Brad Pitt Gives Classic Greek Story

 

Alan Silverman

The Iliad, the classic work by the ancient Greek poet Homer, gets the Hollywood treatment in an epic¹ film starring Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. Alan Silverman has a look at Troy.
It is not love of country certainly not love of king that drives the mighty² Achilles.
The greatest warrior³ of his time, 3,000 years ago, he fights on the side of the Greek king Agamemnon in a war against the walled city of Troy and its forces led by Trojan prince Hector.
What sparks this epic confrontation⁴ is not Agamemnon's determination to rule the world - although it certainly does serve those ambitions; it is jealousy⁵ over a woman when Helen, the beautiful bride of Menelaus, the king of Sparta, and Agamemnon's brother, is wooed away by the Trojan Paris, the beautiful younger brother of prince Hector.
The film takes great liberties with the writings of Homer, but Australian actor Eric Bana, who co-stars as Hector, believes the ancient tale remains⁶ relevant.
"These characters and this story can be laid over every period of time and every battle that has ever been fought and it bears relevance⁷," he said. "That is why it has lasted so long; and I think we can all identify with all the characters in there. Unfortunately, as Agamemnon says in the story, 'we only remember the kings, we don't remember the soldiers.' I think that's a really wonderful line and through this film we get to follow the journey of Hector and Achilles and see what they give up in their journey, which is really kind of cool. They become the heroes, not the kings."
Brad Pitt plays Achilles as a glory-seeking egotist, determined⁸ that his name be remembered for thousands of years. "He was very skilled at what he does, but Achilles is running to try to discover himself in some way;" says Pitt, "and there is a really telling line in the script where he says 'I want what all men want. I just want it more.'
Ultimately the message is 'the tragedy of war.' That is certainly one of the themes in the Iliad and in our film here," he adds. " There is so much research which was great to read going in and many scholars . . . all kind of hit this point that Homer was trying to erase⁹ this line of 'my side against your side' and trying to adopt a greater humanity in a world of warring factions¹⁰. You look at it and it doesn't seem like so much has changed. I don't know if that's us projecting our current state of the world onto the story or that is truly what he was trying to say."
Troy is directed by German-born Wolfgang Peterson, whose landmark¹¹ 1981 film Das Boot - about the crew of a World War II German submarine - set a new standard for depicting¹³ the effect waging war has on the warriors¹⁴.
"As I said when I did Das Boot and tried to do it in a realistic way, I think every film that deals with war is, by its very nature, an anti-war film because it is just horrible what happens and it is a tragedy," Peterson says. "It is just what it is. Are there parallels to today? I think it is not very difficult to look around and see what happens these days. The world has not changed that much at all. I think that is what's so fascinating about the Iliad. This is the earliest great dramatic work of western literature and it still has an incredibly modern and contemporary feel to it because Homer knew about what makes people tick."
The international cast of Troy also features Irish-born veteran Peter O'Toole as Trojan king Priam. German-born Diane Kruger is Helen, the face that launched 1,000 ships; and English actor Orlando Bloom of Lord Of The Rings and Pirates Of The Caribbean fame, is the passionate¹⁵ young Paris.
注释：
Iliad [5iliEd] 《伊利亚特》
treatment [5tri:tmEnt] n. 处理，制作
epic [5epik] adj. 雄壮的，史诗性的
star v. 群星云集
Achilles [E5kili:z] n. 阿基里斯（希腊神话中善跑的英雄）
Agamemnon [7A^E5memnEn] n. 阿伽门农（特洛伊战争中希腊军队的统帅）
Trojan prince Hector 特洛伊王子赫克托
spark [spB:k] v. 闪烁，有魅力
confrontation [7kCnfrQn5teiFEn] n. 面对，这里指戏剧的冲突
ambition [Am5biFEn] n. 野心，雄心
jealousy [5dVelEsi] n. 嫉妒
woo [wu:] v. 求爱，追求
liberty [5libEti] n. 自由，这里指对荷马原作的随意改写
relevant [5relivEnt] adj. 有关的，相应的
bear [bZE] v. 具有
relevance [5relEvEns] n. 适合，适当
line [lain] n. 台词
egotist [5i:^EtIst] n. 自负者，自我主义者
script [skript] n. 剧本
ultimately [5QltImEtlI] adv. 最后，最终
tragedy [5trAdVidi] n. 悲剧
theme [Wi:m] n. 主题
erase [i5reiz] vt. 抹去，消去
humanity [hju(:)5mAniti] n. 人性，仁慈
project [5prCdVekt] v. 影射
landmark [5lAndmB:k] n. 标志性作品
depict¹² [di5pikt] vt. 描述，描写
realistic [riE5listik] adj. 现实主义的
parallels [5pArE7lel] n. 相同点，相似点
fascinating [5fAsineitiN] adj. 迷人的
contemporary [kEn5tempErEri] adj. 当代的，同时代的
tick [tik] v. 滴答地响，这里是惹人流泪的意思
cast [kB:st] n. 演员表
veteran [5vetErEn] n. 老手，这里指经验丰富的演员
Lord Of The Rings 电影《指环王》
Pirates Of The Caribbean 电影 《加勒比海盗》
passionate [5pAFEnit] adj. 充满热情的

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

4 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

5 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

10 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

11 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

12 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

13 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

14 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

15 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。