In short, the movie, Troy, is an epic poem designed for Brad Pitt the Hollywood movie star. For 2 hours and 43 minutes, the adaptation of Homers epic poem The Iliad offers a fascinating mixture of mythological warrior Achilles and this blond sexy star.
--A Movie By Brad Pitt and For Brad Pitt
The rendezvous of Pitt and the epic blockbuster Troy seems unusual. Though enjoying fame as a sexy icon, Pitt has chosen films, such as 12 Monkeys and Snatch, which had strong characters but not popular support. His transformation might not satisfy his fanatic fans, but Wolfgang Petersen, who had directed The Perfect Storm, amplified Pitts attractiveness in a real sense.
The movie starts with a scene around B.C. 3200 when Paris (Orlando Bloom), a Trojan prince, has run off with Helen (Diane Kruger), queen of Sparta. It triggers Agamemnon (Brian Cox), king of Mycenae, to form an alliance to attack Troy. Achilles (Brad Pitt), the greatest warrior of the Greeks, goes to war to leave his name as an immortal hero in spite of the prophecy that he will die if he sets off to Troy.
This film condensed the vigorous and stalwart epic of the Trojan War, taking a speedy approach. Present in the epic but missing from the movie was the golden apple from Eris, the goddess of discord, who provoked the Trojan War. Instead, the film is filled with human and political interpretations about authority, love, and honor.
The highlights of the blockbuster, which cost 200 million dollars (240 billion won), are the action scenes of Brad Pitt. His blond hair flowing in the wind, Pitt shows off his masculinity in his battle with the Trojan champion Hector (Eric Bana), which reminds of one-on-one brawls of gunmen in western movies. Moreover, through his fatal love with Trojan priestess Briseis (Rose Byrne), he reveals the human anguish and the path to becoming a genuine hero. Director Petersen deals with the tragic death of Achilles in such detail that he induces tears from the audience.
--A Movie for Men
Troy exposes its affection for the world of men. The men in Troy, including Trojan king Priam (nobleness, generosity), his two sons Paris (love) and Hector (honor, patriotism), Agamemnon, king of Mycenae (authority), and Odysseus, King of Ithaca (wisdom), are simple characters acting with personalities endowed by Petersen. Achilles is the only complicated character, who used to consider victory and honor as the utmost, but who learns to understand the pain of love and war.
Like this, the movie has chosen the blockbusters easy way of story telling. By simplifying the characters, it delivers its message clearly. The one-on-one encounters and conflicts among Hector, Priam (Peter OToole), Agamemnon, and Achilles effectively present the inner workings of human beings confronting war, love, and death. In this way, the movie is somewhat different from other blockbusters where visuals are too much emphasized without dramatic quality. Relatively, the female characters, including Helen and Briseis, are made smaller.
The visual effects of the movie provide more realistic and spectacle drama than those of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In particular, the large-scale battle scenes, the Trojan horse, and the fall of Troy are fascinating. Troy opens on May 21 for audiences over 15 years old.
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