Helen of Troy (1956) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my favorite movie version of the story of Helen of Troy. It's more melodramatic and theatrical than the recent cable TV miniseries, but it is faster paced and has a grandeur and fascination with Greek mythology lacking in that version. At least Cassandra is Kassandra in this film - she's endowed with the gift of prophecy, yet no one believes her until it's too late. Then again, many other mythological details are sacrificed for simplicity's sake.
In the role of Helen, Rossana Podesta is radiantly beautiful. She indeed has the face that could launch a thousand ships. And the Paris of Jacques Sernas is nearly as beautiful as his beloved. Their passion is believable, if a tad overblown. The rest of cast is good too, especially the Priam of Sir Cedric Hardwick, Achilles of Stanley Baker and Odysseus of Torin Thatcher. Although the Trojan War occured during Mycenaean times, most of the set designs and costumes appear to use Classical Greece as the model, and to very good effect, for it gives the movie a nobility lacking in the more recent version. It's all pure Hollywood and many liberties have been taken. The spectacular scenery, great matte work and action sequences nevertheless make for a very entertaining movie. So where's the DVD?

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Homer's Illiad surges to the screen in Helen Of Troy, from the '50s heyday of big-screen spectaculars. Robert Wise (Westside Story, The Sound Of Music) directs this lavish epic capturing some 30,000 people on screen at a then huge cost of $6 million.

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Ulysses' Gaze (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)...and you'll be rewarded. Several of the reviewers below expressed problems with the pacing of this film -- one even went so far as to charge that Angelopoulos has created a 'pale imitation' of a Tarkovsky film with his long shots &c. While I could definitely see some parallels with Tarkovsky's work (the aforementioned long shots; the interplay between past & present, dream & reality; the non-linear progression of the story), I would hardly denigrate the director's efforts as a 'pale imitation'. I won't doubt for a moment that Angelopoulos admires and has been inspired by Tarkovsky's work -- but this is a director with his own vision, not one he has derived from the creativity of another artist.
The cinematography is breathtakingly stunning throughout -- and the long shots with which some viewers evidently find fault are in my opinion perfectly in tune with the flow and rhythm of the film. Too many people get used to the choppy, hurry-up-and-get-to-the-point techniques of Hollywood -- when something deeper, with more of an artistic foundation comes along, they have trouble relating to it. There are subtleties at work here -- masterful brushstrokes on film -- that must be taken in with an open, attentive mind. The small and the large combine into the cohesive whole that is this film -- sit back and let them do their work, don't try to guess where the film is going next or wonder how it's going to arrive there.
Keitel offers up a marvelously natural performance -- a review I read nailed it in part when it mentioned that Keitel doesn't so much 'deliver' his lines as become a vehicle for them. I got the feeling throughout the film that he was drawing his performance from a place very deep within himself, giving himself to it completely, allowing Angelopoulos' vision to animate his work. As a result, he is completely believable in his role as the exiled Greek filmmaker simply identified in the credits as 'A'.
Eleni Karaindrou's soundtrack (and the work of the great violist Kim Kashkashian in particular) complements the film perfectly. She has worked with Angelopoulos in the past, and continues to do so -- her music stands well on its own merit.
Not having seen this on the theatrical screen, I can't speak to the quality of the transfer -- and I must admit to having been disappointed by Fox-Lorber DVDs in the past -- but I thought the colour-drained look of many scenes in the film was perfect. Angelopoulos has stated that he 'feels' a film with all of his senses -- that translates into the exprience of viewing it as well...at least for me.
Highly recommended.


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