300
Finally one of my students brought me the pirated movie 300 and I watched the movie right after my class in the evening. What I am going to tell you about the movie are my first reactions, thoughts, images erupting as I was watching the movie. So, cool down and hold on your horses:
Because, I had read a lot of "negative" reviews about 300,I couldn't embrace the movie like I do in my usual, normal conditions and I watched the movie after a long tiring day and all these hand in hand made me see the movie more "objectively" than" subjectively." Right from the beginning the word Persian used by King Leonidas made me not have any sympathy with the Spartans at all! Even in some parts I wished to be part of the Xerxes's army to kill the Spartans to their last ones!
You don't need to remind me that "wake up! This is only a movie and nothing more" as I always say this to my students jokingly after watching a movie especially if that is a marshal art movie so that they stop "beating up" each other after the movie. Speaking of marshal arts...this movie had a lot in common with 2 movies I had seen already.
1. Gladiator [I DO adore this movie]
2. No retreat, No surrender
The "bravery" of the Spartan really impressed me and reminded me of those Irani_Iraqi based movies in which an Iranian (Persian) was like Achilles and almost immortal as the Spartan soldiers were.
Very funny indeed!
If this movie had been made five years ago, the Persians could have been replaced by Iraqis on the spot!
Last but not least, I heard some part of Mission Impossible music in the movie exactly before the rhino attack.
Persians could have been pictured more cute and human than what Zack Snyder presented in the movie because you look "MORE" victorious when your rival is made of flesh and is someone like you are!
King Leonidas had been pictured as Jesus in his last close ups with lots of arrows in his body to show how innocent he was while he was killed by "barbarian" Persians.
Shit out of ten is my score to the movie except the graphics which was out of this world!
Because, I had read a lot of "negative" reviews about 300,I couldn't embrace the movie like I do in my usual, normal conditions and I watched the movie after a long tiring day and all these hand in hand made me see the movie more "objectively" than" subjectively." Right from the beginning the word Persian used by King Leonidas made me not have any sympathy with the Spartans at all! Even in some parts I wished to be part of the Xerxes's army to kill the Spartans to their last ones!
You don't need to remind me that "wake up! This is only a movie and nothing more" as I always say this to my students jokingly after watching a movie especially if that is a marshal art movie so that they stop "beating up" each other after the movie. Speaking of marshal arts...this movie had a lot in common with 2 movies I had seen already.
1. Gladiator [I DO adore this movie]
2. No retreat, No surrender
The "bravery" of the Spartan really impressed me and reminded me of those Irani_Iraqi based movies in which an Iranian (Persian) was like Achilles and almost immortal as the Spartan soldiers were.
Very funny indeed!
If this movie had been made five years ago, the Persians could have been replaced by Iraqis on the spot!
Last but not least, I heard some part of Mission Impossible music in the movie exactly before the rhino attack.
Persians could have been pictured more cute and human than what Zack Snyder presented in the movie because you look "MORE" victorious when your rival is made of flesh and is someone like you are!
King Leonidas had been pictured as Jesus in his last close ups with lots of arrows in his body to show how innocent he was while he was killed by "barbarian" Persians.
Shit out of ten is my score to the movie except the graphics which was out of this world!
posted by Frank at
10:24 AM
11 Comments:
Not seen it yet, don't know if I'll bother.
With regards to you perspective on how the Persians were portrayed, I think I get the gist of what your saying.
Take my people from King Arthur for example:
http://www.samizdata.net/blog/~pdeh/keira_guinevere_01.jpg
I'm pretty sure that'll strike the coldest of terrors into the heart of any man.
Hope your mood lifts btw, I'm the one who's been visiting recently anon and posting with regards to Faye, Professionally and Happiness in general.
Any chance you can get out and about on holiday? Maybe Scotland?
:)
hi,
i'm interested in collaborating with you and talking a bit more about your blog. please contact me at finglishy@yahoo.com
thanks,
-nilufar
Since you are teacher in Iran I wanted to wish you a Happy Teacher's Week!
Ahwazi
Hi iranian teacher!
I am a Spanish teacher. I teach classics here (latin and greek).
I've just seen the movie (300). Well, after seeing it, I've searched iranian blogs to speak about it, and i've found yours! So, my name's Fran. Nice to meet you.
First of all, I've tried to see it as you, in an objective way.
Well, i have to tell you that i'm not pro-american, but neither contra-american. I am an atheist-critic man, with hope in the reason and the intelligence of the human being. So it's impossible for me to be pro-american, but i can't be pro-islamic in the same way.
I think that "300" is not an allegate or an attack towards Iran, nor your history, nor your present. Well, this film is based on a comic from Frank Miller with a great fidelity. In this way, the critics you've made are to the FM's book. Well, he caracterized, he drew the persians as horrible monsters and the spartans as heroes, muscled heroes. Well, this is the language of comic, of northern american comic. Only the language. Every comic is equal in this subject: Batman, Spiderman, Superman... and so on. Heroes are fine, good-looking, muscled, and enemies are monsters, ugly and horrible monsters.
Till this point this film is a comic. That's a point of artistic language.
But the history is not american. The history is greek. And it's an herodotean history that must be understood as ancient history. We're not spartans. Indeed, we're not yet greeks. We're culture is greek, but it's more athenian in this way than spartan. Well, please, understand me, i am trying to showing my critic view of the film in relation with the critics of your country.
I don't think you're persians. You are so much different, you have more than three thousand years of history, like we have. But we are not the same and the history of 400's B.C. is not a representation of us or nowadays. You're not persian as we're not spartan, because we are today under the height of 3000 years of history.
The film is great for a classicist, in the sense that shows the stories of Herodotus.But we, like you, really know that ancient history must be studied very critically, and we know that herodotus told us a history of Greece, filled of reality, but also filled of stories.
I'd like to tell you another thing. As I love ancient history, also I love greek culture, but also persian culture. I think that some day your treasures will be able to be visited in museums bigger than ours.
Well, I'd like to have here an answer to know your opinion of my opinion. I like to dialogue.
And I tell you another thing, if you want think of this and answer what you want.
I think that if nowadays we could find a people like spartans, here in Europe they wouldn't have future, because European Community would have made to change their habits (spartan thought is inhuman for us). And if nowadays we could find a Xerxes, there would be a war against us (remember Hitler). Well. That's the problem.
Was reading an item about the Isreali PM on the Google news, which took me to JPost.com (Jerusalem Post) where I discovered your blog.
I haven’t seen ‘300,’ but here’s my two cents about history, historians and the Greeks:
Manipulation of history and news and dissemination of disinformation (as well as the abuse of law, justice…) has always been the prerogative of the “victors.”
Herodotus, Homer… like all other historians were/are sycophants in the service of the victors. Their work cannot be relied upon.
There’s no way of testing the veracity of their stories, or the extent to which their accounts, based entirely on hearsay, have been manipulated throughout the history.
Here’s an interesting test: take any of the contemporary historians in the English-speaking world (aka the perfidious Albion) and read what they say about the events of 9/11. Do they tell you that it was foreign or domestic terrorism? Check out the plethora of audiovisual evidence widely available on Internet for yourself!
Recently, I bought a copy of the Trojan Horse (the preschool’s edition) for my daughter who’ll be five in June. She loves the book, even more then her all-time favorite the Titanic, and asks me to read it frequently. Lately, however, she is questioning the veracity of Homer’s Iliad namely, how could the siege of troy last for 10 years; how and what did the Trojans eat and drink, if they couldn’t venture outside the Trojan walls for so long?
You’ll find the episodes of Iliad plagued with too many technical problems! The bottom line: Do NOT believe anything the historians or the news media tell you!
As for the Persian Empire, all empires have a beginning, middle and an end – see how the American empire, for example, unravels before our very eyes!
The collapse of all Empires starts from within, well before foreign enemies could stake any claim.
In the case of the Achaemenids, the corruption and injustice must have reached such unendurable levels that ordinary people invited the enemy with open arms, as it was the case with the Arab conquest at the end of the Sasanids.
If it makes you feel any better, check this site: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html
There’s a lot of useful information about the common origins of modern humans!
Good luck!
Well, answering to anonimous:
It's fantastic that your daughter do questions to Homer. Well, she's doing what intelligent people, intelligent teachers and professors do: don't believe anything without questioning.
I tell you that I've never believed Homer or Herodotus. We have to work them with the eyes of the reason.
Olá Amigo
How goes it in sunny Spain?
English Teacher (ET)
hi,
i write this from Turkey.i went to film by my friends persistence.i was at side of Iran from beginning..Because they kill ambassador of Iran by force.And then Iraninans clothes were like muslim clothes,it was really unlogic.Because muslims weren't existing in that time.Elephants couldn't do anything,why?And Spartans weapons were easy,can't fight against Iraninans different weapons..
Just a minor correction: one does not write "marshal", but "martial".
Hi teacher.
Happy teachers day (week). Sorry I was out of blogging world and couldn't send my greetings earlier.
Hi! I'm a teacher too. I' have watched "Ten" from Abbas Kiarostami. What do you think about it?
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