Iliad - the Homer Cartoon
The main criticism against the movie "Troy" was the fact that it didn't stick to the plotline and mythology of "The Iliad." I've read so many different "experts" whining about the fact that "Ajax didn't really git kilt by Hector" and "Menelaus really did survive the war and went home with Helen" and so on...
...but the thing of it is, "The Iliad" is about the most nonsensical piece of literature ever created. Sure, it might have been one of the first attempts at capturing storytelling from purely oral tradition into written tradition -- kind of like movies moving from silent to talkies. But as far as reality goes, as far as plotting goes, as far as characterization and what delienates a hero or a coward, "The Iliad" is five buckets of hogwash.
The "gods" are big whining babies that seduce each other, deceive each other, pull sneaky little attacks, take delight in tricking humans, and basically behave worse than Ulysses on Bacchus moonshine, to mix drinks, I mean mythologies. No wonder the characters are so idiotic, cowardly, vicious and egotistically assinine.
There are many great moments in "The Iliad," some of them unbelievably ahead of their time, but each time the story begins to get interesting, the "gods" show up and just ruin everything. In Homer's piece of Greek propaganda, Menelaus and Paris really do have a duel, and surprise, surprise, pretty boy Paris actually gives a fairly good accounting of himself, but when Menelaus grabs him by the helmet and begins to twist his head off, a goddess appears, snatches Paris away from battle, and sets him down in bed with Helen, and give them both a great squirt of spanish fly perfume.
Now that is more stupid than anything worked into the any of the worst B-movies ever to hit the screen.
What the creators of "Troy" did was to move the story from the stupid zone into an almost believable zone -- granted, the movie is all about entertainment, and Brad Pitt flexing his musk-ells, but what they actually DID produce was a great parallel between Achilles, sullen glory-seeking blond, and a conflicted Hector, all-around good guy who stands by his wife, his child, his family, his brother, and his country.
The best thing about "Troy," of course, was Eric Bana, who gave a heroic presentation equal to Russell Crowe in "Gladiator." Screenwriter David Benioff did a better than wonderful effort in detangling the mess that is "The Iliad" (and all the rest, Aenid, Odyssey, I think better than any of the modern retellings
...but the thing of it is, "The Iliad" is about the most nonsensical piece of literature ever created. Sure, it might have been one of the first attempts at capturing storytelling from purely oral tradition into written tradition -- kind of like movies moving from silent to talkies. But as far as reality goes, as far as plotting goes, as far as characterization and what delienates a hero or a coward, "The Iliad" is five buckets of hogwash.
The "gods" are big whining babies that seduce each other, deceive each other, pull sneaky little attacks, take delight in tricking humans, and basically behave worse than Ulysses on Bacchus moonshine, to mix drinks, I mean mythologies. No wonder the characters are so idiotic, cowardly, vicious and egotistically assinine.
There are many great moments in "The Iliad," some of them unbelievably ahead of their time, but each time the story begins to get interesting, the "gods" show up and just ruin everything. In Homer's piece of Greek propaganda, Menelaus and Paris really do have a duel, and surprise, surprise, pretty boy Paris actually gives a fairly good accounting of himself, but when Menelaus grabs him by the helmet and begins to twist his head off, a goddess appears, snatches Paris away from battle, and sets him down in bed with Helen, and give them both a great squirt of spanish fly perfume.
Now that is more stupid than anything worked into the any of the worst B-movies ever to hit the screen.
What the creators of "Troy" did was to move the story from the stupid zone into an almost believable zone -- granted, the movie is all about entertainment, and Brad Pitt flexing his musk-ells, but what they actually DID produce was a great parallel between Achilles, sullen glory-seeking blond, and a conflicted Hector, all-around good guy who stands by his wife, his child, his family, his brother, and his country.
The best thing about "Troy," of course, was Eric Bana, who gave a heroic presentation equal to Russell Crowe in "Gladiator." Screenwriter David Benioff did a better than wonderful effort in detangling the mess that is "The Iliad" (and all the rest, Aenid, Odyssey, I think better than any of the modern retellings
D
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posted by DCLWolf @ 5:29 AM
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