300 (2006) Movie Critical Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

300 (2006) Movie Critical Review - Essay ExampleFor ten-spot days, Leonidas and his valiant men fight against the Persians. The Greek Ephialtes, however, defects to Xerxes and reveals a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians used to wipe out the Greeks. Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) successful persuades the Council to send reinforcement to Leonidas, but it is too late. Leonidas and all his men perished. Nevertheless, the battle continues, since Dilios leads a larger Greek army against the Persian army and launches the Battle of Plataea. The film has not precisely runed some of the causes of the Battle, beliefs and attitudes, technology, dress, events, characters and speech of the time, as it turned a diachronic fact into a romantic allegory that emphasizes the inaccurate dichotomy between the evil Asians and the good white race. The film did not accurately depict the causes of the Battle at Thermopylae and severely dichotomized historical characters, although the Bat tle itself is not fictitious. The Battle of Themopylae truly occurred, which Herodotus and some other ancient writers described. The film shows that Leonidas fought for freedom and independence of not only Sparta, but the whole of Greece, though this is a simplistic reason for his motivation, fit in to Eugene N. Borza, professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania posit University. It was still unclear why the Persians charged to Thermopylae, so it is hard to answer why the Greeks prepared to go to war with the former at Thermopylae. The film also no longer explores the complex issues faced by the Greek city-states confronting the Persian advance (Borza). Nevertheless, the terribles did courageously stand against the Persians and all of them died there, except those who defected to the Persians and deserted the Spartan army. Their furthest stand, as a result, has been subjected to numerous various interpretations, to which the film 300 also belongs. Furthermore, the fil m has depicted a rather stereotyped dichotomy between Asians and whites. The Asians, specifically Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), are illustrated as the embodiment of evil and witless tyranny, as opposed to the Spartans who represent freedom and justice (Borza). The black and white division between the Asians and the Greeks bear on Orientalism and not the satisfying facts about the Persians as people and their leaders. The film does not capture the actual figures of the historical event, but it did highlight some factual military strategies. Leonidas did not arrive only 300 soldiers with him, because according to Herodotus, the Father of History, he also brought thousands other Greeks and slaves. Borza stresses that it is ludicrous to suggest that an experienced Spartan general handle Leonidas would think that 300 men would suffice against tens or even hundreds of thousands of enemies. That thinking would border both hubris and stupidity. Borza asserts that the Spartan stand at Therm opylae consisted of a force of perhaps six to seven thousand Greeks. Moreover, the spot of Thermopylae was strategic, because the Persians would be unable to take advantage of their massive preponderance in numbers instead, they would have to face the Greeks in close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat (Frye 39). Also, the casualties to the Asians were high, because the Greeks fought well and hard too (Borza). 300 specifically capitalizes on close-up and medium shots of the battle with spurting blood and flinging, cut-off body parts that would have happened in a real hand-to-hand battle. Thus, the location enhanced the strategy of the Greeks against the Persians, while Snyder ensures hardcore action battle scenes with graphic shots and