Troy (2-Disc Edition) [DVD] [2004]

I have no problem with the idea that Homer and the other ancients have to be adapted in making a modern motion picture about the Trojan War. The decision to eliminate the gods is appropriate, getting away from the idea that this was a ten year war makes sense, and if the alliance of the Greeks is now political rather than as part of an oath sworn by the princes who were suitors for Helen's hand, I consider that to be legitimate. I do not understand why Iphigenia, Cassandra, and Hecuba are all eliminated but there are not fatal omissions. But when you start rewriting who gets killed that is going a bit too far, especially when one premature death starts a chain effect that means Athens will never develop the jury system, which means we probably lose out on it too. David Benioff's screenplay was "inspired" by Homer's "Iliad," which at least is an honest way to characterize what he did in this script, but I still do not have to like it or endorse it.

The big selling point for this film was not Homer but rather Brad Pitt as Achilles. Stories abound about how Pitt worked six months to get in shape for this film, gave up smoking, and ended up hurting his Achilles tendon in one of those profound ironies that indicates that maybe the gods were not pleased with what was happening in this film. Pitt certainly looks good, not just in terms of taking several opportunities to display the line of his nude body, but in how he carries himself as Achilles. The whole idea is that this guy is the greatest warrior on the face of the planet and Pitt exudes that with the way he strides across the sands of Troy. Even more impressive is the choreography for the fights, because Pitt's movements are so smooth and powerful, especially compared with that of Eric Bana's Hector, that you do not doubt that this guy is in a league by himself as a warrior. I also like the way he uses the distinctive form of his shield when fighting. They thought this part out quite a bit.

The fight choreography was worked out by Simon Crane, the film's stunt coordinator and second unit director, who describes Achilles as fighting with a boxing style but with the velocity of a speed skater and the agility of a panther. They also come up with a nice touch in that Achilles looks slightly to the side at his opponent until he is ready to come in for the kill. The best fight sequences of "Troy" are when Achilles is fighting. The giant battle sequences of computerized soldiers are not as impressive, mainly because the camera is always in motion and the cutting is so fast that we are left with an impression of the battle rather than always being able to tell what is going on (which has become my constant complaint with most movies with large battle sequences).

Bana does a good job of capturing Hector's nobility without turning him into a marble statue, while Peter O'Toole fills the role of Priam naturally. On the Trojan side the problematic character is Paris (Orlando Bloom), again because of the writing more than the performance. Priam has negotiated peace between Troy and the Sparta of King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), but that is destroyed when Paris persuades Helen (Diane Kruger) to run away with him. Both Hector and Priam know that Paris is wrong and their reasons for supporting him and thereby dooming Troy ring hollow (the less than stellar "Helen of Troy" television miniseries did a nice job of providing a solid motivation for the Trojans to protect Helen).

It you want to draw a clear distinction between Homer's story of Achilles and that of Benioff it is that the former is about the rage of Achilles (see the first line of the "Iliad") and the latter adds an equally strong love element. The one character whose role is most inflated in this version is that of Briseis (Rose Byrne), the Trojan slave girl who comes between Achilles and Agamemnon (Brian Cox), the king of kings for the Greeks. This change becomes the reasoning behind how the film rewrites the end game of the Trojan War, although I still do not understand why some of the key characters get to live happily ever after. But since Pitt's performance dominates the film and he is clearly the horse that director Wolfgang Petersen is riding to make the whole thing work, it makes sense that he has to be around until the very end.

The good news is that when I teach mythology after this DVD comes out my students will probably enjoy attacking Benioff's changes in the original stories of Greek mythology in their papers. I think this will definitely help them understand why the writings of Homer and the other ancients are considered classics.

In all fairness the Iliad does require considerable work to meet the demands of cinema. Anyone familiar with the poem will be aware that even the book shows it oral roots - a huge cast of characters (that the reader is assumed to be already familiar with), lots of repetition of key phrases. The problem is the way it has been adapted. The film feels like it has been written by committee and then filtered through endless focus groups - the resulting script is timid and reliant on cliché. They seem scared to make any tough decisions. They cannot make any sense of Achilles motivation so they reduce it to a dull love story (with captured Trojan, Briseis) and only sketch his relationship with Patroclus. They cannot bear to not have Brad Pitt on screen so the death of Achilles is held over to the finale. They water down the ending so that Andromache, Helen and Hector's son amongst others escape. The extended timeline of the story is shortened to a few days and many of the most interesting characters including the gods are not included.

The film is (partially rescued) by some very good battle scenes and some very good performances. The (largely British) supporting cast makes excellent use of the sketchy material: Peter O'Toole as Priam, Brian Cox as Agamemnon, Sean Bean as Odysseus, Saffron Burrows as Andomache even Orlando Bloom as Paris are all wonderful although they are all rather under utilised. However, the star of the film is Eric Bana as Hector - he is the one fully realised character amongst a host of underwritten clichés - a warrior, a father, a statesman - he is a revelation and holds the film together. I have no problem with the portrayal of Achilles as a 'pretty boy' and Brad Pitt is actually rather good although he suffers most from the woeful script as his motivation is confused at best. More disappointing is Diane Kruger as Helen, she is rather bland and insipid (it is probably not a good idea to have the allegedly most beautiful woman in the world standing next to the lovely Saffron Burrows).

If you love the Iliad and are looking for a faithful adaptation, then this will disappoint. If you are looking for a fun action movie packed with plenty of male and female eye-candy then maybe, just maybe, you will be satisfied with this.