proposed movies

[kate]

Hi everyone,I've not been posting lately due to moving house, but all the comments lately about the new crop of movies set in the ancient world made me wonder what Alexander would have made of "Troy" with Brad Pitt as Achilles -the mind boggles!Cheers,Kate

[davej]

I have been sticking out of the whole this movie sucks and that movie sucks debate, but this, I am perplexed by this one. What is wrong with Brad Pitt as Achilles. I think he is perfect for the job. I am not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) but he is a good looking man and he can act. Have you read the Iliad? Achilles was hansom , selfcentred, broading and tough as hell. Again what is wrong with Brad Pitt? While I have broken my silence on Movies My god people get over it. None of you as far as I am aware are invovled with the movies. Nobody as far as I am aware really knows what Baz and Oliver are doing. Baz's movie is not going to be Moulin Rouge with swords (he has done a heap of research thus far) I know. Oliver's movie is'nt JFK with swords. No matter what any of you say you will be first in line to see both or either movies when they come out. Alexander does'nt belong to any of us. Lets be greatful that at least his name has been reserected by the media and that people who used to say Alexander who? are know taking and interest. I don't know how many people have asked me about ATG since this all this started.Enough said.Bye all.
G'day Marcus.Croc Hunter.

[John.]

I like Brad Pitt as Achilles, too. I hope they don't make him gay, since Homer gives absolutely no indication of that, though Acilles did get VERY upset (the wrath of Achilles) when someone (Agamemnon) took his girl.Achilles is the man!John

[jorgios]

I have read that Brad Pitt is so embarassed of his "ugly feet" as he himself puts it, that he has chosen to wear these huge pair of boots instead of sandals in the movie. I saw the pictures of him in the huge boots and they look ridiculous. And how is he supposed to be killed by the arrow in the heel then?That is whats wrong with Brad Pitt in my eyes!they also have an African American playing Ajax! If you thought Denzel Washington as Hannibal was bad!

[John.]

Maybe with the boots Achilles is trying to get ptrotection from Apollo's arrow?As for the African-American playing Ajax, this is bound to give fuel to the Macedonian propaganda about the Greeks having a sub-Saharan African element in their DNA, you were arguing about below. LOLJohn

[marcus]

So who *is* playing Ajax?Personally, having seen a photo of Brad in his Achilles costume, which is sort of sub-Xena in style, I don't really care who plays whom in the movie. What I do know is that it's likely to be tremendous fun, with some superb battle scenes, and I very much doubt they'll be playing around with the plot. And Wolfgang Petersen is a good director...My, I'm looking forward to this one...All the bestMarcus

[susa]

But the thing that made Achilles come back to fight was .....;)Sorry for meddling.susa

[John.]

Answer: His mother finally got the gods to finish his armor for him.... And when the armor was dropped on the ground in front of the men, no one else could even look upon it, the glory was so great, but Achilles not only looked upon it, but picked it up and put it on.... If only Hephaistus would have given a little more care to heel protection.John

[John.]

I know you're trying to say Achilles came back to fight to avenge the death of Patroclus.Just tell me why two males can't have a strong friendship without someone saying they were gay.Homer doesn't go down that road, though he often speaks of the warriors taking their joy with the opposite sex.I think Alexander modelled his friendship with Hephaistion on Achilles/Patroclus, or maybe he even thought they were re-incarnated.John

[susa]

I am not trying to say. That's how it happened.And, yes!, two males can have 'strong friendship' without anyone saying they are 'gay'. I never said that, for instance. The word is anachronous for what we are discussing. So it's possible, see.
"I think Alexander modelled his friendship with Hephaistion on Achilles/Patroclus, or maybe he even thought they were re-incarnated."I know you think this way. But, anyway, for me it was just a coincidence. Coincidences happen, you know.s

[s]

Oh, that's a good one!:)

[John.]

OK You don't like the word "gay." Let's use "gender confusion."I still don't see it in Achilles and company, but I do see it rampant in and around Athens in the years before Alexander. What did Diogenes say, "I went from the women's quarters (Athens) to them men's (Sparta).I can't blame the Athenians, though. Look who their city is named after: Athena, a wanna be man! See how she's always portrayed with a battle helmet on and a shield. Someone should tell her, Look, Athena, take off the helmet, put down the shield, and pick up a flute or something. You're confusing the men in your city.And, by the way, Athena, can I borrow that shield? I might need it after this post.John

[jorgios]

Hi Marcus,
Here is a link to the Cast.. it is in German.http://www.dertrojanischekrieg.de/cast.html

[Kate]

Hi Dave,I objected to Brad Pitt because, unlike you, I think he is a poor actor. He is lovely to look at, but "wooden" and therefore I don't think he is a good choice to play someone as passionate as Achilles. (I've read the Iliad by the way, several times in fact.) I agree with you though that we will all go and watch the these films anyway!Cheers, Kate

[John.]

In a way I agree with you. My real first choice would be for Pitt to play Patroclus, but then who could rise to the level of Achilles? I can't think of anyone.Anyway, while Achilles was staying out of the battle, he let Patroclus take his armor, and go fight, pretending he was Achilles. So, I could watch the movie pretending Pitt is Patroclus pretending to be Achilles.Come to think of it, didn't Alexander, too, pretend to be Achilles? Sometimes I think all roads lead to Achilles. What a hero!John