Once again, it is 1:00 am, and I have just finished watching another "classic". Only this time, instead of screaming men, dwarves, hobbits, elves, trees and other miscellaneous creatures, I watched screaming men only (quite good-looking ones I might add) for around 3 hours. This is perhaps the 3rd time I have watched Troy. The first two times were great. I came away singing praises in the name of all things associated with Eric Bana (who played Hector). But somehow, this time, it failed to impress me.
Basically, the movie is about an epic fight between Greece and Troy. The battle of of all battles. Fought over the hand of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Helen is the wife of the Greek king's brother. She runs away with the handsome playboy prince of Troy, Paris (played by Orlando Bloom). So, obviously, Greece goes to Troy to bring her back, and in the process, to add Troy to their vast empire. But to defeat the Trojans, they need the greatest warrior in known world, Achilles, who is played by none other than.....Brad Pitt. So, for all practical purposes, Achilles leads the Greeks into war against the Trojans who are lead by Hector; warrior prince and heir to the throne of Troy....confusing?
Which brings me to the actors. My favorite character by far was Hector. I think it is commendable the way Eric Bana managed to maintain his sex-appeal even while delivering all those cheezy dialogues. Hector had my sympathy and admiration through the whole movie. Achilles, Brad Pitt's character, only managed to give me an overpowering urge to reach into the tv screen and whack him over the head. Achilles is supposed to be the hero...someone the audience roots for. Apart from trying but failing utterly to talk in a British accent, Brad wears only one expression throughout the entire movie, and it isn't even a good one. Paris was simpering, and talked in a nauseatingly affected manner, but that was the way the character was supposed to be, and I think Orlando Bloom did a good job with that.
Ok..outstanding moments..well, there weren't too many. But I particularly liked the conversation between King Priam(of Troy), played by Peter O' Toole, and Achilles. Also, Priam's expression when he sees Troy burning and when he is stabbed to death by Agemmemnon, the Greek king. Hell, I loved all the Priam moments. But the best part was at the very end. With the background of a haunting, soulful Arabic mourning song, the following was said...
....let it be said that I lived in the time of Hector.......
....let it be said...that I lived in the time...of Achilles.
4 comments:
see..that's what i thought the 1st time i watched it. but my appreciation has been decreasing exponentially each time i watch it..which i mentioned. except for the hecto, hector part. i guess the more you watch it, the more you notice deprecatory details.
There's an amazing funda behind troy. The fact is that it wasn't a coincidence. The gods had destined it to happen. It was destined that Helen would be an adultress. It was similarly destined that Cassandra (daughter of Priam,the king of Troy )would predict that the wooden horse would be filled with soldiers.
The story is this : the greek god apollo asked for Cassandra's hand in marriage. She refused, but later agreed on the condition that Apollo give her the power of future sight. Apollo agreed, and again asked her hand in marriage. Cassandra dint comply once more(against her promise). So, Apollo got enraged. He asks her for one last act of passion. When they kissed, Apollo spat some sort of poison into Cassandra's mouth, because of which, although she could predict the future, no one would believe her. So, Cassandra predicts that there would be soldiers in the wooden horse, but no one believes her, and the rest is history(and serious oscar material)
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