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Troy (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Troy' is a 2004 American epic historical war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff. Produced by units in Malta, Mexico and Britain's Shepperton Studios, the film features an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom. It is loosely based on Homer's 'Iliad' in its narration of the entire story of the decade-long Trojan Warcondensed into little more than a couple of weeks, rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector's Trojan army. The end of the film (the sack of Troy) is not taken from the 'Iliad', but rather from Quintus Smyrnaeus's 'Posthomerica' as the 'Iliad' concludes with Hector's death and funeral.
'Troy' made over $497 million worldwide, making it the 60th highest-grossing film at the time of its release. However, it received mixed reviews, with critics praising its entertainment value and Pitt's performance, but criticizing its story and unfaithfulness to the 'Iliad' itself. It received a nomination for Best Costume Design at the 77th Academy Awards and was the eighth highest-grossing film of 2004.
Plot
In Ancient Greece, King Agamemnon of Mycenae finally unites the Greek kingdoms after decades of warfare, forming a loose alliance under his rule. Achilles, a heroic Greek warrior who has given Agamemnon many victories, deeply despises him. Meanwhile, Prince Hector of Troy and his younger brother Paris negotiate a peace treaty with Menelaus, King of Sparta. However, Paris is having an affair with Menelaus' wife, Queen Helen, and smuggles her aboard their home-bound vessel. Upon learning of this, Menelaus meets with Agamemnon, his elder brother, and asks him to help take Troy to avenge his honor by killing Paris and Helen. Agamemnon agrees, as conquering Troy will give him control of the Aegean Sea. Agamemnon has Odysseus, King of Ithaca, persuade Achilles to join them. Achilles eventually decides to go after his mother Thetis tells him that, though he will die, he will be forever glorified.
In Troy, King Priam welcomes Helen when Hector and Paris return home, and decides to prepare for war. The Greeks eventually invade and take the Trojan beach, thanks largely to Achilles and his Myrmidons. Achilles has the temple of Apollo sacked, and claims Briseis a priestess and the cousin of Paris and Hector as a prisoner. He is angered when Agamemnon spitefully takes her from him, and decides that he will not aid Agamemnon in the siege.
The Trojan and Greek armies meet outside the walls of Troy. During a parley, Paris offers to duel Menelaus for Helen's hand in exchange for the city being spared. Agamemnon, intending to take the city regardless of the outcome, accepts. Menelaus wounds Paris and almost kills him, but is himself killed by Hector who breaks the rules of mortal combat to save his brother. An enraged Agamemnon orders the Greeks to crush the Trojan army. In the ensuing battle, thousands of warriors engage in brutal combat. Hector spots and engages Ajax, who is killed by Hector after a fierce duel. Many Greek soldiers fall to the Trojan defenses, forcing Agamemnon to retreat at Odysseus' urgings. He gives Briseis to the Greek soldiers for their amusement, but Achilles saves her. Later that night, Briseis sneaks into Achilles' quarters to kill him; instead, she falls for him and they become lovers. Achilles then resolves to leave Troy, much to the dismay of Patroclus, his cousin and protg.
Despite Hector's objections, Priam orders him to retake the Trojan beach and force the Greeks home, but the attack unifies the Greeks, and the Myrmidons enter the battle. Hector duels a man he believes to be Achilles and kills him, only to discover it was actually Patroclus clad in Achilles' armor and weaponry. Distraught, both armies agree to stop fighting for the day. Achilles is informed of his cousin's death and vows revenge, much to Agamemnon's delight. Wary of Achilles, Hector shows his wife Andromache a secret tunnel beneath Troy. Should he die and the city fall, he instructs her to take their child and any survivors out of the city to Mount Ida.
The next day, Achilles arrives outside Troy and challenges Hector; the two duel until Hector is killed, and Achilles drags his corpse back to the Trojan beach. Later that night, Priam sneaks into the camp and implores Achilles to return Hector's body for a proper funeral. Ashamed of his actions and moved by Priam's noble humility (in stark contrast to Agamemnon's despotic arrogance) and love for his dead son, Achilles agrees and allows Briseis to return to Troy with Priam, promising a twelve-day truce so that Hector's funeral rites may be held in peace. He also orders his faithful lieutenant, Eudorus, to take his men and return home without him.
Agamemnon declares that he will take Troy regardless of the cost. Concerned, Odysseus concocts a plan to infiltrate the city: he has the Greeks build a gigantic wooden horse as a peace offering and abandon the Trojan beach, hiding their ships in a nearby cove in order to fool the Trojans into thinking they had abandoned the war. Priam orders the horse be brought into the city, despite Paris imploring his father to burn the effigy instead. That night, Greeks hiding inside the horse emerge and open the city gates for the Greek army, commencing the Sack of Troy. While Andromache and Helen guide the Trojans to safety through the tunnel, Paris gives the Sword of Troy to Aeneas, instructing him to protect the Trojans and find them a new home. Agamemnon kills Priam and captures Briseis, who kills Agamemnon by stabbing him in the neck with a hidden knife. Achilles fights his way through the city and reunites with Briseis. Paris, seeking to avenge his brother, shoots an arrow through Achilles' heel and then several into his body. Achilles bids farewell to Briseis, and watches her flee with Paris before dying. He is discovered shortly after by the Greek forces, stunned that their greatest warrior now lies dead.
In the aftermath, Troy is finally taken by the Greeks and a funeral is held for Achilles, during which Odysseus personally cremates his body and celebrates the great warriors whose names will forever go down in history for fighting in the war.
Cast
Production
The city of Troy was built in the Mediterranean island of Malta at Fort Ricasoli from April to June 2003. Other important scenes were shot in Melliea, a small town in the north of Malta, and on the small island of Comino. The outer walls of Troy were built and filmed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Film production was disrupted for a period after Hurricane Marty affected filming areas. The role of Briseis was initially offered to Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, but she turned it down because she was not comfortable doing the lovemaking scenes that were included. The role eventually went to Rose Byrne.
Music
Composer Gabriel Yared originally worked on the score for 'Troy' for over a year, having been hired by the director, Wolfgang Petersen. Tanja Carovska provided vocals on various portions of the music, as she later would on composer James Horner's version of the soundtrack. However, the reactions at test screenings which used an incomplete version of the score were negative, and in less than a day Yared was off the project without a chance to fix or change his music. James Horner composed a replacement score in about four weeks. He used Carovska's vocals again and also included traditional Eastern Mediterranean music and brass instruments. Horner also collaborated with American singer-songwriter Josh Groban and lyricist Cynthia Weil to write an original song for the film's end credits. The product of this collaboration, "Remember Me", was performed by Groban with additional vocals by Carovska.
The soundtrack for the film was released on May 11, 2004, through Reprise Records.
Director's cut
'Troy: Director's Cut' was screened at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2007, and received a limited release in Germany in April 2007. Warner Home Video reportedly spent more than $1 million for the director's cut, which includes "at least 1,000 new cuts" or almost 30 minutes extra footage (with a new running time of 196 minutes). The DVD was released on September 18, 2007, in the US. The score of the film was changed dramatically, with many of the female vocals being cut. An addition to the music is the use of Danny Elfman's theme for 'Planet of the Apes' during the pivotal fight between Hector and Achilles in front of the Gates of Troy. Josh Groban's song was removed from the end credits as well.
Various shots were recut and extended. For instance, the love scene between Helen and Paris was reframed to include more nudity of Diane Kruger. The love scene between Achilles and Briseis is also extended. Only one scene was removed: the scene where Helen tends to the wound of Paris is taken out. The battle scenes were also extended, depicting more violence and gore, including much more of Ajax's bloody rampage on the Trojans during the initial attack by the Greek Army. Perhaps most significant was the sacking of Troy, barely present in the theatrical cut, but shown fully here, depicting the soldiers raping women and murdering babies. Characters were provided more time to develop, specifically Priam and Odysseus, the latter being given a humorous introduction scene. More emphasis is given to the internal conflict in Troy between the priests, who believe in omens and signs from the gods to determine the outcome of the war, and military commanders, who believe in practical battle strategies to achieve victory. Lastly, bookend scenes were added: the beginning being a soldier's dog finding its dead master and the end including a sequence where the few surviving Trojans escape to Mount Ida.
There are frequent differences between the 'Iliad' and 'Troy', most notably relating to the final fates of Paris, Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles, and Menelaus. In one of the commentary sequences, the film's writer, David Benioff, said that when it came to deciding whether to follow the 'Iliad' or to do what was best for the film, they always decided what was best for the film.
Home media
Troy was released on DVD and VHS on January 4, 2005. The director's cut was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 18, 2007. The directors cut is the only edition of the film available on Blu-ray, however the theatrical cut was released on HD-DVD.
Reception
Box office
'Troy' grossed $133.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $364 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $497.4 million, making the film one of the highest grossing films of 2004, alongside 'The Passion of the Christ', 'Spider-Man 2' and 'Shrek 2'. When the film was completed, total production costs were approximately $185 million, making 'Troy' one of the most expensive films produced at that time. It was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.The film made $46.9 million in its opening weekend, topping the box office, then $23.9 million in its second weekend falling to second.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'Troy' holds an approval rating of 54% based on 229 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "A brawny, entertaining spectacle, but lacking emotional resonance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.Roger Ebert rated the film two out of four stars, saying "Pitt is modern, nuanced, introspective; he brings complexity to a role where it is not required." 'IGN' critics Christopher Monfette and Cindy White praised the director's cut as superior to the early version, evaluating it with eight stars out of ten.
Peter O'Toole, who played Priam, spoke negatively of the film during an appearance at the Savannah Film Festival, stating he walked out of the film fifteen minutes into a screening, and criticized the director, slamming him as "a clown".[https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Peter+OToole-1196.html Peter O'Toole calls 'Troy' director 'a kraut'] Years later, Brad Pitt expressed disappointment with the film saying, "I had to do 'Troy' because [...] I pulled out of another movie and then had to do something for the studio. So I was put in 'Troy.' It wasn't painful, but I realized that the way that movie was being told was not how I wanted it to be. I made my own mistakes in it. What am I trying to say about 'Troy'? I could not get out of the middle of the frame. It was driving me crazy. I'd become spoiled working with David Fincher. It's no slight on Wolfgang Petersen. 'Das Boot' is one of the all-time great films. But somewhere in it, 'Troy' became a commercial kind of thing. Every shot was like, 'Here's the hero!' There was no mystery."
Accolades
See also
* Sword-and-sandal
* Epic film
* Greek mythology in popular culture
* List of films based on poems
* List of historical period drama films
References
Further reading
* Petersen, Daniel (2006). 'Troja: Embedded im Troianischen Krieg' ('Troy: Embedded in the Trojan War'). HrGut! Verlag. .
* Winkler, Martin M. (2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221954/http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?ref=1405131829 'Troy: From Homer's Iliad to Hollywood Epic']. Blackwell Publishing. .
* Proch, Celina/Kleu, Michael (2013). 'Models of Maculinities in Troy: Achilles, Hector and Their Female Partners', in: A.-B. Renger/J. Solomon (ed.): 'Ancient Worlds in Film and Television. Gender and Politics', Brill, pp. 175193, .
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