July 4th, 2008
Thoughts on “Troy,” May 25, 2004…
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“I’ll tell you a secret… The gods envy us. Because we are mortal. You will never be as beautiful as you are now. We will not be here again.”
– Achilles, to the mugged, bruised Briseias, in “Troy”
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Saw Troy last Sunday. Liked it. Even with the abundant use of CGI (as my friend Jojo points out.)
It can be retitled “Achilles.” Or the “The Life and Times of Achilles.”
I’m fascinated by the film because:
1) No matter what his critics say, Brad Pitt is just undaunted by taking on Herculean challenges. (A female teacher of mine once said that Pitt will never become a good actor because of his good looks.)
2) The scriptwriter did his research! He had a good grasp of Greek culture and philosophy (the love for spectacle, “agon” or contest, “arete” or excellence, immortality through the preservation of one’s name, and the sense of piety vis-a-vis the sense of pride in human achievements that easily becomes prey to “hubris”) and mythology. (You have a tight scene in Phtia because here we discover several things: the cunning of Odysseus, the martial expertise of Achilles, the brashness of Patroclus, and the almost paternal love of Achilles for Patroclus.) Plus, the writer demythologized the mythology. I’d like to read The Iliad just to see how many changes and adaptations he did in the screenplay. (For instance, Agamemnon was killed by Clytemnestra, his wife. Was the Briseias (Perseias?) character/love-interest of Achilles an invention? I’ve a suspicion too that the Agamemnon-Achilles spat was cooked up by the writer. Of course, I’m not that well-acquainted with greek mythology. Haven’t read Iliad yet.)
3) You have a well-thought out, very human(ized) characterization of Achilles. (My good friend Paolo comments that Achilles and Paris are two sides of the same coin. They both earn their redemption towards the end. Paris, by developing his courage; Achilles, by developing his compassion. Paris though is not as sympathetic as Achilles. (Is this due to a failure of acting or script-writing? Uh-oh, I can almost hear the shouts of protest by all those women Legolas-fans.) He also says that the contrast between Hector and Achilles should have been greatly emphasized. Hector is the noblest character in the story, even nobler than the gods. The inner struggle between his sense of duty and fraternal love should have been more apparent. (It’s either a problem of acting, writing, or direction… Well, after all, this is Achilles’s film.)
4) Great choreography, especially in the Achilles-Hector showdown!
5) Laughed out really loud at that scene where Achilles throws the towel at Briseias’s face in exasperation.
6) At first, I didn’t find Diane Kruger (Helen) that beautiful. As I gazed at her face, I slowly did find her beautiful. Classic beauty. Of course, the film tells us that, in all probability, even if Helen were not that beautiful, ships would still be launched to retrieve her because of the wounded machismo of Menelaus and the unbridled ambition of Agamemnon.
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Among the reasons why Nietzsche (who was a lover of Greek culture) criticized Christianity was its denigration of the concept of “war/conflict.”
And yet, in spite of pacifism and “all we need is love“-mentality, we are never able to totally rid ourselves of these concepts. Nietzsche even goes so far as to say that no philosopher worth his salt would be able to deny that at the very core of love is war. Heraclitean? Probably.
The honor and respect one gives to a worthy enemy is a bridge to love and compassion.
This is what’s so frightening about modern warfare. Because of technological advancement, it’s quite possible to exterminate peoples without ever seeing “the face of the enemy.” There is no more honor and nobility in war. (Paolo interjects that there is never honor and nobility in any war. War needs terror. Terror is essential to the success of any camp in war.) Killing is more and more like playing video games. Dead people become reduced to numbers, points, bonus points.
This is probably what has been rankling the heart of Achilles in “Troy.” As he himself admits, he did not choose to be a warrior. That is simply what he was, as brought about by the circumstances of his education and growing up. He thought that honor and nobility is to be found in becoming the greatest warrior. And yet, in spite of the acclaim that he’s been getting for every killing that he does, the very honor/nobility and contentment/peace that he’s been courting remains ever elusive.
The quintessential warrior, Achilles’s passion lies in fighting. And the immortality that the destruction of war will bring to its victors. (These words came to my mind while watching Patroclus’s cremation: “My love is like a funeral pyre, blazing in the night sky. Would that it consumed me, my love, and its fire!”)
And yet there remains his disgust in remaining a pawn in the dirty politics of proving who among the kings have a bigger dick.
For Achilles is a philosopher, too. He thinks of the reason for doing things. Having seen the faces of the countless men that he has slain, he asks himself, “What for?”
But Odysseus’s words (immortality through the greatness of one’s heroic deeds and valor in war) prove to be a greater seduction than her mother’s (immortality through filial love and security).
That is, until he meets her match, the feisty Briseias. (Agamemnon: “The mighty Achilles, silenced by a slave-girl!”)
Achilles falls in love and decides to sail back home with his lady-love.
But as fate would have it, Patroclus, whom he loved dearly like his own son (becoming a surrogate father for his own mirror-image, since he himself grew up without a father), dies in the hands of Hector.
And the brute in his heart that has been thought tamed becomes possessed with thoughts of vengeance. He slays Hector. With a vengeance. And denies the honor due him as a worthy and noble opponent.
Briseias: “When will it ever end? (The vicious circle of violence.)
Achilles: “It never ends.”
And yet gain, Achilles would be taught by an enemy. (King Priam: “Even an enemy can give respect.”) He gives back the body of Hector to Priam, releases Briseias, allows them safe passage, and announces a temporary truce in honor of the noble Hector.
From hereon, Achilles is a changed man. He sends his own men to sail back home. (“I have my own battle to finish.”)
The warrior has become a lover. He participates in the final move to penetrate the walls of Troy to search for his love. When a soldier pleads to him “I have a son…,” he replies, “Get him out of Troy.”
Meanwhile, Paris has become a warrior, takes heart, takes courage, for his love. (It’s very telling how the screenwriter conceives of the intertwining of love and war. The warrior has to die in order to become a lover. The lover has to kill (become a warrior) to fulfill his love. Paris: “How can you love me if I run away for the second time?”)
The last temptation of Achilles took place when he was being shot by Paris’s arrows. He could have easily killed Paris in one last vengeful act, but he relents, puts down his sword, and says to his love, “It’s alright. It’s alright… You’ve brought me peace.”
But Achilles attained peace, not because it was something that was given him by Briseias. He attained peace because he won the ultimate battle that’s worth waging at all. The inner battle that leads to inner peace. He has conquered himself. He has learned how to love and be compassionate, and in so doing, has attained nobility. And peace.
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Another Pitt-starrer (with Edward Norton), “Fight Club,” deals with the necessity of “agon” (battle/war/contest). We can never run away from the reality of the “agon.” But the physical “agon” is only the externalization/manifestation of the more crucial inner “agon.”
I dream of the time when disputes between nations and peoples would be settled by a fistfight. Let Bush and Bin Laden have a go at it. There won’t be a need to involve innocent people. Or maybe, let them have their virtual selves in a computerized simulation of reality and let them blow each other to kingdom come there. The instincts of aggression are exercised and exorcised, without the bloodshed.
Bhavatu sabba mangalam!
May all beings be happy. May all beings find peace. May all beings grow in love and compassion. May all beings share in harmony.
best regards,
tro-ian horse