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arysteiaFirst impressions and brief character reaction, no plot spoilers.
I can honestly say I had a fantastic time last night, but not because Troy is a good film. It really isn't. It is, however, a magnificent spectacle, and provided hours of amusement. Most of it derived, however, from the increasing number of outraged elbows colliding with my ribs, and the horrified looks flying back and forth between my friends. Initially I thought I was being a snob, but when the front row started booing and demanding their money back I realised that while my objections may have been different, I was not alone.
I'd actually managed to self-hypnotise myself, over the last week or so, into divorcing Troy the movie from the Iliad in my mind, at least as much as I'll ever be able to. And that helped. The deviations from "canon" were actually what bothered me *least*. People died who shouldn't have, people lived who shouldn't have, but I took all that with a grain of salt and enjoyed the drama for what it was.
What I hated with the passion of a thousand supernovas, and will never forgive, is the horrendous characterisation of Achilles, and the emasculation (in all senses of the word) of his relationship with Patroklos. I'll save the in depth exploration for my spoilerific full review, but suffice it to say that I felt no investment in either of them. Which is very hard for someone who's been in love with both of them for twenty years.
The battle scenes were great, and Brad Pitt (or his stunt double) pulls off some amazingly agile leaps and somersaults. There's also a *lot* of eyecandy, for once more for the women than the men. So as a whole it's great to look at, but make sure you leave your expectations at the door.
I can honestly say I had a fantastic time last night, but not because Troy is a good film. It really isn't. It is, however, a magnificent spectacle, and provided hours of amusement. Most of it derived, however, from the increasing number of outraged elbows colliding with my ribs, and the horrified looks flying back and forth between my friends. Initially I thought I was being a snob, but when the front row started booing and demanding their money back I realised that while my objections may have been different, I was not alone.
I'd actually managed to self-hypnotise myself, over the last week or so, into divorcing Troy the movie from the Iliad in my mind, at least as much as I'll ever be able to. And that helped. The deviations from "canon" were actually what bothered me *least*. People died who shouldn't have, people lived who shouldn't have, but I took all that with a grain of salt and enjoyed the drama for what it was.
What I hated with the passion of a thousand supernovas, and will never forgive, is the horrendous characterisation of Achilles, and the emasculation (in all senses of the word) of his relationship with Patroklos. I'll save the in depth exploration for my spoilerific full review, but suffice it to say that I felt no investment in either of them. Which is very hard for someone who's been in love with both of them for twenty years.
The battle scenes were great, and Brad Pitt (or his stunt double) pulls off some amazingly agile leaps and somersaults. There's also a *lot* of eyecandy, for once more for the women than the men. So as a whole it's great to look at, but make sure you leave your expectations at the door.
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Date: 2004-05-14 04:57 am (UTC)I'm going to see tomorrow with my friends, so the booing and the money-back is actually worrying me a quite bit. Does the film work(uh..Jurassice Park level?), so to speak? All canonicity aside?
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Date: 2004-05-14 05:08 am (UTC)The pretty is very pretty, and the fights are well choreographed, so if you don't expect much you'll likely still enjoy it. My one worst criticism (avoiding spoilers) is characterisation, which I felt was really off in some places. And in ways that annoyed me far more than the liberties with the plot.
Let me know what you think tomorrow!