| The Fall of Troy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Giovanni Pastrone Luigi Romano Borgnetto |
| Based on | the Iliad by Homer |
| Starring | Giovanni Casaleggio |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 31 min |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | silent |
The Fall of Troy (Italian : La caduta di Troia) is a 1911 Italian silent short film directed by Giovanni Pastrone and Luigi Romano Borgnetto. [1] It is the first known cinematographic adaptation of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad.
Menelaus is the king of Sparta and temporarily departs from his residence, leaving Helen, the queen of Sparta, without him. Paris of Troy, is the son of Priam, the king of Troy, and is the ambassador of the court of Menelaus. When Paris arrives in Sparta, he kidnaps Helen and brings her to Troy where the two fall in love. Menelaus’s servant sees what has happened and reports the news to him. Devastated, the king of Sparta seeks revenge by declaring war on Troy. The Greeks attempt to siege the city walls of Troy, but fail. The Greeks then place a huge wooden Trojan horse with Greek warriors hidden inside under the walls of Troy, pretending to be dedicated to the Gods and ending the war. Falling for the trap, the Trojans break down the city walls to bring the wooden horse inside. A Greek spy reports the success of the trap back to Menelaus, and when no one is around, the Greek warriors exit the belly of the wooden horse to set fire to the city. With the city in chaos and the walls in shambles, the Greeks successfully lay siege Troy and kill Paris at the end of the film.
As some advertising posters of the time testify, the film enjoyed international promotion. [2]
Over 800 actors were involved in the filming for what was defined as the most ambitious project that no one had yet attempted in the world of cinema. [2]
The film has been distributed since 1911 and is also known under the following titles:
600 meters long and projected without interruption in half an hour of show, [3] [4] [5] The Fall of Troy did not take too long to be appreciated, especially at international level. The success achieved by the film, in fact, was crucial in bringing Italian Film to international prominence. [6] In Italy, however, it did not receive any particular acclaim, but in the rest of Europe [7] [2] [8] and in the United States it was received with great enthusiasm. [9] [10] The Fall of Troy made foreign audiences aware of and appreciate the exploits of the nascent Italian cinema. [11] [12]
The success seen by the film in the USA also allowed for the opening of a branch of Itala Films in New York in 1913. [6]
A critic of the New York Dramatic Mirror in April 1911 wrote: «this spectacular and very interesting film demonstrates, from the dramatic point of view, to what heights the art of cinema can reach. The sets embrace a real city and throughout the film an enchanting depth of perspective is maintained, through which an entire army of citizens and soldiers can be seen swarming in dense ranks. In the scenes of the destruction of Troy, one realizes that he is facing an incomparable production of great beauty and multiple artistic merits. " [13] The Moving Picture World (another New York newspaper) also wrote: «The question that is heard everywhere: Have you seen The Fall of Troy? gives this great and spectacular production the seal of the film of the week. " [14]
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Electra, Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus.
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the 12th or 13th century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology, and it has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.
Troy or Ilion was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlık, Turkey. The place was first settled around 3600 BC and grew into a small fortified city around 3000 BC. During its four thousand years of existence, Troy was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. As a result, the archeological site that has been left is divided into nine layers, each corresponding to a city built on the ruins of the previous. Archaeologists refer to these layers using Roman numerals. Among the early layers, Troy II is notable for its wealth and imposing architecture. During the Late Bronze Age, Troy was called Wilusa and was a vassal of the Hittite Empire. The final layers were Greek and Roman cities which in their days served as tourist attractions and religious centers because of their link to mythic tradition.
In Greek mythology, Menelaus was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta. According to the Iliad, the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of the Greek army, under his elder brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy, the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus.
Paris, also known as Alexander, is a mythological figure in the story of the Trojan War. He appears in numerous Greek legends and works of Ancient Greek literature such as the Iliad. In myth, he is prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and younger brother of Prince Hector. His elopement with Helen sparks the Trojan War, during which he fatally wounds Achilles.
Helen, also known as Helen of Troy, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda or Nemesis, and the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta "who became by her the father of Hermione, and, according to others, of Nicostratus also." Her abduction by Paris of Troy was the most immediate cause of the Trojan War.
Troy is a 2004 epic historical war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff. Produced by units in Malta, Mexico and Britain's Shepperton Studios, the film features an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Saffron Burrows and Orlando Bloom. It is loosely based on Homer's Iliad in its narration of the entire story of the decade-long Trojan War—condensed into little more than a couple of weeks, rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector's Trojan army. The end of the film is not taken from the Iliad, but rather from Quintus Smyrnaeus's Posthomerica, as the Iliad concludes with Hector's death and funeral.
Helen of Troy is a 1956 American-Italian-French epic historical drama film, based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. It was directed by Robert Wise, from a screenplay by Hugh Gray and John Twist, adapted by Hugh Gray and N. Richard Nash. The music score was composed by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr, who shot the film in CinemaScope.
Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco, was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician.
In Greek mythology, Antenor was a counselor to King Priam of Troy during the events of the Trojan War.
Helen of Troy is a 2003 British-American television miniseries based upon Homer's story of the Trojan War, as recounted in the epic poem, the Iliad.
Troia is a town and comune in the province of Foggia and region of Apulia in southern Italy.
Clytemnestra, in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the half-sister of Helen of Sparta. In Aeschylus' Oresteia, she murders Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan princess Cassandra, whom Agamemnon had taken as a war prize following the sack of Troy; however, in Homer's Odyssey, her role in Agamemnon's death is unclear and her character is significantly more subdued.
The Trojan Horse is a 1961 Italian peplum film set in the tenth and final year of the Trojan War. The film focuses primarily on the exploits of the Trojan hero Aeneas during this time. The film was directed by Giorgio Ferroni and stars Steve Reeves as Aeneas and John Drew Barrymore as Odysseus.
Giuseppa Iolanda Menichelli, known professionally as Pina Menichelli, was an Italian actress. After a career in theatre and a series of small film roles, Menichelli was launched as a film star when Giovanni Pastrone gave her the lead role in The Fire (1916). Over the next nine years, Menichelli made a series of films, often trading on her image as a diva and on her passionate, decadent eroticism. Menichelli became a global star, and one of the most appreciated actresses in Italian cinema, before her retirement in 1924, aged 34.
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Troy is an opera in two acts by Bujor Hoinic set to a Turkish-language libretto by Artun Hoinic, based on the ancient Greek epic poem Iliad by Homer. It premiered in Ankara, Turkey, in 2018 and was restaged at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, in 2019.
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