This film pretty much follows the story of Homer's Iliad with very few exceptions and a possible ending. However, the few exceptions and the ending are what make this story work as a movie instead of a long poem. Stories being told in many ways offer five different insights, and there should be no conflict between the reader and viewer, and both stories are real to the observer.
For you, who forgot the story, and you who know the story well but have not seen this movie, we are looking at a story that you may or may not have had an opportunity to sidestep in school, but you can never have a grasp on social history without it. Some call it real and lost in antiquity. Others say that Homer had a good imagination. And others treat it as an allegory with a historical background.
Brad Pitt, who has played fickle people before, is excellent in the part of Achilles and is sort of a heel. Nothing less was expected. It was the other actors that played their parts so well that you forgot you were watching the movie.
The story:
Two Trojan princes are the guests of the Spartan ruler Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). While Menelaus is preoccupied with other matters, he leaves his wife, Helen of Sparta (Diane Kruger), to her devices. The younger Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) is left alone too many times with Helen and decides against everyone else's better judgment to make her Helen of Troy and thus pilfers her from Menelaus.
As a husband, Menelaus is of course miffed. However, his brother, the Greek king Agamemnon (Brian Cox), sees this as an opportunity to absorb Troy into his territory. Naturally, this spawns a war in which Agamemnon recruits Achilles, an extremely gifted and charming warrior. Achilles goes to make a name for himself. He brings his cronies and his cousin. Together they do many bold and callous things.
I will not go into the details of the war, as you either know or will soon know the details. However, I will say that I thought that the Trojan horse was well and realistically designed. And you may want to pay attention to the background music, as it is relevant to the film. The gods that fire the war are missing from this presentation.
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