MOVIE REVIEW:

TROY (2004)

Dela Cruz, Ruth Adrianne H.

BSED II - English
 Troy is a 2004 epic historical war drama film that was premiered in May 9 year
2004, in Berlin, Germany. And then the rest of the world was able to see the movie in
May 13 of the same year. The film is directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by
David Benoff. It is based on Homer’s epic poem The Iliad. However, it is said that the
ending of the movie was not based on the epic poem, but rather from Quintus
Smyrnaeus’s Posthomerica.
The movie begins with a battle happening between King Agamemnon of Mycenae
and King Triopas of Thessaly. The two kings decided that they put their champions to
battle, so King Agamemnon sent Achilles, only to defeat Boagrius-- King Triopas’s
champion. And so, the Thessalonians became part of Agamemnon’s loose alliance of all
the Greek kingdoms.
On the other hand, the princes of Troy, Hector and Paris, went to negotiate a peace
treaty with King Menelaus of Sparta. However, Paris was having an affair with Queen
Helen, King Menelaus’s wife, so he decided to abduct her and take her to Troy, for the
reason that Helen was actually unhappy in the arms of King Menelaus. Of course, when
Menelaus found out about this, he was angry, he wanted to get Helen back so he went to
his brother, King Agamemnon and asked for his help. The latter, without doubt, agreed to
help his brother as he also wanted to conquer Troy, for if that happens, he can take
control of the Aegean Sea. Among King Agamemnon’s alliances was Odysseus, the King
of Ithaca, he was the one to convince Achilles to fight for them against Troy. At first,
Achilles didn’t want to because he dislikes Agamemnon, but later on, he agreed because
his mother, Thetis, told him that even though he will die in this war, he will still be
glorified. And it was clearly depicted that Achilles fights only for his glory.
In Troy, King Priam was dismayed when Hector and Paris introduced Helen, but he
still welcomed her and he decided to prepare for war. They did everything they could to
prepare for the war that Paris has started, all because of Helen. This is the reason why
Helen was called “the face that launched a thousand ships”, because a thousand ships
were launched to invade Troy. The Greeks, together with Achilles and his Myrmidons
who was able to arrive first, took the Trojan beach. They also sacked the temple of
Apollo, and took the cousin of Hector and Paris, Briseis, a priestess, as a prisoner. And
when Briseis was taken as a prisoner, Achilles became angry because of this, so he
decided that he will not anymore fight for Agamemnon.
Then, the Trojan and Greek armies meet outside the walls of Troy. And during a
discussion, Paris personally offers a duel between him and Menelaus for Helen’s hand
and for the city to be spared. Agamemnon accepts but he was determined to take the city
no matter what. But still, he let Menelaus and Paris fight. Menelaus was able to wound
Paris, causing him to fall and hide behind Hector. However, Menelaus still attempted to
kill Paris, and because of this, Hector killed Menelaus on his own, causing the Greeks to
retreat. So the soldiers fought, and during the heat of the battle, Hector was able to kill
Ajax and many of the soldiers. So, on Odysseus’ insistence, Agamemnon gives the order
to retreat. When the Greeks were back to the camp, Agamemnon gave Briseis to his men
for them to do whatever they want to her, but Achilles saves her from them. Later on,
Briseis sneaks in Achilles’ tent to kill him, but they ended up falling in love with each
other. Because of this, Achilles decided to leave Troy, which made his cousin and best
friend, Patroclus and his Myrmidons feel dismayed.
While in Troy, despite Hector’s objections, King Priam orders him to retake the
Trojan beach and force the Greeks to go home, so the Trojans attacked the Greeks. And
because of this, the Greeks and the Myrmidons to unite and fight. The rising action starts
in the middle of the battle, Hector sees a soldier wearing Achilles’ armor, however, when
he was able to kill the soldier, he discovered that it wasn’t Achilles, but actually, it was
Patroclus. With everyone feeling devastated, both armies decided to stop fighting for the
day. The Greeks informed Achilles of what happened to his cousin, of course, he felt
angry so he vowed revenge. On the other hand, Hector anticipated that Achilles will
definitely get angry so he showed his wife, Andromache, a secret tunnel beneath Troy,
lest he dies, he wanted his wife to take their son and the Trojans who will survive out of
the city to Mount Ida.
And without doubt, the next day, Achilles arrives outside Troy. The rising action
continues. When Achilles arrived outside the gates of Troy, he called out Hector’s name
and challenged him to a duel. With so much emotions, even without words, this scene
definitely gave all the feels. While Achilles was shouting Hector’s name, everyone close
to Hector feels all sorts of emotions. From King Priam, who is undoubtedly worried
about the fate of his son, but still managed to say that everything is permitted by the gods.
That his son’s fate is written by the gods, so it seems like no matter what happens, he will
accept it. He will face it; Andromache, his wife, who was hiding behind a tall post,
carrying their son, as if she already knows that his husband will lose this battle, but no
matter what, she will take care of their son; Even Paris and Helen, who were actually the
reason why this war began, were worried. There were no words, but the emotions were
there.
Finally, Hector walked towards the gates of Troy, knowing that this could be the end
of his life, he faced Achilles and said, “I’ve seen this moment in my dreams.” He knows
that this could happen, so he wanted to make a pact with Achilles, the gods as their
witness, that whosoever loses this fight, will be given proper funeral rituals. Of course
Achilles did not want that, for him, there are no pacts between lions and men. He took of
his helmet so that Hector could see that it was now Achilles he was fighting, if only
Hector could take back what happened because he thought he was fighting Achilles, but
he couldn’t. However, he still gave Patroclus a proper funeral. Despite that, Achilles was
determined to erase Hector. So they fought, and Hector dies, after being able to kill
Hector, Achilles tied him to his chariot and dragged him all the way to the camp of the
Greeks, the Trojan beach.
Of course, this gave Hector’s father an intense feeling of grief, so he went there in
disguise, he plead to take Hector’s body back for a proper funeral. As a father would.
This made Achilles feel ashamed of his actions, so what he did was he returned Hector’s
body to King Priam, ordered his men to go home without him, gave Briseis back to return
to Troy, and promised a twelve-day truce for Hector’s funeral rites to be held in peace.
As Priam was leaving, Achilles said, “You are a far better king than the one leading this
army.” And that made me realize that honor is not because you are able to gather 50, 000
men. But real honor comes from having a good heart.
Notwithstanding his greed, Agamemnon was still determined to take Troy, whatever
it costs him. At first, they didn’t know how to enter the high walls of Troy. But as they
were resting, Odysseus was able to come up with a plan. He ordered the Greeks to build a
gigantic wooden horse, as a peace offering to the Trojans. And of course, without the
knowledge of the Trojans, some of the Greeks were inside that gigantic horse. They hid
their ships in a nearby cove, making the Trojans believe that they already left. When they
saw the horse at the Trojan beach, Paris wanted them to burn it down, but the people
won’t listen. So they took the horse and they rolled it inside their walls, not knowing that
it is their ticket to their end, they celebrated. And when the Trojans were resting, finally,
the Greeks who were in the horse came out, signaled the others, killed the soldiers inside,
and finally, they were able to invade Troy as the Greeks opened the gates of the city.
Agamemnon kept on shouting to spare no one. And spare no one, the soldiers did. As
the battle was getting more intense, Andromache, together with Helen, took with her
some of the Trojans to pass through the secret tunnel that her husband showed to her.
And as they were leading the people to safety, Paris gives the Sword of Troy to a young
boy named Aeneas, instructing him to find the Trojans a new home, and says that for if a
Trojan still holds that sword, then Troy will never be forgotten. In the middle of battle,
King Priam went to the temple of the gods and keeps on shouting, “Have you no shame?”
for he has so much respect for the gods, but then, Agamemnon was able to kill him. And
was able to capture Briseis, but the latter was the one to kill Agamemnon. Under other
conditions, Achilles fought his way to the city and eventually reunites with Briseis, the
love of his life. But Paris wanted to revenge for his brother, so he then shot an arrow
through Achilles’ heel, which is said to be Achilles’ weakest point, and also to other parts
of Achilles’ body. The latter then extracts all the other arrows except the one on his heel,
he the bids farewell to Briseis and watched her flee from him with Paris. So then, the
Greeks were finally able to take over Troy and Achilles was given a proper funeral.
Despite of being filmed during the times where technology wasn’t that much
developed, the movie was very well produced. During their time, they even won for best
costume and other awards, which makes it a good movie. Every scene speaks for itself, it
gives out what it is trying to say. The use of colors, even the movement and angles of the
camera gave justice to every scene. They used appropriate costumes and symbols to
justify every scene, most especially the battle scenes. It makes the movie more interesting
because the production was able to contribute a lot to the plot. And of course, the actors
were the most important ingredient to this recipe of an absolutely amazing movie. They
were able to portray their characters well. The lines, the emotions needed, they were
really able to give justice as to what the story is trying to show.
When I was younger, I was already able to see this movie, with absolutely no
appreciation of it. But as I watched it again, I was able to understand that I was not asked
to watch the movie just because I need to watch it for me to answer my exam. But I was
asked to watch it for me to learn something from it. How each and everyone of us, have
something that we want to fight for. Starting with Paris, who wanted Helen because he
loves him, but his brother said that he knows nothing about love. Because he was selfish,
he gave up the peace treaty that was given to them by the Spartans, all because of a
woman. But that is what he believes in. Paris, wanted to conquer everything for his love.
Even though he knows that this can bring war, this is a threat to his safety, and even to
Helen’s safety. He still wanted to get her, for he says, “If you come, we’ll never be safe.
People will hunt us, the gods will curse us, but I’ll love you. ‘Til the day they burn my
body, I will love you.” They say that sometimes, people do crazy things for the people
that they love, and surely, Paris did one crazy thing. He caused a war for his love.
However, what he has is a love that is selfish, but that is what he believes in anyway, so
we just have to let him.
On the contrary, his brother, Hector, who says that, “All my life I’ve lived by a code,
and the code is simple. Honor the gods, love your woman, and defend your country.” He
did everything he does for the gods, for his wife, and for his country. He was never
selfish, his intentions were always good. And because of this, he was blessed with a
wisdom on how to lead an army. In real life, I think that honoring the gods… or in our
case, honoring God, gives us great blessings. The Bible proves that no matter what, when
we honor the Lord, He will continuously bless us. And it is not always easy. As for
Hector, I believe that it wasn’t easy for him, at all. His brother bringing home another
King’s wife, he wanted to turn around and give her back but still, he didn’t. He fought for
his country. Even though the reason wasn’t very reasonable at all. That is the reason why
Hector knew that the Greeks, being led by Agamemnon, did not really go there to fight
for Helen. He did not even tremble. Why? Because he said to Agamemnon, “You want
me to look upon your army and tremble? Well, I see them. I see 50, 000 men brought
here to fight for one man’s greed.” He knows.
But that is what Agamemnon wants, he wants to have Troy. That is what he believes
in. But then, we cannot force people to believe what we believe in. Because what Hector
believes in is that the Trojans, will never ever submit to a foreign ruler. They stand on
their principles, and that is what makes them who they are. They fight for what they
want. In reality, none of the armies lost this war, because all of them died fighting for
what they believe in. Achilles fights for his own glory, and his mother let him, because
his mother knows, that Achilles wants his name to be known. He wants immortality. And
that immortality is not being able to live forever, but that immortality is for his story to be
known. When Achilles said that the gods envy them because they are mortals, that any
moment can be their last, he meant it. But I think, what he didn’t say is that he was also
envious of the gods, because they can live forever and be remembered. But then, he was
still remembered. For me, it is not because he is strong, or because he is able to fight and
kill hundreds, and even thousands of men, with his bare hands, but I’ll remember him
because he was a warrior, who first fought for his own glory, but later on fought for his
love. Stupid, yes, somehow. But no.
Because that is what we do, we learn. Achilles learned. And that is because of King
Priam, I believe so, that it was because of Priam. When Priam went to that tent, Achilles
never knew, but that is what changed his view about life. Because Priam went there,
facing whatever may happen to him, just for his son. All because of his love for his son,
that is what made me admire him the most. First was when he entrusted everything to the
gods, and second was when he did everything he could for his son. The love of a father.
His heart, which, even in dismay, still welcomed Helen, still kissed Paris, and begged for
Hector’s body… is what made me realize that amongst everyone in the movie, Priam, is
the most honorable for me. Because he did everything with love, he did everything
because of his good heart. Not because he wanted to be known, but only because of one
reason. Love.
And since were talking about honor, I loved how Odysseus said those last sentences,
“If they ever tell my story let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like
the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of
Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles.” Because it’s true,
whoever gave the biggest impact in my heart, these characters were able to fulfill what
they were fighting for. For their names to be remembered. Because they are still
remembered, even up to this day. And they will continue to be remembered, because I, as
a future educator, majoring in English, will definitely share their story, and share how it
changed my life for the better. How I realized, and will always keep in my heart, that real
honor comes from having a good heart and standing up for what you believe in. Not
because of how you fight… but because of what you’re fighting for.

01 March 2020
Movie Review: Troy (2004)
By: Ruth Adrianne H. Dela Cruz, BSED English - II
Submitted to: Dr. Julieta P. Galang
EL 112, Mythology and Folklore

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_%28film%29#Cast
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/troy-2004
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/troy/quotes/
https://www.ecosia.org/images?
q=troy+quotes#id=F5DE840FC76739C4A5B6B7D37932678F4AF1E61A