Troy

TROY is a sobering and haunting film about the absolute folly of war.

Sure, the dialogue is elementary and not worthy of the epic nature of this film, and I am getting tired of computer-generated armies. The film is an adaptation of Homer’s ILIAD – a history of ancient Greece. I have only read the parts of the ILIAD required by school and the ODYSSEY as interpreted by the Coen Brothers (O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?). However, I didn’t get lost in the plot – which I found sufficiently complex to hold my attention. I want to read these now – more fodder for my desert island stint.

For all the cliche’s, the stupidity of war is made clear enough – and they do it anyway.

What have we learned in the 3,200 years since the Trojan Horse and the beautiful face of Helen that launched a thousand ships?

Not much. Because we keep doing it over and over again. Einstein called it madness when someone keeps repeating the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

He must have read his ILIAD as a kid.

Don’t listen to the critics on this one. The language is simple enough for the politicians to understand and they should appreciate that, rather than diss the film.

As I was leaving the theater I asked an older woman (well, older than me!) what she thought of the film. She said she loved it! I was kind of surprised, because that wasn’t exactly how I would have expressed it. So I asked her why. She said, “Because it’s the story! It’s such a great story and told so well!” I responded that all I could think of was the world situation today and the US participation in the war in Iraq. She responded, “Yes, well, that’s why my husband wouldn’t come. Just hearing about this film reminded him of the war and he didn’t want to see it.”

Yes, Brad Pitt is a hunk and plays Achilles well (a character worth exploring because he seems to be amoral, but not so me thinks…), but my kudos go to Eric Bana who plays Hector, Prince of Troy. He was the most sane and bravest of the lot – though even he gave in to his younger brother (played by Orlando Bloom) to bring Helen to Troy – and that started the whole mess in the first place.