FILM REVIEW: "THE ODYSSEY" IS AN EPIC THAT MUST BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED
Like shooting an arrow axe heads, it is no small feat to adapt Homer's epic The Odyssey: a poem some three thousand years old, twelve thousand lines long, so wholly interwoven into the fabric of storytelling.
It tells of Odysseus, King of Ithica, spirited away to sack the great citadel of Troy, and his long journey home, having besmirched the Gods, now suffering their wrath.
Odysseus journey is a portent one fraught with magic, monsters, vistas and fate. It chronicles the sea's, the underworlds, the very shores of time. It wanders amongst giants and empires, firm and fallen alike. Few artists could fathom a faithful adaption, fewer still could put it to film.
To begin, The Odyssey is not without its faults. It is rife with screenwriter/director Christopher Nolan’s signature slights: awkward dialogue, clunky editing and hollow characters; however, what Nolan lacks in the minute he makes up in the major. The Odyssey is a film of gargantuan proportions on a scale and scope rarely seen in modern cinema. It is a multi-million-dollar blockbuster filmed on real locations full of practical effects. It is nothing short of movie magic. It is a film full of commitment and integrity, justly aware of all that audiences are starved of, offering them a moveable feast: a gigantic practical cyclopes glares down with its solitary eye, a witch turns men to beast in front of our eyes with the twist of her hand, the doomed emerge from charcoal shores, ships are torn apart in cruel tides. All of this, and many more unfeasible things, brought to life in ways few could fathom and less would dare.
Odysseus' journey is a series of vignettes, many great, some mundane - a subpar forest confrontation leads to a fantastic body-horror sequence. Choppy editing, for unknown reason, plagues dialogue driven sequence; whereas beautiful continuous takes are wonderfully rife during intense scenes. The Odyssey is at its best when Nolan toys with genre and allows audiences to marvel at the breathtaking scenes. Ultimately, the Odyssey is a richly atmospheric and captivating film.
All this would be for naught if not for cinematographer Hoyt Van Hoytema, who invokes the palette of fireside storytelling in the ashen, cobalt colours of Greek skies and seas. Similarly, Ludwig Goransson's score makes symphonies of the sounds of bowstrings and oars, beautifully blending anticipation and dread behind every beautiful sight. The Odyssey is a film to be beholden on the largest screen and loudest speakers.
Like a wooden horse stuffed with soldiers, The Odyssey boasts an A-list ensemble: Matt Damon is a formidable hero; Tom Holland proves he can be more than Marvel; Anne Hathaway is endlessly entertaining; Zendaya brings a beautiful stoicism; John Leguizamo holds the audience’s heart in his blind gaze; Robert Pattinsons freak flag does not fly too high, but he, and the scourge of suitors stalking Ithica's halls, steal scenes whenever they can. Nolan may do well cast his gaze further outside Hollywood's clique, as relative unknowns Himesh Patels and Samantha Morton deliver the films most spirited and captivating performances.
The Odyssey is an epic worthy of its source. It is a technical masterclass and a marvelous achievement. It is one of the few films with a budget this size that feels as if every dollar is accounted for on screen. It is breathtaking, captivating, and a testament to the art of filmmaking. Nolan is a master filmmaker and this is his most accomplished film yet. One can only hope that the success of The Odyssey affirms to studios that audiences yearn for the real thing. Real sets, real props, real costumes, real actors. Real cinematic experiences. New cinematic experiences. They can be found anywhere; even in tales nearly three thousand years old.
As Homer once wrote: why cover the same ground again? It goes against my grain to repeat a tale told once, and told so clearly.
