Review of Helen of Troy

"Loving me kills people, destroys families, causes such grief you cannot imagine." It did just that. After Paris steals Helen from Menelaus, a thousand ships set sail for Troy to get her back. The Greeks and the Trojans fought outside the walls of Troy, losing heroes in the process. Even the gods took sides, helping their 'favorites', so to speak. For 10 years the bloodshed went on until one day, the Greeks entered Troy via the wooden horse. They caught the Trojans off guard and killed them all, sparing only the women and children. Troy lay in ruins and Helen was given back to her rightful owner. That is Homer's Iliad. The epic-drama film, Helen of Troy, however, revolved more around the love triangle of Paris, Helen and Menelaus. John Kent Harrison's 175-minute version, which was released in 2003, was told from Menelaus' point of view. He was shown as a faithful and heartbroken king slash husband overshadowed by his evil brother Agamemnon. In the scene where time stopped as he saw Helen, he convinced me that he really loved her and was really fighting for her. If it were from another character's point of view though, Achilles' for instance, he probably wouldn't be given much appearance in the film since he wasn't really 'the' major character. He would be but an extra and Achilles would be portrayed as an admirable warrior rather than a ruthless one who was just itching for royal blood. The film would also be more faithful to the original story since Achilles is 'the' main man of the Iliad.

I enjoyed the movie. The actors did justice to their characters, especially Rufus Sewell (Agamemnon). His eyes said everything. The lighting and sound effects for the respective scenes were good, too. They contributed a lot to how a scene made the viewer feel, whether it be fear for Paris' life or utter hatred for Agamemnon. The same goes for the editing, though the 'slow-mo' scene made me laugh. Overall, I give it a 4/5.