Clash of the Titans

It is widely known that literature and cinematographic creations usually bear much more than an entertaining or educational function. Regardless the genre, time and country of production, each movie to some extend is a reflection of human’s life. According to the genre, the movie Clash of the Titans (2010) directed by Louis Leterrier is a fantasy adventure. Nevertheless, it is closely connected with human history as well. This film is “more or less a remake of the same-named movie taken in 1980’s”. The plot of both films is based on the ancient Greek myths about a half-god Perseus, who came into the world due to a miracle; his mother’s grandfather had to kill him, but, finally, he stayed alive, and ordinary mortals became his family (Sapunaru, 2012). As the powerful god Hades hurt the mortal people, whom Perseus loved, he decided to struggle the evil, take revenge and destroy Hades’ plans to put end to Zeus’ rule and save the entire world. Therefore, the movie depicts the adventures of Perseus, whose mission becomes to save mankind from the worst demons of the Underworld and destroy the evil god Hades. Having met on his way numerous terrible monsters, dangerous demons and other obstacles Perseus has managed to arrive at his purpose, defeat Kraken, send Hades back to the Underworld, and save Princess Andromeda. Finally, he refused to live on the Olympus with his father and preferred mortal human life as a king of Argos raining with Andromeda, queen of Argos.

Regarding the impact of the ancient myths on the readers and the impression about the movie Clash of the Titans, one can make a conclusion that Louis Leterrier tried to highlight the heroism of the protagonist Perseus. People should realize that the contemporary society has much in common with the ancient myths as they bear “the universal pattern of behavior” (Sapunaru, 2012). The story taken from the ancient myths teaches people not to make the same mistakes that the heroes did and emphasizes the importance of such human traits as helpfulness, courage, compassion, gratitude, fidelity. Although there exist no ancient gods in real life, the battles depicted in the movie can be regarded as an allegory of struggle between good and evil, which has place everywhere around. Another lesson of the movie is connected with the family relations. Using the example between Zeus-Perseus and Io-Perseus relations, Leterrier has emphasized the importance of close people in life of any individual. Regardless the status of “god” or “hero”, everyone needs family and those, who would support him or her. This story is also devoted to the issue of faith and excuse. Moreover, Clash of the Titans can be regarded as symbolic movie, which shows that everything is possible and a human can change everything if he/she takes actions and makes steps in direction to the aim (Wayland, 2010). In general, not only the essence of the plot, but the fact that this movie is the interpretation of the history instead of being the ordinary fantastic story makes the audience deeply reflect on the actions and events.

Considering the most significant moments of the film it is important to mark out the episode, which depicts how the fisherman accepts Perseus as his own son, and how he treats him. This episode symbolizes the human kindness and capability to love a strange child, raise him and care about him as if about a dear and his own. Another moment is the meeting of Zeus and Perseus, when the protagonist does not recognize the God as his father. The essential fact here is that, despite Perseus can change a family of poor fisherman for the celestial one, he refuses and still loves his family as the real one, is ready to die for it. At this moment, the director depicted that the moral values are more important than the status. One more important event is the outcome of the story, when Perseus chooses love to Andromeda and human life instead of being a God. Together with the moment of Io’s resurrection this event is very touchy and marks out the importance of human life and love as a thing, which is of the greatest value.

After comparison of the movie with the myth some differences were found. In contrast to the movie events, in the myth, Perseus has killed Andromeda’s jealous fiancé Prince Kalib before Andromeda’s marriage (Wayland, 2010). In the film (2010), Andromeda had to become a sacrifice to Kraken. In the myth, there was the sea monster instead of Kraken (Payment, 2005). According to the movie (2010), Medusa and Kraken were the last of the titans, but the myth said nothing about this (Wayland, 2010). According to the myth, Pegasus was the Horse of Bellerophon (Payment, 2005). In Clash of the Titans (2010), Pegasus is presented as the last of the winged horses of Zeus. Owl Bubba exists only in the movie, but not in the myth. In the film, Medusa lived in Hades, so the two-headed dog blocked the path to it; and in the myth, she lived on the island, where no dog was defending her (Payment, 2005).

To my mind, the most important lesson, which I have learned from the movie, is that finally love is the main thing in life and the reason for being. This value has not changed through centuries and is the same in our era. However, many people forget about it nowadays. People should forget bad things and forgive close people if they want to be happy. Everything can happen in life and people should “never say never” as they can be surprised to get to know what can happen one day. The thing I would like to learn more after having watched the movie is mythology, as it is obviously based on human life and can bear very important lessons.

To my mind, the movie is worth seeing; and the fact that it has got numerous awards is a proof for it (Wayland, 2010). The movie itself has a strong plot and a great number of interesting moments, which together with high level of computer graphics create a realistic image of the history of Ancient Greece. It teaches the audience several important life lessons. At the same time, the fantastic elements are quite entertaining and interesting. Despite the fact that the movie can not be labeled as a historical one and is based on the myths instead of the realistic events, it is essential to point out that myths are reflect real ancient life. Hence the movie contributes much not only to the morality of people, but to their knowledge about the past beliefs, traditions and events in Ancient Greece. It is also important to emphasize the fact that critical reviews of Clash of the Titans (2010) may not agree about the plot or style of the film, but they all agree that it makes people think a little bit. To my mind, such point of view is very correct.