News for
The 300 Spartans (1962) More at IMDbPro »

1 article from 2009

13 December 2009 4:00 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

We shouldn't get excited about Us film-makers reinterpreting Europe's legends. After all, we've done a bit of that ourselves

Joe Queenan argued in the Guardian recently that Hollywood had taken 10 years to destroy the legends of European history and that film-makers had completely lost sight of what made these ancient myths so beloved.

I don't agree with him. Sure, these movies play with the historical truth a bit. Sure, they simplify the complexities and problems posed by these ancient legends. Sure, they sometimes make bad choices in casting. But just because we may not like them, does that make them worthless – or worse, a destructive force? I don't think so.

Take Queenan's objection to film-makers changing the storyline. Modern moviemakers aren't the first to do it. Epics such as the Iliad weren't written down in the ancient world for an awfully long time – they existed initially as oral poetry. and …

- Michael Scott

1 article from 2009