The Iliad - The Movie

[jpowers]

So, word on the street is that Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot, Perfect Storm) is going to start filming 'Troy' based on the Iliad (it's a book by Homer - no Simpson) this Spring. Any news/reaction?

 

[MWA]

It's a difficult task to convert such a delicate piece of great literature to a movie, but I'll wait till I've seen it before I make a judgement... it's not the first time a movie has been made based on Homer's work, O' Brother Where art thou as the perhaps most recent example of this, and that one was very good.

 

[Greadius]

For some reason I don't picture this spurning booksales like "Lord of the Ring." I understand that The Illiad was a predecessor for dramatic storytelling and blah, blah, but in the 2000+ years of attempts since then the story has achieved a note of cliche and repedative. If not for the literary-classic-to-film license, the film would be entirely unsellable because we've seen it done before, better, with a more interesting story.

 

[jpowers]

Here's a sample of text from the original Iliad:

Thereon the seer spoke boldly. "The god," he said, "is angry neither about vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest's sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he would not free his daughter nor take a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon us, and will yet send others. He will not deliver the Danaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has restored the girl without fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy hecatomb to Chryse. Thus we may perhaps appease him."

Here's a list of words whose meaning would be totally unknown to a typical American:
thereon
seer
hecatomb
pestilence
appease
is (Clinton democrats only)
Here's the screenplay version of the above dialog:

Cool-looking wizard guy (David Carradine): The Gods (Charlton Heston, Joan Cusack, Tim Allen) will punish us until Agamemnon (Sylvester Stallone) gets busy with the priest's (Bruce Willis) daughter (Angelina Jolie). Then we must sacrifice a virgin.
Cool-looking wizard guy's aide (Chris Rock): Daaaaammmmnnn!

 

[Richard III]

Interesting: a big rush on classical themes (not our discussion about the coming Alexander the Great movies in another thread, and the potential for something sick like "Gladiator II").

Can't be that Hollywood actually LIKES the classics anymore. So either

(a) producers have gotten cheap and are desperate for free stories, or

(b) they are excited by the opportunity for orgiastic bacchanalia and T & A that ancient themes provide.

Since I've been very disappointed in the lack of the latter lately, it must be (a) in my view.

R.III

 

[floppa21]

"Typical American"... I wish you were wrong jpowers. So it may not be a box office smash you're sayin?

 

[jpowers]

Oh, it'll be a smash, but the script will look a lot more like then second quote than the first.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

I have had this idea since the early 1980s when I had Harrison Ford as Oddyseus, Charlton Heston as Priam, and Mel Gibson as Achilles. I hope that whatever they do they give this work the attention and cash it needs- similar to Lord of the Rings- and I think a proper interpretation ought to be star studded.

 

[Zwelgje]

The book is a hard read but the story itself is very nice. I've read Iliad and Odyssee myself and liked it but it took me ages to finish the book...

 

[Simon Darkshade]

If it is done properly, then 'tis good.
If it is done as in probably will be, then let woe be upon those responsible. All of them. Crimine ab uno disce omnes.

 

[ZultanofZex]

It's gonna be another Lord of the Rings kid movie with a zillion dollar scenery and a plot/dialog adjusted for the moronic stupid. Also, we will all be plagued by cards, games, dolls and candy made out of themes from the movie!

hey, I got my Wesley Snipes Ulysseus! And a chocolate Troy!

 

[Pongui]

People living in the time of the Iliad are alien to us. How can we pretend to act them?

 

[Supernaut]

Why does everyone assume that the man who made Das Boot is suddenly going to go all Hollywood on us and make a dumbed down film. I think he's more likely to try to film the entire thing, complete with whatever the German for hecatomb is. But it should be interesting to see what he comes up with.

However, I do like the idea of a Hollywood Troy (as opposed to Hollywood Babylon). There could be quite a lot of competition amongst actresses of a certain age to play Helen. Actually, wasn't it a competition amongst beauties that started the thing in the first place?

 

[ZultanofZex]

Helen of should be played by Roseanne Barr...

 

[Panda]

and

It has all the potential to be great, but I fear it will be utter poo. But let's wait and see how this project develops before passing over-hasty judgement.

Originally posted by Supernaut
Why does everyone assume that the man who made Das Boot is suddenly going to go all Hollywood on us and make a dumbed down film. I think he's more likely to try to film the entire thing, complete with whatever the German for hecatomb is. But it should be interesting to see what he comes up with.

He's also responsible for Outbreak. And in a Hollywood movie it's always the producer, not the director who has the final saying.

Originally posted by Supernaut
However, I do like the idea of a Hollywood Troy (as opposed to Hollywood Babylon). There could be quite a lot of competition amongst actresses of a certain age to play Helen. Actually, wasn't it a competition amongst beauties that started the thing in the first place? [/B]

Actually, it was a contest between goddesses that started 'the thing'.

 

[Quokka]

The potential is there for a great movie. I hope its more like his Das Boot effort than Perfect Storm, and please no George Clooney.
I hope they don't dumb it down too far in favour of effects like they did in Planet of the Apes, that was pure trash. Is it being made in Hollywood? Pity its not done at Pinewood.
Still with Gladiator as a benchmark they know they'll have to produce better than the poo Panda fears.

 

[ZultanofZex]

History and Hollywood does not mix!

I fear hte worst...

 

[Pillager]

Oh dear, I await this project with not a little foreboding.

 

[insurgent]

The Iliad - the Movie? Interesting, but I doubt it will be very good...

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Originally posted by ZultanofZex
It's gonna be another Lord of the Rings kid movie with a zillion dollar scenery and a plot/dialog adjusted for the moronic stupid. Also, we will all be plagued by cards, games, dolls and candy made out of themes from the movie!

hey, I got my Wesley Snipes Ulysseus! And a chocolate Troy!

Quite. Except in this case, the Trojan horse will not be the handiwork of Odysseus and other Greek soldiers, but of an 8 year old Chinese kid in a toy factory.