suicide out of despair, and the enmity between Rome and Carthage was born. Note 2: The 'Sword of Troy' is an artistic license. There was no such thing in the epics. There was, however, the 'Palladium', the sacred statue of Athena that Odysseus and Diomedes stole from Troy - it had been predicted that Troy would never fall as long as the statue resided within its walls. ]
4. In the ancient epics, Patroclus and Achilles grew up together (Patroclus was actually the ELDER cousin) - they were inseparable and were the best of friends. They were probably even lovers (Homer was rather coy about this although the hints are all over the place, and being bisexual was not unusual amongst Greek warriors), which was why the full wrath of Achilles was only unleashed when Hector killed Patroclus. In the 'Iliad', Achilles refused to fight even after Agamemnon had humbled himself by returning Briseis, offering various treasures, and even one of his daughters in marriage, if Achilles would end his sulk and repel the Trojans from the Greek camps. Achilles refused, and Hector came ever closer to burning the ships and slaughtering the entire Greek army. In desperation, Patroclus begged Achilles for the loan of his golden armour  if Achilles himself would not save his Greek friends, Patroclus would disguise himself as Achilles and ride with his much-feared Myrmidon warriors (meaning 'ants', probably an allusion to unstoppable ants with their nasty bites) to fool the Trojans into believing that Achilles himself had come to rescue the Greek army. Achilles agreed, but warned Patroclus to turn back after the Trojans have been driven away from the ships  he must not fight Hector under any circumstances. Patroclus got carried away with the success of his ploy and was killed when he tried to storm the gates of Troy himself. Achilles' wrath was unleashed precisely because he himself caused his beloved Patroclus' death by being so damn proud and stubborn. In "Troy", Patroclus was a naive younger cousin who died because he foolishly disobeyed orders. Short of being a completely unmitigated savage, there would have been no reason for Achilles to desecrate Hector's body. [Note: Desecration of the dead body and denial of burial rites are VERY SERIOUS affronts to Greek sensibilities. I did like the small touches in 'Troy' like the coins placed on the eyes of dead bodies to pay Charon, the underworld's ferryman, to carry dead souls across the River Styx.]
5. Where are Cassandra and her dire warnings about Greeks bearing gifts? [Note' Eldest daughter of Priam, Cassandra was cursed with being able to foretell the future but to never have anyone believe her predictions.] Where is Queen Hecuba?
6. The Agamemnon in "Troy" is a caricature - the ultimate cruel, corrupt and amoral politician. There is no hint of that most painful of sacrifices that Agamemnon had to make to embark on his war - that very sacrifice that turned him from being merely a greedy and ambitious politician to being a deadly and almost insane enemy to all things Trojan. The sacrifice of Iphigenia, seen so powerfully in 2003's "Helen of Troy", should have been in this movie. As should have been Agamemnon's ultimate fate in the hands of HIS OWN WIFE, not Briseis. [Note: In the beginning, Agamemnon, High King of the Greeks, was only making use of Helen as an excuse to expand Greek hegemony in the Aegean Sea. He gathered the massive Greek armada at Aulis to sail for Troy. But the westerly winds that would send the ships on their way to Troy just would not arrive  the Greek armada was stuck at Aulis for months on end. Finally, the High Priest of the Greeks declared that the Gods themselves would not support the Greek cause and send favourable winds unless their High King sacrificed his most treasured possession, his daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon was desperate  his greed did not extend to sending his daughter to her death  but the other Greek kings demanded the sacrifice because Greek honour must be restored by reclaiming Helen. Agamemnon had no choice but to cave in to the demand. His queen, Clytemnestra (Helen's sister) would never forgive him for the murder of their daughter, and it was she who would hack Agamemnon to death in bloody revenge after he returned from Troy in victory.]
The one bright spot in "Troy" is Sean Bean's Odysseus. He's the one character that seems most consistent with how Homer himself would have wanted him portrayed. Sigh ... if I could have my wish, I would take the best elements of all three versions of the Trojan War made so far ("Helen of Troy" 1956, "Helen of Troy" 2003 and "Troy" 2004) and combine them into one movie. By all means, watch this movie if you like the swords and sandals genre. But don't go in expecting a faithful adaptation of "The Iliad". I can only give "Troy" 3 stars out of 5.