There was no way a blockbuster film called The Odyssey could have been made without it capturing my attention.
I went to see Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey at its midnight IMAX release last night like a complete nerd. Despite not getting home and into bed until 4am, my eyes were wide open for the entire film.
While everything is still fresh, here are my thoughts and entirely unqualified armchair movie-critic review of Nolan’s take on the Ancient Greek epic that inspired our own brand name.
Warning: Possible SPOILERS.
First, some thoughts on the backlash the film has faced, now that I’ve actually seen it.
I did find the opening exposition that quickly sets the scene and introduces the characters a little incongruous. The modern language and accents felt a bit ‘off’ at first, as if I was watching a low-budget university film or daytime TV drama. However, that feeling soon subsided. It will be interesting to see if I have the same reaction on a second viewing, or whether it seems normal now I’ve been inoculated to it.
I remember watching an interview in which Christopher Nolan explains how he wanted to start from a completely blank slate without any ‘cultural prejudices’ associated with historical films, such as the use of British or Trans-Atlantic accents and overly classical dialogue. This also relates to the costuming and multi-ethnic casting. If you accept it as a stylistic choice — much like the graphic novel aesthetic of 300 — you can see The Odyssey in its own fantasy Nolan universe as opposed to a direct recreation of the Ancient Greek texts or sword-and-sandal films we’re already familiar with.
If you go into it expecting a unique adaptation of the Odyssey, you will probably enjoy it. If you are hoping for a modern version of something like Jason and the Argonauts, you may be disappointed.
The entire film is so immersive. The Trojan horse scene gives you a claustrophobic sense of being cramped inside it. The storms feel like you’re actually in them, especially when you’re being physically pummelled by the IMAX sound system. The use of in-camera effects and refrained CGI is refreshing. There are also plenty of memorable moments, particularly the quite disturbing scene when Circe turns the crew into pigs!
The story has an interesting PTSD angle throughout it, which focuses on the lasting effects of the Trojan War on Odysseus. This also gives it a kind of Life of Pi vibe, where you wonder what was actually real. The theme of grounding a fantastical story into a realistic, believable world is a recurring trait of many Christopher Nolan movies.
I thought there was also somewhat of a religious undertone to it. The repeated references to ”Zeus’s Law” resemble the Golden Rule: treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself. I also saw hints of a ‘Tower of Babel’ theme. These interpretations almost dilute the original story too much, but it gives you something interesting to ponder over afterwards, beyond the visual spectacle.
Despite being three hours long, the film only scratches the surface of the main events and trials commonly associated with the Odyssey. Each one of them seems to come and go with little depth, although I suppose that’s to be expected with a reasonable runtime. Trying to cover everything properly would make the movie several hours long.
If Wicked took two 2+ hour movies to cover the musical, I can’t imagine what would be needed to portray Homer’s full poem.
If you’re interested in the literature rather than a pure cinema experience (and if, like me, you’re not much of a reader), I recommend also checking out the 1997 TV movie The Odyssey. It tells the story across two feature-length episodes and goes deeper into the gods and mythology. The acting is awful, but it fills in some of the bits that are absent from Nolan’s version.
Finally, a couple of my personal gripes.
First, it was LOUD.
I am already the kind of person who wishes they would turn the music down at parties, but many scenes were just a wall of indiscernible noise. I’m going to take earplugs when I watch it again with my wife on Monday. Seriously.
Second, the archery.
As someone who enjoys traditional archery I tend to notice unrealistic bow-and-arrow usage on screen. There are plenty of laughable scenes where Odysseus is pinging off arrows as if his bow is strung with an elastic band. With Odysseus’s bow playing a key part of the story, I would have expected that after demonstrating the strength required to string it, that the same physical effort to draw and shoot it to have been portrayed during the final sequence.
Overall though, it’s a must-see movie, both for fans of the Odyssey and total newcomers to the story. Knowing about the feat of filming the entire movie with IMAX cameras allows you to appreciate it so much more.
