Troy (Petersen, 2004) — 10 Years Later: Part III

By Jeremy Purves in 10 Years Later Essays June 18, 2014

A Classical View of “Happy Endings”:

Hanson and Heath wrote:

“More poignantly, [Achilles] must live with the knowledge that his own anger, his own stubborn and selfish refusal to rejoin the fighting, led directly to Patroclus’ death. Patroclus, the more sensitive soul, took pity on the wounded and dying Greeks in desperate need of Achilles’ assistance, and so put on Achilles’ armor to fight in the place of the better man. When Patroclus is slain by Hector, Achilles loses all contact with humanity and begins a killing rampage that ends only with the vengeful slaughter of his great enemy. The cost of that revenge, Achilles long ago learned from his mother will be his own death soon to follow. Now, at the end of the epic, Achilles must learn and accept the consequences of his actions: ‘and Achilleus wept now for his own father now again / for Patroklos.’ (Il. 24.511-12).” (pg. 196)

Looking over both positive and negative reviews of Troy, almost every single one of them agree that the film’s best scene is where Peter O’Toole’s Priam visits the tent of Achilles. That this scene is such a high point in the movie coincides with the fact it is also probably the most powerful scene in the Iliad. O’Toole is masterful here, and his acting almost shines to Pitt’s disadvantage. But where Priam is noble, courageous and eloquent, Homer’s Achilles really does seem an emotional cripple beside him. During the scene Pitt does look at times as if he doesn’t know how to react. And yet it is difficult to imagine that that is not exactly how he would feel in real life. He is eventually overwhelmed. In the film there is an inner core to his character that only Priam can creach. Priam has an integrity and humanity that shows Achilles what a true king could be. Rick Kisonak (Film Threat) writes that in this single scene, “O’Toole does more to bring the production to life using only his ragged voice, lined face and innate style than Petersen’s FX crew can manage with all the software money can buy.” Only O’Toole’s Priam confirms every suspicion that Achilles has acted rashly, arrogantly and selfishly. There is no doubt that Achilles himself sees this by the end of the scene.