300

I finally got around to watching this film about Sparta. All those nice taut and tight bodies notwithstanding, I felt like half the time, I saw a lot of men snarling at a lot of other men. Actually the fight scenes in the film are nicely choreographed, but I thought the excessive beheading was a little lame. The captain's son gets beheaded, the big monster that has a perpetual snarl (most snarliest of all the snarls) was beheaded, and even one of Xerxes' generals was beheaded by some creature/human being? with large blades for arms. Where do they find these people?? The Asia portrayed in this film was exotic to the point of being a freakshow or traveling circus. All of this was feast for the eyes mind you but also raised some befuddlement and left me scratching my head.

The main guy, King Leonidas, he's got character and he reminds me of Hector. Up until his death, he was doing pretty well on the battlefield. But it seemed to me like after his failed attempt at killing Xerxes, he just gave up and assumed a sacrifical position (the crucifix position - a favorite with many filmmakers). I didn't understand why if they so easily dodged the first onslaught of arrows by assuming a Spartan military formation, shields up, covering left neighbor, they couldn't do that again the second time around, because most of the 300 died by arrows in the very end.

The Spartan code of warriordom is simple, brutal, but effective. They train for the military in almost the same way a monk trains to serve God. Life is simple, disciplined, pared down to the basics. A simple life leaves less room for doubt, even in the face of certain death. I would have liked to see some warriors actually show fear, as it would have been realistic but you can't help but admire a group of men who are so brainwashed as to become nearly invincible in their psyche.