Troy

I started the year by watching **Troy (2004) starring *Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom.* This was actually my first time ever seeing the film and of course, I watched the Director’s Cut.** And wow, I was blown away. From a historical perspective, the film is only partially accurate, but in my opinion that doesn’t really matter. This is where artistic freedom comes into play. I was completely hooked from the very first minutes. So what is the film about? In short, it tells the story of the Trojan War: how it began, who fought against whom, and everything that happens before Odysseus eventually begins his great journey home (which we’ll see this summer in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey). The Director’s Cut has an impressive runtime of 3 hours and 16 minutes, making it significantly longer than the theatrical cut, which runs about 2 hours and 25 minutes (according to Google). The story mainly focuses on Achilles, who is portrayed as fully human in the film, even though he is half god in the myth. This change doesn’t hurt the film at all. The performances across the board are fantastic, especially Brad Pitt though that’s hardly surprising. The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. Every composition, every lighting choice, every color feels high quality and meticulously crafted. I also really loved the sets. They never felt like obvious studio environments, which adds a lot to the film’s authenticity. Especially for its time, shooting on large, practical sets makes a huge difference and honestly, it still looks better than relying too heavily on modern CGI. The choreography is another highlight. While there are a few shots where the action can be a bit hard to follow, that hardly matters. In a massive battle like this, who would realistically have a clear overview anyway? Special praise also goes to James Horner’s soundtrack the same composer behind Titanic, Braveheart, Avatar, and The Amazing Spider-Man. The music is powerful, majestic, and emotionally present throughout the entire film. Simply brilliant. After a while, you definitely notice the three hour runtime, but it never really bothered me because I was so invested. Honestly, I could have watched a four or even five hour cut of this film because it completely pulls you in. Despite being rooted in myth and history, the ending is fairly predictable, even if you don’t really know the story and have only vaguely heard of it. The violence is very graphic and brutally explicit, but that only makes the film feel more grounded and realistic. War is ugly, cruel, and horrifying and the film doesn’t shy away from that. One more thing: I absolutely hated Paris as a character (Orlando Bloom did his job well). He was genuinely frustrating to watch. One moment he talks about facing his destiny and standing his ground only to completely back out at the very last second. That constant cowardice made him incredibly annoying and hard to sympathize with. In my opinion, Troy is an absolute must watch and a strong 5/5.