ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE & WAR - THE TROJAN ATTACK. Review on Troy Movie

I WATCHED

FILM: TROY

CAST: BRAD PITT as ACHILLES, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Peter O'Toole

AT: R-Adlabs

I've never been an ardent fan of my History Books. So, the idea of going to this flick was only to ogle at Brad Pitt. However, after having watched this flick, I realized that throughout the flick I had been ogling at many more aspects other than Brad Pitt's. For once, the cinematography was mind-blowing. Especially that scene when the focus is first on a single ship going for war and as the camera zooms away, it unveils a fleet of God knows how many more. You have to see it for yourself to understand the beauty of that particular scene.

Well, the title ''All's fair in Love & War'' is aptly proved throughout this flick. To begin with, the reason of the Battle of Troy against the rest of the Greece was Love...Love between the youngest Prince of Troy, Paris (a charming young man) and the Queen of Sparta, Helen (rumored to be the most beautiful woman). Helen is the wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta. The walls of Troy are supposed to be unconquerable due to it's prime location (along the beach of Troy), the valiant Trojans and also since Troy was believed to be guarded & blessed by Apollo, the God of light, purity, and the Sun.

HECTOR, in Greek mythology, was the greatest hero of the ancient city of Troy. He played a major part in the Trojan War, in which Greece defeated Troy. Hector was the son of Priam, the King of Troy, and Hecuba, the second wife of the Priam. According to some myths, the Greek god Apollo was Hector's father. Hector is shown as brave, handsome & patriotic. I liked the character of Hector, compared to that of Brad Pitt's (ACHILLES). Hector was a man of honor who fought with Achilles in spite of the fact that he knew he would be killed. Apart from being a brave & loyal warrior of Troy, he is shown to be a caring elder brother to Paris, ready to shield his brother against the world. Achilles' cousin, Patroclus gets accidentally killed by HECTOR in the war as he is mistaken to be Achilles.

HELEN, who was former queen of Sparta, later became Princess of Troy after marrying Paris. In Greek mythology, Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the major cause of the Trojan War. Helen was the daughter of Zeus, the King of Gods, and Leda, a human being. Helen married MENELAUS, the king of Sparta & brother of AGAMEMNON. A Trojan Prince named Paris visited Sparta and persuaded Helen to Troy with him. (Talk about extra-marital affairs in those days!!!). Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, led a Greek army against Troy to win Helen back. Well, according to the film, Helen escaped Troy along with Paris, Paris & Hector's beautiful cousin, Hector's wife & son through some secret passages when the Greeks captured Troy. Helen's personality fascinates me. Sometimes I feel as if she was a deceitful woman driven by passion to betray her country and family. However, she also seems to be an innocent victim of her own great beauty.

PARIS was the youngest son of Priam, the King of Troy. Beauty & beautiful women always fascinated him. He wasn't a great warrior. Nevertheless, he tried to put an end to the war by proposing a fight between himself & MENELAUS, the king of Sparta. The person who won could keep Helen and the Greek soldiers could return with no war. However, Hector killed Menelaus in order to save Paris. Here again we find the proverb ''Everything's fair in Love & War'' put to practice. However, the war did not end with the death of Menelaus since Agamemnon, the greedy commander of the Greek army wanted to capture Troy. Late in the war, Paris killed the Greek hero Achilles with a bow & arrow. Legend has it that Paris was killed by the Greek archer, Philoctetes.

Here's a cliché. According to some of the books I've read on Troy recently, Menelaus did not die. After the Greeks took over Troy, Helen is supposed to be reunited with Menelaus & they returned to Greece. Another thing is, in the film Paris is shown to have fled Troy along with Helen. Well, the film has a different story to tell!!!

ACHILLES (pronounced as uh KIHL eez), played by Brad Pitt, was one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology. Achilles was the son of Peleus, the King of Thessaly, and Thetis, a sea nymph (in Greek and Roman stories, nymph is a spirit in the form of a young girl who lives in trees, rivers, mountains, etc). Now, here's some flashback that will aid you understand the climax of the film better. I found this during my reading sessions in one of the books. Soon after Achilles' birth, Thetis dipped him in the river Styx to protect his body from harm. However, the water did not touch the heel by which Thetis held him. Now, this will ring a bell when you see the scene where Achilles is killed by Paris with a bow & arrow.

Now, an ode to Troy! Troy, also called Ilium, was an ancient city in Asia Minor (now Turkey) that was made famous in the legends of Greece. The city's two names come from Ilus, its legendary founder, and Tros, the father of Ilus. Legend has it that the Greeks beseiged Troy for 10 years. How they captured Troy is the niche of the film. So, go watch it to view the legendary Trojan Attack!!!

I cannot comment on which actor deserves more applause because everyone seems to have given their best shot. The film is a beauty in it's own sense. A must-watch film even if you have hated history to the core. I'd highly recommend it even for the school-kids if the film didn't have a couple of those steamy, sensual scenes and some crude warfare. However, for the rest of you, ''Don't miss this one!''