Troy (film)
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| Troy | |
|---|---|
 Troy Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Wolfgang Petersen |
| Produced by | Wolfgang Petersen Diana Rathbun Colin Wilson Plan B |
| Written by | Poem The Iliad: Homer Screenplay: David Benioff |
| Starring | Brad Pitt Eric Bana Orlando Bloom Brian Cox Sean Bean Peter O'Toole Diane Kruger |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Roger Pratt |
| Editing by | Peter Honess |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | May 13, 2004 |
| Running time | 162 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $175 million USD |
| IMDb profile | |
Troy is a movie that was released on May 14, 2004 about the Trojan War, which is described in Homer's Iliad and other Greek myths as having taken place in Anatolia (modern Turkey) around the 13th or 12th century BC; however, the plot differs greatly from Homer (see deviations below). The film boasts an all-star cast: Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector, Orlando Bloom as Paris, Diane Kruger as Helen, Brian Cox as Agamemnon, Sean Bean as Odysseus, and Peter O'Toole as Priam. It is directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and written by David Benioff. It received an Oscar nomination for its costume design.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The opening narration is said by Odysseus (Sean Bean): "Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity; and so we ask ourselves: 'Will our actions echo across the centuries; will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?"
It is 12th century BC and King Agamemnon of Mycenae and his army are in Thessaly, Greece, looking to expand their military might and empire. Rather than suffer great losses, he and an opposing King of Thessaly agree to let their greatest warriors battle. Agamemnon then calls upon the legendary Achilles who easily dispatches his much larger opponent, Boagrius. Only looking to ensure his name is heard throughout the centuries, Achilles barely has any allegiance to Agamemnon and is a constant thorn in his side.
The Boagrius episode is an anachronism of an unusual type: Achilles dispatches Boagrius by means of a technique developed millennia later, by bullfighters. Achilles approaches him nonchalantly; the two throw their javelins, harmlessly; and the warriors approach for the final sword-fight. Surprisingly, Achilles runs toward Boagrius, leaps up, raises his sword high, and stabs him with the sword through the upper trapezius muscle, between the clavicles, and through the heart, aorta, or other vital point. A cardiologist was asked whether this was possible and confirmed that it was, just barely, possible to pierce the aorta that way, given precise knowledge of anatomy, great skill, and perfect timing.[verification needed] It is precisely the technique for an estocada, but on an animal of a different species: a human rather than a bull. Boagrius reacts much like a bull: he grunts, staggers forward one step, falls on his face, and stops moving.
Agamemnon must call upon Achilles again, however, when his brother Menelaus seeks revenge on the Trojan Prince Paris for running off with his wife, Helen of Sparta. Paris' warrior brother, Hector, isn't pleased to learn of this affair and when he returns to Troy, he urges their father, King Priam, to return the young woman to Sparta. Priam, however, puts too much faith in his high priests and their interpretation of how the gods will react. Accordingly, and with Agamemnon realizing that a victory over Troy would give him complete control over the Aegean, the Greeks amass the largest naval force known to man and set sail for the foreign land. With them are Achilles and his younger and inexperienced cousin, Patroclus, who have been persuaded by King Odysseus (the only King in Greece who Achilles respects) and Achilles' mother, Thetis, to join the quest. It is also Thetis who tells Achilles of a prophecy she had learned of which stated that if he does not go to the war he will find peace and have a family of his own but he will eventually be forgotten; if he goes to Troy, his name will last for eternity but he will die there. Achilles can't resist.
The Greeks land on Trojan soil and are able to take control of the beach on the first day of the war. Achilles and his men — always extremely useful in battle — are able to not only to cause many Trojan deaths, but also desecrate the Trojan temple of Apollo. Notably, Achilles decapitates the statue of Apollo and his men kill two unarmed priests. Achilles is adamant he did not kill them, saying that he has "killed men in five countries — never priests." Briseis, cousin of Hector of Troy, was taken in the midst of the fight and brought to Achilles' tent to "amuse" him. Agamemnon, however, decides to take Briseis from Achilles in order to anger and insult him. Achilles protests, but Briseis' words stop Achilles from killing anybody to take her back. The result of this is that Achilles decides not to fight in the next battle. Before this battle, however, a challenge is issued by Paris, who does not wish to have a war. He (a man inexperienced in war) challenges and fights Menelaus (who is a hardened and fierce warrior) to a duel for Helen's hand. Menelaus pretends to agree to a duel which would end the war, only to confide with his comrades that no matter what the outcome is, the Greeks will try to take the City of Troy. Menelaus and Paris fight and Paris, though able to knock out one of Menelaus's teeth, is wounded and crawls to Hector for help. Menelaus is killed soon afterwards and the war is back on.
Achilles learns that Briseis has been given to some men by the king after their poor performance in battle as a morale booster. He saves her from being raped and branded and takes her to his tent. Achilles decides to return home the next morning. That night, he wakes up with Briseis planning to slit his throat so he won't kill any more Trojans; but she can't do it — she's fallen in love with him. Achilles wrestles her down and kisses her lustfully while moving his hand down her bare thigh.
Infuriated by not getting a chance to fight, Patroclus takes Achilles' armor when the Trojans attack the beachside camp, a battle ensues. He brings courage to the Greeks as they mistake him for Achilles, and eventually fights man-to-man against Hector. In the fight with Hector Patroclus is killed. When Achilles finds out about this, he is enraged and marches toward the Trojan gates to fight Hector. After an engaging sword and spear fight, Hector is killed by Achilles. Achilles drags Hector's body back to the Greek camp. Later that night King Priam secretly meets Achilles to plead with him to return Hector's body. Impressed by Priam's courage and virtue, Achilles returns Hector's body to him and allows Briseis to leave with Priam back to Troy. He also assures Priam that a proper amount of time (12 days) is given to allow for a proper funeral service for Prince Hector.
During the 12 days that Troy mourns Hector's death, the Greeks devise a plan to enter the city using a hollowed-out wooden horse devised by King Odysseus. Assuming victory, the Trojans, against the advice of Paris, take the horse into the city and celebrate long into the night. After the celebrations, the Greeks hidden inside the horse engage in a surprise attack, and open the gates of Troy to allow the entire army inside the city walls. They commence the Sack of Troy, killing everyone and burning down anything they can find. Achilles starts searching for Briseis; meanwhile a group of Trojans (including Helen) flee the city. Though Priam is killed by Agamemnon, Paris refuses to leave at this time and hands off the Sword of Troy to Aeneas, quoting his father by telling Aeneas that as long as the Sword of Troy remains in the hands of a Trojan, there is a future for the people.
Achilles frantically searches for Briseis, who is at the shrine of Apollo being threatened by Agamemnon. She kills him with a concealed knife, and is saved from Agamemnon's guards when Achilles reaches her. However, Paris sees Achilles and shoots him in the heel (Achilles' tendon) once, and three times in the chest, while Briseis screams for Paris not to kill him. He pulls out the three from his chest, but the one is left in his foot as he passes into death. Briseis tearfully leaves the city with Paris after being assured that 'everything's alright, go' by Achilles. Achilles then delivers those famous last words,"You gave me peace in a lifetime of war."
After a last futile attempt by surviving Trojan soldiers to repel the invaders, the battle ends and the Greeks discover that Achilles has died. They perform the funeral rituals for him the next morning. The story ends with Odysseus narrating "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with Giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in a time of Achilles".
[edit] Finance and Reaction
Troy screenings have earned $133 million (US$133,378,256) in the United States. [1] Having cost $175 million to make,[1] some thought the film was a flop (a complete financial failure), but only in the US. Many critics anticipated the failure, when Troy barely missed the $50 million mark on its opening US weekend and wrote off the film. Some critics had a tendency to lump Troy into the category of recent failed historical epics, such as Alexander (2004), The Alamo (2004), King Arthur (2004) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005).[citation needed] Troy has been compared to Gladiator, not just because of gory ancient battles, but also due to director Wolfgang Petersen's regrets over turning down the chance to work on Gladiator. However, Troy did become a financial success, as more than 73%[1] of its revenues were made outside of the U.S. Eventually Troy made over US$497 million dollars worldwide,[1] placing it in the #45 spot[1] of top box office hits of all time. This places the film 14 spots above Gladiator (#59) [2] in the all-time worldwide box office.
Troy met mixed reactions by reviewers. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a Tomatometer rating of 55% from a base of 211 reviews while Yahoo! Movies gave it a critic rating of "B-" (although that was based on 15 Critical Reviews). Roger Ebert, who seemed to dislike what he saw as an unfaithful adaptation of the Iliad, gave it two stars out of four [1] Ebert claimed that Troy "sidesteps the existence of the Greek gods, turns its heroes into action movie clichés and demonstrates that we're getting tired of computer-generated armies." David Denby of The New Yorker, however, seemed to like it[2]: "[It's] harsh, serious, and both exhilarating and tragic, the right tonal combination for Homer."
*All numbers and ratings in this section are true to September 26, 2006.
[edit] Box Office totals
- Budget - $175,000,000 [1]
- Marketing cost - $50,000,000
- Opening Weekend Gross (Domestic) - $46,865,412
- Total Domestic Grosses - $133,378,256
- Total Overseas Grosses - $364,031,596 [1]
- Total Worldwide Grosses - $497,378,256
[edit] Cast
[edit] Deviations from the Iliad
Assessing the historical truth of Troy is difficult primarily because the historicity of Homer's largely mythological Iliad and Odyssey, upon which the movie is based, is itself uncertain. The actual events surrounding the Trojan War are a matter of debate among scholars. One can, however, compare the film to Homer's original Epic Cycle story, on which the filmmakers claimed to have based their story.
The film Troy differs greatly from what Homer wrote, in many ways. The time scale is reduced to weeks, and major characters die at Troy who in Homer's writings survive beyond the ten-year war, such as Agamemnon and Menelaus. The Greek gods and goddesses are not active forces in the film, as they were in Homer's works. Also, other characters' actions, injuries, and deaths are depicted differently in the poems and the film, such as the high rank in Troy of Aeneas, the future death of Achilles' father, and the fate of Helen of Troy, who, according to Homer, went back to Greece with Menelaus.
The biggest discrepancy is the absence of the gods. The underlying idea is that Homer's version used gods and goddesses to exaggerate and explain elements of the events, and perhaps as representations for other forces at play. In the movie, the gods are repeatedly mentioned, but they are not major actors in the plot as they are in the Homeric poems, in which many events are the result of divine intervention. Though Achilles' mother, Thetis, does make a brief appearance, displaying prophetic powers as well as some maritime nature, she is not identified as a goddess except when the page boy speaks to Achilles of the legends surrounding him. Achilles answers the boy in such a way that it seems Achilles himself is skeptical about the legends.
A debate which was roused by the film was the portrayal of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. It has been debated wether or not these two men were lovers by historians for centuries, which is discussed at length here - Achilles and Patroclus.
According to the Iliad, the entire war from the time of Helen's abduction by Paris until the fall of Troy took ten years and not the few weeks depicted in the movie. The Iliad begins with the falling out between Achilles and Agamemnon, which takes place approximately ten years into the conflict. Some characters are missing in the movie (notably Diomedes, Idomeneus, Calchas, Hecuba and Cassandra); others are killed differently than described in the myth (Ajax, Menelaus, Agamemnon). The film also depicts a lengthy romance between Achilles and his captive Briseis. This romance does not exist in the original story, in which Briseis along and Chryseis are kidnapped when the Achaeans sack the town of Chryse, an ally of Troy. Briseis was given to Achilles and Chryseis to Agamemnon, and it was not until Agamemnon was forced to return Chryseis that he demanded Briseis from Achilles. Some scholars believe that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers. In the film, no overt comment is made about his sexuality.
In the movie, the duel between Paris and Menelaus takes place with an understanding on both sides that the results of the duel will not be honored (i.e. the war will not be decided solely by it). Hector knows that the Greeks did not sail the distance just for one man's wife, and Agamemnon only agrees to the duel once Menelaus suggests that it would be a good pretence for a surprise attack. In the Iliad, the duel was understood to be taking place in good faith (interestingly, Paris challenged any Greek who would fight him, only to sulk back into the ranks when Menelaus was produced, until Hector persuaded him to fight). Paris begins to lose the duel, but is rescued by Aphrodite who whisks him away to his room, where he is berated by Helen for his cowardice. The movie takes a different course, having Hector intervene to save his brother by killing Menelaus himself and allowing Helen a more modern-day sympathy for Paris' plight, declaring "I don't want a hero, my love, I want a man I can grow old with".
In the movie, Achilles is killed by Paris during the fall of Troy -- he does shoot him through his heel, but this is not the killing strike (and it appears it is more the distraction of trying to save Briseis that leaves him vulnerable than the wound to his heel). Rather, several shots to the chest appeared to kill him, but before he died, Achilles pulled them from his chest, leaving the remaining arrow evident to the Greeks who found him as the "killing strike". In mythology Paris shoots Achilles in the heel with an arrow guided by Apollo. This happens because Apollo is angry at Achilles because he slew Troilus, Hector and Paris' brother on the Altar of Apollo. This happens before the Trojan Horse is even built and thus Achilles never would have entered the horse. Additionally, there is no mention in the Iliad of Achilles returning Briseis to Priam nor of him entering the city to save her from the burning of Troy.
Achilles shows contempt for Apollo by beheading his statue and sacking his temple despite the warnings of his comrades. He tells Briseis that she will find her love affair with Apollo one-sided and posits that the gods envy mortals. Although, in mythology, Achilles did have a special relationship with the gods, having an immortal mother and having been bestowed with supernatural protection, such a depiction of his theological views is not entirely accurate. In the Iliad, it is Achilles who offers to protect the prophet Calchas against Agamemnon in exchange for his advice as to how to end the wrath of Apollo. Also, no Greek would describe worship of the gods as a "one-sided" love affair. Their mythology is full of very double-sided affairs, and when they are one-sided, it's usually because the human resists.
[edit] Music
Composer Gabriel Yared originally worked on the score for Troy for about a year, having been hired by the director, Wolfgang Peterson, who trusted him to be able to write an epic score, despite Gabriel Yared's previous work being anything but epic.
Gabriel wrote an original score for Troy, which was conducted by Harry Rabinowitz and Nick Ingman. Tanja Tzarovska sang on Yared's score, as she later would on Horner's version of the soundtrack. However, after having screened the movie with an early incomplete version of the score, the reactions were against the score and in less than a day Gabriel was off the project and the studio was already looking for someone else to do a complete rewrite[3]
Around the time of the film's release in theaters, Gabriel Yared briefly made his Troy music available on the Internet on his personal website. Currently, Yared's score can only be found as an unofficially-released bootleg album on the Internet.
In the end, the final score was written by James Horner utilizing droning vocals, traditional in Eastern Mediterranean music and brass instruments used to support the film's mythos. Drums are conspicuous in the most dramatic scenes; most notably, in the duel between Achilles and Hector.
Perhaps as a result of the unusually short time in which Horner wrote the score, a mere 9 days, or perhaps simply another example of Horner borrowing from himself as well as others, the score for Troy also contains some elements of the musical score Horner did for the 2001 World War II movie Enemy at the Gates with part of the musical score for the arrival of Achilles and the Greek forces on the beaches of Troy utilising part of the musical score from Enemy At The Gates when the poorly-armed soldiers of the Red Army were assaulting the German Army's lines in Stalingrad's main square.
Furthermore, various elements of the soundtracks seem to have been borrowed from 20th century Russian music, significantly from that of Shostakovich and Rachmainoff. In particular there is a phrase from the 4th movement of Shostakovich's 5th symphony which is continually repeated while the armies are prepared for war.
The end-credits song "Remember" [4] ("Remember Me") was composed by James Horner with Josh Groban, David Foster, Randy Kerber, Jochem van der Saag, and Tanja Tzarovska, with lyrics by Cynthia Weil,[4] sung by Josh Groban.
[edit] Recut DVD
There are talks of a recut version of the film being released to DVD. There would be 30 minutes of footage cut back into the film, mainly being more violence and sexuality. Wolfgang Petersen said that he can make it into the film he wanted it to be originally, and that his other version was marred down by hollywood's system. The release date is not yet known. Recut DVD
[edit] Awards (Wins and Nominations)
2005 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
- Won - Top Box Office Film — James Horner
2005 Academy Awards (Oscars)
- Nominated - Best Achievement in Costume Design — Bob Ringwood
- Nominated - Best Foreign Film
2005 MTV Movie Awards
2005 Motion Picture Sound Editors (Golden Reel Award)
- Nominated - Best Sound Editing in Foreign Features — Wylie Stateman, Martin Cantwell, James Boyle, Harry Barnes, Paul Conway, Alex Joseph, Matthew Grime, Steve Schwalbe, Howard Halsall, Sue Lenny, Simon Price, Nigel Stone
2005 Teen Choice Awards
- Won - Choice Movie Actor - Drama/Action Adventure — Brad Pitt
- Nominated - Choice Breakout Movie Star - Male — Garrett Hedlund
- Nominated - Choice Movie - Drama/Action Adventure
- Nominated - Choice Movie Fight/Action Sequence
[edit] Trivia
- The role of Helen had been first offered to renowned Indian beauty Aishwarya Rai, and when she refused it, Diane Kruger was offered the role.
- Brad Pitt suffered an accident when he jumped off his ship during filming. Ironically he tore his Achilles tendon.
- Near the end of the film, when Troy is burning, Orlando Bloom approaches a young man supporting his father. When asked who he is, the young man says that he is Aeneas. Orlando Bloom's character then tells him to find a new home for the Trojan survivors. This is a reference to The Aeneid by Virgil, in which the main character, Aeneas, flees the ruin of Troy with his father and other survivors to find a new Trojan kingdom in Italy, this myth is the founding of Rome and the genesis of the Roman Empire.
- This movie features three actors who appeared in Mel Gibson's Braveheart: Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson and James Cosmo. Cox only had a minor role as Argyle Wallace, William Wallace's uncle. Gleeson played Hamish Campbell, William's best friend, and Cosmo portrayed Hamish's father, simply referred to as Campbell in the credits.
- Pitt mention the filming was grueling due to the fact he had to quit smoking.
- Pitt and Eric Bana did their own fighting scenes. They even had a side bet where each would pay the other for every accidental hit made, $50 for light strikes, and $100 for strong hits. Pitt paid $750 to Bana who did not have to pay Pitt anything.
- Diane Kruger gained 20 pounds to play the role of Helen. She felt that at that time women were less concerned with looking like supermodels as they are today.
- Kruger and Rose Byrne (Briseis) would co-star in the later film Wicker Park.
[edit] Mythological Differences
- In the film, Menelaus dies long before the Trojan Horse is even thought of. Yet he was supposed to be one of the warriors hiding inside the horse.
- Although Ajax and Hector did fight in the story, it ended a draw. In the movie Hector kills Ajax.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g "Troy" (film data), Box Office Mojo, 2006, BoxOfficeMojo.com, webpage: BOMojo-Troy.
- ^ "Gladiator" (film data), Box Office Mojo, 2001/2006, BoxOfficeMojo.com, webpage: BOMojo-Gladiator.
- ^ http://www.thescreamonline.com/film/film4-3/yared.html
- ^ a b "Josh Groban: Remember (from Troy)" [song], Sheet Music Plus, 2006, webpage: SheetmusicP-Troy.
[edit] External links
- Official homepage
- Troy at the Internet Movie Database
- Troy at Rotten Tomatoes
- Troy at Metacritic
- Gossip from Mania.com
- Orlando Bloom & Troy Review
- Troy at Box Office Mojo
Categories: Wikipedia articles needing factual verification | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 2004 films | Epic films | Films directed by Wolfgang Petersen | Films shot in Mexico | Films shot in Malta | Classical war films | Films shot in Super 35 | Films based on Greco-Roman mythology | Warner Bros. films | Films based on poems | English-language films | American films
