Film Review of Helen of Troy free essay sample

About 3,200 years ago in recorded historys infancy, when humankinds imagination peopled the known world with great heroes and villains and nature reflected the mood of the gods and goddesses. I. B. Place of Action: Troy (Asia Minor), also Ilium (ancient Ilion), famous city of Greek legend, on the northwestern corner of Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey. Anatolia is west of Greece (across the Aegean Sea) and north of Egypt (across the Mediterranean Sea). II. Characters and Description of Characters Sienna Guillory as Helen- The most beautiful woman in Greece, daughter of the god Zeus and of Leda. She was abducted in childhood by the hero Theseus, who hoped in time to marry her, but she was rescued by her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces (also known as Pollux). Because Helen was courted by so many prominent heroes, her stepfather Tyndareus made all of them swear to abide by Helens choice of a husband, and to defend that husbands rights should anyone attempt to take Helen away by force. Matthew Marsden as Paris- Trojan who took Helen from Menelaus. Rufus Sewell as Agamemnon- The leader of the Achaean expedition to Troy, he was the King of Mycenae. On his return from Troy he was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra, and her lover Aegisthus. The lover was the son of Thyestes, the brother and enemy of Atreus, Agamemnon’s father. When Odysseus voyages to Hades he meets with Agamemnon’s ghost. Stellan Skarsgard as Theseus- The person who abducted Helen and hoped in time to marry her, but was then killed by Polydeuces (also known as Pollux). John Rhys-Davies as King Priam of Troy- King of Troy, husband of Queen Hecuba, father of Prince Hector, Cassandra, and Prince Alexandros. Maryam dAbo as Queen Hecuba- Wife of Priam, king of Troy, to whom she bore Hector, Paris, Cassandra, and 16 other children. Following the fall of Troy and the death of Priam, the aging Hecuba was taken prisoner by the Greeks. Emilia Fox as Cassandra- Daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. The god Apollo, who loved Cassandra, granted her the gift of prophecy, but when she refused to return his love, Apollo made the gift useless by decreeing that no one would believe her predictions. Cassandra warned the Trojans of many dangers, including the wooden horse by which the Greeks entered the city, but she was dismissed as a madwoman. James Callis as King Menelaus- King of Sparta and husband of Helen, it is Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon that organizes the expedition to Troy. He engages in single combat with Paris with a view to settling the dispute between the Greeks and Trojans. He won the battle, but was prevented from killing his rival by the intervention of Aphrodite. She owed Paris a debt because he judged her more beautiful than Hera and Athena. His reward was to receive the love of Helen who was the most beautiful woman on earth. Menelaus has a similar experience to Odysseus on his return from Troy, as he too experiences a series of misadventures on the return voyage. When Menelaus died, he went to live in the Elysian fields with his immortal Helen. Nigel Whitmey as Odysseus- King of Ithaca and brilliant strategist. He is unsurpassed in cunning. Achilles- Temperamental Greek soldier who is the greatest warrior in history. No man can stand against him. He is the son of Peleus and a sea nymph named Thetis. war on Troy. Aias the Great (Roman name, Ajax the Great)- Mighty warrior who fought in the Trojan War. He was the son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and led the Salaminian forces to Troy. An enormous man, slow in speech but unshakable in battle, Ajax was called â€Å"bulwark of the Achaeans† by Homer. Angered because he was not awarded the armor of the dead Achilles, Ajax resolved to kill the Greek leaders Agamemnon and Menelaus. To prevent this, the goddess Athena struck him with madness. In his delirium, Ajax committed suicide by falling on his sword. Patroclus- Greek warrior and beloved companion of Achilles. http://www. amazon. com/exec/obidos/redirect? tag=thecompleteshakecreative=374725camp=211173link_code=ur1path=subst/home/home. tml Diomedes- Greek warrior of extraordinary valor and ability. Calchas- Soothsayer who explains an important event. Nestor- Wise old king who advises Agamemnon. Hector- Bravest and most accomplished of the Trojan warriors; son of Priam. Aeneas- Brave and powerful Trojan warrior. The son of Anchises, a Trojan prince, and Venus, goddess of love. Zeus (Roman name, Jupiter): King of the gods who prefers to remain neutral in the war but intervenes after a plea for help. Hera (Roman name, Juno): Queen of the gods who favors the Greeks. Athena: Goddess of wisdom and war who favors the Greeks. Hephaestus (Roman name, Vulcan): God of the forge who favors the Greeks. Aphrodite (Roman name, Venus): Goddess of love and beauty who sides with the Trojans. III. Plot Summary Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war. The Greeks are plotting to invade Troy to steal the treasures of the Trojans. Meanwhile Prince Paris is assigned by his wise father and King of Troy to travel to Sparta and shows the peaceful intentions of his people. Along his journey, he falls into the sea during a storm and is rescued on the shore by the Queen of Sparta, Helen. When he recovers, he believes that she is a slave and they fall in love with each other. When he arrives at the Spartan palace, he is arrested by King Menelaus but Helen helps him to escape. They travel together to Troy and give the excuse the Greeks need to start the war and put Troy under siege for years. The Greeks are unsuccessful in their intents, until they listen o the cunning Ulysses. The Greeks then withdraw their one thousand ships from the Trojan waters and offer a wooden Horse of Troy as a gift to the winners. When the Trojans brought the wooden horse inside the city, the Greeks inside the wooden horse came out by nightfall and attacked Troy. IV. Conflict/Problem The war between Greeks and Trojans started again for the Pr ince Paris of Troy abducted Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world and also the wife of the Spartan king, Menelaus. And the conflict also between the two greatest civilizations: Trojan and Greek. The main conflict is Man versus Man, as it tells the story of a war, but the individual characters have their own internal conflicts. V. Moral Lessons There are several moral lessons that can be learned by the viewers from the movie â€Å"Helen of Troy†. Some instances of these moral lessons are: 1. People should be contented on what they have so that they will not plot evil plans just to get what other people have; 2. Violence is never the answer. We can solve conflicts to other people peacefully; 3. A person makes his own destiny; 4. We must face the consequences of our decisions bravely; 5. A mistake cannot be corrected by another mistake; and 6. True love always finds a way. VI. Reaction The film â€Å"Helen of Troy† shows the significant details before and inside the book Iliad. This film assists the readers to comprehend this book. Also, it portrays how the Trojan war began and how Troy was destroyed. The story of the film â€Å"Helen of Troy† is the same as the story in the book â€Å"The Iliad†, because Helen was abducted by Paris, the Achaeans demanded to get her back and prevail over Troy and make it fall. The film only shows the significant details in the book, and alters the flow of the story to make it more eautiful and appropriate for their theme. There are lot of differences between the book Iliad and the movie Helen of Troy after viewing the movie. For instance, Achilles disgusts him and didn’t participate in the war until Patroclos was killed by Hector but in the movie, Achilles is one of the faithful followers of Agamemnon. Als o in the film, Prince Hector didn’t seem very active in the battle but in the book, Hector is the one who leads the army of Troy. There are a lot of differences on the film and the book but still, the book â€Å"The Iliad† and the movie â€Å"Helen of Troy† both show how Troy has fallen because of one woman. The film emphasizes not on Achilles but the love between Alexandros and Helen that they don’t care what will happen in the future and the most significant to them is that they are together. Also, the movie focus on Helen’s life, on how she lost her friends, on how she became mature, how she married Menelaus who is the brother of Agamemnon, how she fell in love with Paris, and how she faced her destiny that in the end, she will lose Paris and ended up following Menelaus, according to what Cassandra foretell to her. This movie was intended to show that love can destroy a castle. Like in the movie, Cassandra tries to prevent the fall of Troy but still it happens because of Paris love Helen so much, he took her from the Achaeans. And because of this the fate of Troy has been fulfilled. This movie also intended to open the eyes of the viewers how tragic a war is. Both parties in the movie lost many soldiers, friends and families.