F and I went to see Nolan’s The Odyssey yesterday, it being his 27th birthday. The Kinepolis complex in Brussels is one of only three IMAX 70 mm projectors sowing it in continental Europe (the other two are Montpelier and Copenhagen). However it is already booked up for weeks in advance, so we went instead to the IMAX cinema in Hasselt, an hour’s drive northeast of us. I must say having the huge screen was great, and although I had heard that the volume of the soundtrack is very loud, I think that in Hasselt at least it had been adjusted downwards for viewer comfort.
So, what did I think? It’s not long since I read Emily Wilson’s translation of the original, so it was reasonably fresh in my mind, and meant that there were certain set-pieces I was waiting for with interest, to see how they could be done – the Cyclops, Circe, the final showdown on Ithaca, this last also recently done by Claire North. I see some Homeric purists online complaining that this or that plot line or story element was left out. In general I don’t have much sympathy with that; the Homeric texts as we have them are presumably a synthesis from different sources, and I think every story-teller gets to tell it as they want (and some have varied a lot more than Nolan). Which is not to say that the choices made are above criticism, of course.
So I am not too worried about the softening of the protagonist’s character, or that Helen and Clytemnestra are played by the same Black actor (Lupita Nyong’o), or that Telemachus at one point calls Odysseus ‘Dad’, or the lengthy inclusion of the Trojan Horse, or even about the unbeatable robot soldiers. As the Economist reviewer says, ‘We are not arguing about “The Odyssey” when we argue about “The Odyssey”. We are arguing about ourselves.’
Having said that, there were a couple of bits that really didn’t work for me in dramatic terms. The Sirens just had vague shapes on a misty shore, with Matt Damon gurning while tied to the mast – curiously underplayed compared to the rest of the film. And Charlize Theron’s Calypso as the very professional but not very affectionate therapist for Odysseus’ PTSD, rather than the sexy beach nymph of Homer, makes the story rather Californian, as I saw someone somewhere put it.
But in general I liked it. I actually found the plot easier to follow than the original, though my sense is that it stuck fairly closely to Homer’s narrative order. Matt Damon is fine as Nolan’s version of Odysseus, and Tom Holland is fine as Telemachus. I thought Zendaya a bit underused as Athena, but Anne Hathaway is superb as Penelope, the most interesting character in the story. I loved the Cyclops and Circe, though in both cases Nolan tells a slightly different story to Homer. The prolonged fight sequences at the end sees Robert Pattinson’s sleazy Antinous eventually get his comeuppance, and is well enough shot that you barely have time to wonder how Ulysses and Telemachus can possibly defeat 120 suitors. Indeed the whole three hours passed rather quickly.
I imagine that this and Project Hail Mary will be duking it out for next year’s Hugo, and probably for other awards too. I think I’ll give The Odyssey the higher vote.
