Troy: A movie review and some other stuff

I watched the movie "Troy" a few days ago. When it was released, the reviews didn’t excite me so I put off seeing it. It would have probably been best enjoyed on a large screen, but since I didn’t get around to it, I waited till it rose to the top of my Netflix queue. It’s certainly an epic, as if there would be another way to tell the tale, but even as an epic, it falls short. It wasn’t nearly as good as the Thai epic, "The Legend of Suriyothai," that I reviewed a few weeks ago.

You often hear the complaint that Hollywood ignores God. With Troy, they show they are ignoring gods on an equal opportunity basis. Where would the Greeks be without the gods constantly intermingling with things? The book is supposedly based on Homer’s The Iliad, in which the gods behave as badly as the mortals fighting the battles. In the movie, you don’t have the gods intervening to save Paris from his duel with Helen’s former husband (I can’t keep all these names straight). Nor do you have Apollo guiding Paris’ arrow into Achilles heel. Instead we’re shown a shot of Paris practicing his marksmanship, undoubtedly preparing him for the showdown with his brother’s killer. From what I understand, the movie intentionally depicted the legend without the gods, as a way to make it more realistic.

Troy is a tragedy. Moral order breaks down. Both sides, but especially the Greeks, succumb to pride and passion. Hector, proud of his military victories refuses to take refuge behind the walls of Troy and is killed by Achilles. Achilles, mad about the death of a friend, becomes reckless and hotheaded, shaming Hectors body by dragging it around the city. This violation leads to his own downfall as an arrow strikes him in the heel, his one vulnerable spot. The movie ignores Achilles near immortality;, it takes an arrow in the heel and several more in the chest to bring about his demise). Furthermore, Brad Pitts creates Achilles into some kind of "self-made hero," an ancient Rambo, that is sanctified in the end. The legend of Troy should be a warning to us all about what happens when we let passion and anger rule our lives. I don’t see a lot of sanctification occurring in the legend. But it’s been several decades since I read it.

I should point out in case you’re familiar with Homer’s work that the film takes additional freedom with his story. The Iliad ends with the death and funeral of Hector. The film continues on to the famed Trojan Horse and the fall of Troy. As the city burns, Paris and many of the leading women, at least the glamorous ones, escaping through a secret tunnel. In the legends, Troy is destroyed, the men all killed and the women are hauled away as slaves, which is a much better ending because in this movie, we’re left with the possibility for a sequel. Will Paris finally grow up and return with his harem to the big screen? May the gods intervene!

ENOUGH ABOUT THAT… I think it's time to change my picture. I'm getting tired of the Boy Scout Cherub that Murf so graciously created. The wings and that halo are heavier than they look. They went with my saving snake story of a few weeks ago, but I’m dreaming of being alone in the mountains... Let me see what I can find.

CHECK IT OUT… Early in my blogging experience, I enjoyed the poems of Seawyf, an Italian poet living in England. At the time her blog was named Medusa (yes, this was long before my snake encounter). I even brought a copy a collection of her poems and reviewed it. Seawyf is back. Check out her new blog, Searching, in which she's looking for something with the determination of a knight searching for the grail. (As her background is in the classics, I she may think my interpretation of Homers is full of crap). Also, welcome back to Murf, who has been on the Honky-tonk circuit in Texas this past week. And Ed Abbey has a great quote today from the real Edward Abbey.