Wolfgang Petersen
Troy

Of this film, I mostly remembered the harsh comments from friends and high school classmates, as well as the indelible image of Brad Pitt's Achilles. So, I decided to watch it again, in the Director's Cut version (over 3 hours) to understand if it really was a disaster or just bad critical luck. One thing is certain: Troy is almost the archetype of how Americans deal with very European concepts like epic, ancient literature, etc. That is, by doing a pretty free cut-and-paste, changing characters, distorting others, altering events, saving those who were meant to die, and so on. The changes made to the events by screenwriter David Benioff are numerous, the same who years later would take on Game of Thrones, with certainly better results but not without its own slip-ups there as well.

In short, Troy follows the myth's storylines on a broad level, but it makes no sense to evaluate it solely in relation to its famous literary predecessor. How is it as a movie? Not as bad as they say, but we're certainly not facing a masterpiece. Petersen and Benioff's work has elements of merit and just as many limitations, and overall it is watchable without ever fully convincing or engaging in an enthusiastic and captivated way. It's not an epic devoid of content, that's for sure. In fact, compared to some outcomes of more recent cinema (superhero wave), the narrative is decidedly more interesting and less trivial: the material drawn upon is so fertile that even when stripped of infinite details and nuances, it remains valid. I mean, how many films of this type can boast a capricious and unpredictable hero like Achilles? And then, how many epic films manage to build such balance between the two warring factions?

The Achaeans and the Trojans are depicted with equal (or almost) attention to show their merits and faults. If anything, it almost goes overboard in making some Greeks appear despicable and some Trojans angelic. For example, in the myth, Hector does not kill Patroclus unknowingly and then take his armor, which belonged to Achilles. So, there are also discrepancies in this sense; mainly, it's difficult to understand the Greek reasons because they are depicted at times as bloodthirsty barbarians: Menelaus, Ajax, even Agamemnon are sketched too schematically and severely. Conversely, the Trojans are almost all wise, good, innocent. Despite this, the reasons of Achilles on one side and those of Hector and Priam on the other create a considerable contrast within the audience's sympathies. And this is a great value element in a war film.

The directorial work and the overall aesthetic rendering are not bad, but there are a couple of things that are not entirely convincing. Certainly, the realization of the more tumultuous battles doesn't make you rub your eyes in amazement: the easy comparison is with The Lord of the Rings, which came just before. The frontal clashes were rendered much more orderly and comprehensible; here instead a lot of confusion is created and there are several instances of pure chaos, with men impaling each other in the most total commotion. Moreover, there is an insistence on gory details with somewhat overly accentuated blood splashes. The one-on-one duels are significantly better: captivating but not exaggerated, indeed if anything Achilles is almost sober in combat. Overall, apart from a couple of battles and the city's invasion, it can be said to be an almost measured and not excessive American blockbuster. In the Director's Cut version, there is more room for the characters, which is good, but a more extensive sequence concerning the invasion and destruction of Troy is also included. It would have been better not to add it. Not because it's unfaithful to the literature, but for the crude way in which the killings of women and children are shown.

The direction does not shine in several other instances. When the heroes fight, close-ups of Helen, Priam, and Andromache return too insistently. It is right to want to show the concern and pain of loved ones while the warriors confront each other, but by insisting so much it goes from a subtle suggestion to an imposition by the director, who keeps reiterating: "Look how the poor Priam suffers." Even the casting choices, which work, are linked to this tendency towards simplification pursued by Petersen: Pitt beautiful and terrible (but capable of noble gestures), Agamemnon arrogant and proud, Paris handsome and not very courageous, Hector wise and moral man, as well as a formidable warrior. More complex, not surprisingly, is Sean Bean's Odysseus. However, it must be admitted that, given the set objectives, the choices are ultimately functional. In short, a good entertainment product, which among many infidelities manages at times to make the cyclopean greatness of the myth it drew inspiration from shimmer.