New tv series by the BBC: Troy

[Kyriakos]

Well, not liking they named it as Troy, cause it reminds of the movie, and that movie had a lot of problems.

Oh wait, it is because this is exactly planned to be told from the Trojan point of view, as immortalised in epic by... no one. (i don't mean Odysseus).

Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One says, “David Farr’s bold and visceral rendition of the 3,000 year old story, told across multiple parts and for the first time from the Trojan point of view will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen on BBC One before.”

Farr, who wrote the screenplay for feature HHHH, which is currently shooting with Jason Clarke, adds, “The story of Ilium, the ancient city of Troy, has always gripped me. Fall Of A City aims to convey in all its emotional richness, the effects of war, and the toll taken on city and family by the horrors of siege. Though one of Europe’s oldest stories, it could not be more sadly pertinent today.”

http://deadline.com/2015/09/bbc-orders-troy-fall-of-a-city-david-farr-kudos-1201544452/

Afaik it was argued that the movie Troy was more based on the Aeniad, but still that does not explain why virtually all the characters end up differently than in the Illiad (let alone than not many care about fan-fiction Aeniad ).

Ajax, Agamemnon, Menelaos don't die fighting Troy. Ajax becomes mad after Odysseus tricks him out of being awarded dead Achilles' weapons, and ultimately commits suicide. Agamemnon returns to his home palace and is assassinated by his wife, Klytemnistra. Iirc Menelaos gets reconciled with Helen, and they return to Sparta.

 

[gay_Aleks]

I'll be seriously disappointed if they don't use this song in the climax of the battle.


Link to video.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I'll be seriously disappointed if they don't use this song in the climax of the battle.

Of all the songs from Blind Guardian's A Night at the Opera, the one that would most fit is And Then There Was Silence, as that song is about the Trojan War as seen in a vision by Cassandra.

 

[JollyRoger]

I'd rather see it from Emmitt or Jimmy's point of view.

 

[Hygro]

Well, not liking they named it as Troy, cause it reminds of the movie, and that movie had a lot of problems.

The movie was dope WTH are you smoking.

 

[Kyriakos]

The movie was dope WTH are you smoking.

Troy had more things changed from the Iliad than 300 had from the actual greek-persian war

Ajax, Menelaos, Agamemnon (but the actor playing Agamemnon was very cool), all having no relation to the greek myths and the epic. Menelaos doesn't die, he gets reconciled with Helen. Ajax is equal in the duel against Hector, which goes on for so long that they accept to call it a tie. Ajax kills his own self, after Achilles died and Odysseus tricks Ajax out of being awarded the weapons of Achilles.
Agamemnon returns to his palace and is killed by his wife and her boyfriend, later avenged by his son Orestes.

And so on..

 

[Flying Pig]

They changed a lot, but ended up with a good film. At the end of the day, that's what matters, I think. You can't fetishise the original for the sake of it.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

This is one of the points of history that I'd love to visit if I ever got my hands on a time machine. So much is unverified legend, but you can't argue with the fact that Heinrich Schliemann discovered a city site (though his methods and treatment of the artifacts he found would definitely not fly with modern archaeological standards).

My own favorite story of the Trojan War is Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel Firebrand, told from the point of view of Cassandra (spelled Kassandra in the novel).

 

[Hygro]

Troy had more things changed from the Iliad than 300 had from the actual greek-persian war

Ajax, Menelaos, Agamemnon (but the actor playing Agamemnon was very cool), all having no relation to the greek myths and the epic. Menelaos doesn't die, he gets reconciled with Helen. Ajax is equal in the duel against Hector, which goes on for so long that they accept to call it a tie. Ajax kills his own self, after Achilles died and Odysseus tricks Ajax out of being awarded the weapons of Achilles.
Agamemnon returns to his palace and is killed by his wife and her boyfriend, later avenged by his son Orestes.

And so on..

Sure but it was still a dope movie. It also changed how movie sword fighting was done. Up until that point it was all Hong Kong wushu and super drawn our dance fighting. Troy made it visceral, fast, and brutal.

Plus, no meddling Gods, so it could be a human story

 

[Arakhor]

It's not much of a Greek mythological film if there are no meddling gods.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Not enough grease, er, pardon, Greece.

 

[Hygro]

It's not much of a Greek mythological film if there are no meddling gods.

Exactly!

Instead we get a Greek speculative-history war film

 

[Flying Pig]

It's not much of a Greek mythological film if there are no meddling gods.

Not sure what I think about that one. The gods are certainly all over the place in Homer's poems, but you can take them out quite easily - there's nothing done by a god that's important to the plot that can't be passed off onto someone's inner monologue (so Athene holding Achilles back from killing Agammemnon in the first scene can be recast as Achilles checking his anger) or simply good or bad luck. That's why the story works so well, I think: it's about people. I quite like the film Troy, and one of my favourite parts (apart from Brad Pitt being absolutely cracking) is the fact that we never quite know whether the gods are actually there or not.

 

[Kyriakos]

I don't mind the gods not being there (afterall even in ancient Greece there were very vocal attacks against Homer's theology, eg by Xenophanes and Heraklitos, and i doubt most other thinkers liked it either), but i disliked the huge plotline alterations re the main characters (Menelaos, Agamemnon, Ajax, and other heroes missing entirely)

It was a cool (in the 'spectacular' fashion at least) movie, yes. But it had loads of flaws as well.

Besides: 300>Troy.

And something tells me this BBC series is going to be far more about generic "war is terrible" dialogue, rather than anything having to do with the setting of the Trojan war.

 

[Flying Pig]

I don't mind the gods not being there (afterall even in ancient Greece there were very vocal attacks against Homer's theology, eg by Xenophanes and Heraklitos, and i doubt most other thinkers liked it either), but i disliked the huge plotline alterations re the main characters (Menelaos, Agamemnon, Ajax, and other heroes missing entirely)

It was a cool (in the 'spectacular' fashion at least) movie, yes. But it had loads of flaws as well.

Besides: 300>Troy.

And something tells me this BBC series is going to be far more about generic "war is terrible" dialogue, rather than anything having to do with the setting of the Trojan war.

Homer has a lot of that too.

What did you prefer about 300? I have to admit I'm surprised to hear that you liked it more.

 

[Kyriakos]

300 was AWESOME.

Well, 300: rise of an empire was Utter Garbage, but the original 300 was great. Very stylistic violence-fest, coupled with 'The enemy outnumbers us 3 to 1: fair odds by any greek ' attitude

Besides, it had a rhino, mammoths, an orc, and even Baphomet playing a sitar.


Link to video.

 

[Arakhor]

The gods are certainly all over the place in Homer's poems, but you can take them out quite easily - there's nothing done by a god that's important to the plot that can't be passed off onto someone's inner monologue (so Athene holding Achilles back from killing Agammemnon in the first scene can be recast as Achilles checking his anger) or simply good or bad luck.

Well, depending on how you define "important to the plot", there's quite a few instances in the Odyssey which would be hard to explain otherwise - Poseidon turning Odysseus's ship and crew to stone (but not him) for one and Athena disguising him as a beggar on Ithaca so that only his nurse recognised him (for another).

 

[Flying Pig]

Valid point - I admit I only had the Iliad in mind - but aren't most of those related in stories by Odysseus himself? There's always the question in those parts (which encompass pretty much all of the fantastic elements) as to whether Odysseus is being entirely truthful.