THE ODYSSEY – Review by Diane Carson
The Odyssey Overwhelms in Its Images and Narrative
Attributed to Homer from about the 8th century BC, The Odyssey ranks among the most influential, prevalent, surviving literary works. Paired with Homer’s Iliad, both in Homeric Greek dactylic hexameter, the poems powerfully present the history of the Trojan War, including the ten year siege of Troy, the war’s final weeks, and Odysseus’ ten year odyssey home to Ithaca. Adaptations, readings, reenactments, and reinterpretations in various versions have proliferated over centuries, primarily because of the significant values and enduring themes embedded therein: glory, hubris, fate, tragedy, divine wrath, honorable behavior, mythology, sexual innuendo, and more. Now in his nearly three hour IMAX iteration, director Christopher Nolan captures The Odyssey’s formidable impact through overwhelming visual intensity, ear-splitting music and sound, intricate editing, masterful performances, and, above all, a scrupulous commitment to substantive ideas.
Technically, the production merits iconic status. The first feature film shot entirely with 70 millimeter IMAX cameras, engineers constructed a 300-pound acoustic “blimp” for the newly designed Keighley IMAX camera. With this silencing housing, sound technicians could now record intimate scenes close-up, an advance over the previously noisy IMAX recording assembly. Also unique in Nolan’s extraordinary technical decisions, he did not transfer the IMAX film to a digital intermediate version for color correction and manipulation, thereby avoiding that cold, sharp edged digital look. Instead, he photochemically manipulated the film’s color palette to preserve the 70mm IMAX density and texture, giving the finished product a gorgeous cinematic appearance.
Refusing any inclusion of a traditional orchestral score, Nolan’s exacting minutiae extended to the music and sound. And so Ludwig Göransson composed music to accompany the approximation of Bronze Age sound effects consisting of 35 custom made bronze gongs. Comprehensively selective, Göransson integrated war horns, synthesizers, metallic scraping, and raw vocals to interpret evocative moments. Gaining additional historical verisimilitude, lyre vibrations accompany Odysseus plucking the bow only he can string with twin-pipe aulos for the echoing wind instruments. Unfortunately, played at volumes that might shatter crystal, the pervasive and often intrusive audio leaves no time for personal reflection as it repeatedly dictates desired emotions: tension, suspense, fear, anger, introspection, or intimacy.
On the positive ledger, the cast is a superb ensemble. As Odysseus, Matt Damon registers a full range of emotional states amidst diverse psychological and physical challenges. Tom Holland plays Odysseus’ son Telemachus. Anne Hathaway is his faithful, long-suffering wife Penelope with Elliot Page as Sinon, Odysseus’ cousin, the Greek soldier left outside the infamous Trojan horse. Zendaya as Greek goddess Athena provides Odysseus guidance, while, in contrast, Robert Pattinson embodies the essence of vile, manipulative swagger as Antinous, with designs on the throne as the most craven suitor to Penelope. Lupita Nyong’o is the war’s catalyst, Helen of Troy, chosen, Nolan says, for her “strength and luminous beauty” without regard for the restrictive racist attitudes the casting prompted in some critiques.
Above all, this film, as every film, is an audiovisual experience that succeeds or fails in that register. For The Odyssey, the gorgeous Imax compositions captivate and overwhelm. Staged in locations in six countries, including Morocco, Iceland, Greece, Scotland, Italy, and Western Sahara, it offers its own entrancing travelogue of oceans, mountains, beaches, deserts, forests, castles, and caves. Nolan used full-scale ships and props along with other ‘practicals,’ that is, he eschewed CGI and other manufactured effects whenever possible with minimal studio work in Los Angeles. Visually stunning, it’s only the dialogue that often fails the enterprise. For, at times, Odysseus’ and others’ philosophical observations offer insights and inspiration. At other times, contemporary or anachronistic dialogue lands with a thud. The f*** word, for example, does not belong nor do several other comments. For example, Antinous reproaches Telemachus that “You’re pining for a daddy you didn’t even know,” to which Telemachus replies, “My dad is coming home.” As the scriptwriter, Nolan defends his choices saying he purposely sought emotional, modern verbiage not intellectual, historical authenticity, an unusual preference given his insistence on so many other accurate elements.
A few comments, relevant for centuries, invoke contemporary political conflicts parallel to those from thousands of years ago. Loyal herder Eumaeus, guardian of Odysseus’ legacy, indicts Penelope’s suitors, noting that “a structure is nothing without respect for its meaning. Zeus’ law.” Equally pointed and relevant, in a flashback Odysseus blames Agamemnon’s campaign to rescue Helen as a fabricated excuse to gain control of Troy’s trading routes. Moreover, the entire war clearly benefits no one. These embedded themes give The Odyssey an impressive coherence and importance.
Experiencing the film on its own terms transports the viewer into a multidimensional world. Its non-linear unfolding of multiple challenges and seductions remains clear and informative, as it navigates flashbacks and the trials of the Cyclops, Circe, the Sirens, and rebellion in the face of the belief that Odysseus has offended the gods, not the least of them Poseidon. The final confrontation achieves, as it should, a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s admittedly distinctive interpretation. I’m glad he provided the wild ride and kept the fabulous tale alive.
