Of Troy
On Thursday,our class decided to watch “Troy” in the cinemas.Partly because it is a summer blockbuster,but also because of the fact that there are a great number of greek mythology fans in my class.Not to mention the Brat Pitt,or “Brat Talk” fans we have.(Myself included.)So I had to rush home after school to get some cash,since I ran out of it.I know that doesn’t happen to me very often,but I lent WanWei some money for her tuition fee this morning,and apparently I ran out of cash.So I rushed home,placed my bag down,took some money from my father’s drawer and went out again.Of course,after consulting my mother.Anyway,as I waited at the bus stop for my class to arrive,I met Mrs Lee there.Not the best person to meet at a bus stop.Not that I mind someone to talk to to kill time really,but it was really the fear of nagging.I half expected her to go on and on about my tutorials.Whatever.But she didn’t.I guess it was due to the fact that we were outside of school,and whatever that has got to do with school,stays in there.Im glad that she realized that.Oh well,so we had a little student-teacher chat.Apparently she was heading for Toa Payoh,to her mother’s house.Oh well,as a student I didn’t ask why.Its just kinda weird to look into a teacher’s private life. After all,I don’t really care anyway.Soon the people arrived and we boarded the bus.We reached Orchard at about 140pm,and JiaYing was already anxious to get to the theatre,since she didn’t want to miss the show.She was the only person jumping up and down,afraid that the tickets might be sold out.However,according to my experience,tickets never get sold out in Lido.Especially on a Friday lunchtime.Oh well,they didn’t believe me.But like I said before,it wasn’t sold out.We bought the tickets,and went for some lunch.We bought Long John’s,and settled down before the giant flat screen for lunch.It was one of the few occasions in the week when I actually talked.Havent been doing that in a while really.Anyway,after lunch the girls wanted to go downstairs for some shopping.For some reason,they were picking out clothes for me instead of themselves most of the time.I do appreciate their time and effort for picking out clothes,but I really didn’t want to spend too much on that day.Not to mention the fact that JiaYing picked clothes without looking at the price tags.(The Ralph Lauren incident.)As I was walking out of the shops,I met Krishna,who was on his way up the escalator.For some reason I was half expecting myself to meet him in town.After all,he is a CJC-ian,and Orchard is their playground.He was there to by tickets for “Troy” as well.His parents are in town,and he was watching the later show with them.Anyway,so we talked a bit,and the we went into the theatre.



Review on Troy
Here’s there story.The Queen of Sparta,fell in love with the prince of Troy,Paris,who was played by Orlando Bloom.Paris and Hector,his brother,were in Sparta to have a pact with the Sparta king.However,Paris fell in love with Helen,and Helen decided to leave Sparta and head to Troy with Paris,without the knowledge of Hector at first.The king of Sparta,who’s name I cannot spell,was enraged by this,and with his brother,sent 1000 ships to Troy.Paris on the other hand,was determined to love Helen,and as a result two states collided on the land of Troy,with the greatest war the world has ever seen.Achilles,an invincible warrior of their time,helped the Sparta army.Not because he liked the king,or due to respect,but it was really about his own honor.He fights for himself,and not the army.As a result,he cannot be controlled.Due to his skill with weapons in war,he received much respect from the armies.He was deemed,the greatest warrior in Greece,while Hector was deemed the greatest warrior in Troy.The battle between Sparta and Troy really became a battle between Hector and Achilles,when Achilles killed the priests in the temple upon the invasion of the Sparta army.Hector further enraged Achilles when Hector accidentally killed Achilles’ cousin.

The movie begins on a high note,with a one on one fight between Achilles and a tall muscular warrior.Of course,the ever invincible Achilles defeats him.That battle was nicely done,though a little short,but that’s what it was supposed to be,isn’t it?The main problem with the movie is the fact that Wolfgang Petersen totally neglected character development.He tried to make these character believable by making the movie to be under the shadow of “BraveHeart” and “Gladiator”.That he succeeded.However, he failed to make the characters themselves believable. The characters,according to Homer’s Iliad,were larger than life,and belonged solely in books and tales.In order to make them believable,the director has to inject character and feelings into them.However,this he failed.Paris was poorly written,with not much character development throughout the film.His connection between the audience was purely the handsome face and the image he gave the female audience in “The Lord of the Rings”.Helen of Troy,who is acted by Diane Kruger,was poorly acted out as well.Save for the scene with her bearing her butt to the audience.Why did she fall in love with Paris?Why did she hate the king of Sparta so?These questions were not explained,and in almost every scene she appears,she cries.Achilles was well acted out though.There are a few negative comments about Brat’s performance as Achilles.But in my opinion,I may not think he nailed the character,but at least we understood his motives.The best actor award of the movie has to go to the following:Eric Bana and Peter O’Toole.Also known as Hector and King Priam.We feel a strong connection with Hector.He’s struggle as the elder brother to protect Paris.He’s love for the country,as well as his love for his family.We see all these laid out before us.And as for King Priam acted out by Peter O’Toole,famous for his role in “Lawrence of Arabia”,proved that dialogue and patience with lines is more important than 50000 strong armies storming a city.One scene to note is when King Priam sneaks into Achilles’ tent in the middle of the night to get his son’s body back from him.Though Peter has a very limited amount of screentime,everytime he appears he proves himself as an oscar worthy actor.Sean Bean was great as Odysessius.(Spelling?).Though we are not very clear of his connection with Achilles,but he played his role well enough.

The battle in the movies were weak.Especially when the teasers and the trailers promoted the film with the battles and the big names."The greatest battle the world has ever seen." it says.However,it lacks emotionS,and depth.You see 50000 men attacking the walls of Troy,and you wonder what is the purpose of it all.You see lots of men dying,then you see more and more men pouring onto the fields,threatening the fate of Troy.But i found myself asking this question,"So what?".We don’t see much emotions.All you see is two vast armies colliding with each other upon the fields,and arrows flying and sword slashing.I didn’t like how the battles ignites,then ends again.Then it starts again,and ends.Though that was what happened in the poem Homer wrote.The battle lasted for 10 years in the poem.Whereas in the movie,it lasted for merely 2 weeks.In a scene when Hector battles the “fake” Achilles,the 50000 men battle suddenly becomes a 2 men battle.Whatever happened to the rest of the battle?The soldiers simply stood around those two men, like a kindergarten fight between two boys.It ends right after Achilles' brother dies.Hmm?The lack of closeups during the battle made the battle scenes a showcase of special effects.It is awesome,it is cool nontheless.However,its like Einstein with no brains.The most important thing in a war,is the motive,the purpose.I found myself unable to root for anybody.Wolfgang Petersen tried to make the Sparta army the bad guys.However,i do not feel for Paris when he was defeated,nor when Troy was overtaken.However,I do have to comment that Wolfgang Petersen did a great job when it comes to one-on-one fights.Namely the fight between Hector and Achilles,Hector and the big hammer guy,Paris and the brother of the king of Sparta.It was very well done and intense,and you find yourself at the edge of your seat.I expected a little more from this movie,and it fell short for me,perhaps due to the editing of the movie itself.The score was badly done.Though it is by the oscar winning composer,James Horner.(Titanic,BraveHeart.)It didn’t not suit the scenes at all,and it was composed under the shadow of Gladiator and Titanic.Themes were pretty similar as well.I listened to Gabriel Yared's version of the score,and it was more superb than Horner's.In the theatrical cut,especially during the fight between Hector and Achilles,you hear a soft constant drum roll at the back.That reminded me of a scene in Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon.Anyway,i heard Gabriel Yared's version and was completely blown away by it.The studio complained that it was overpowering.However,i do not believe that Gabriel's work threatened the film itself.Gabriel's score had defining themes and moments,whereas Horner's work lacked depth.But of course,we must forgiv him,because he was given merely a month's time to do it.You can listen to Gabriel's score and go,"Yes,thats from Troy.".Some people defended the movie by saying that by knowing the ultimate ending would decrease the amount of satisfaction during the battles.I read The Lord of the Rings a couple of years back,and the battle I saw did not disappoint me one bit.What happened to Hector's wife as well as Paris?Helen of Troy?The fate of these characters were left untold at the end of the movie.The main reason why the war occured was because of Paris' own desire for Helen,and the two main reasons why this war started,disappears into a tunnel.Hello?This movie is for adults,not kids.This movie is a Hollywood epic,not Homer.However,still very entertaining.This movie however,is not suitable for someone who is willing to invest 3 hours of a Saturday afternoon on.

Rating:7/10 (Pretty bad for me.A good movie for me is about 8/10.)

Quotes of the Day:
Hector,'No son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler!'
Agamemnon,'Then every son of Troy shall die.'

King Priam,'I've fought many wars in my time. Some I've fought for land, some for power, some for glory. I suppose fighting for love makes more sense than all the rest. '

Achilles,'Be careful King of Kings. First you need the victory.'

Achilles,'Before my time is done I will look down upon your corpse and smile.'

King Priam,'You're still my enemy in the morning.'
Achilles,'You're still my enemy tonight.'

Achilles,'Perhaps your brother can comfort them. I hear he's good at charming other men's wives.'

Achilles,'Is there no one else?Is there no one else?'

Achilles,'Now you know who you are fighting.'
---'Troy'(2004)

Song of the Moment---Black Balloon by The Goo Goo Dolls