The Odyssey
| Film: | The Odyssey |
| Cast: | Matt Damon,Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron |
| Director: | Christopher Nolan |
| Screenplay by: | Christopher Nolan |
| Producers: | Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan |
| Based on: | Homer’s Odyssey |
| Language: | English |
“A face. A fleet. A war. A man. A thought. A trick.”
The face that started it all. The face that “launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium.” Perceptive audiences will immediately notice the irony, the anachronism and the mnemonic that captures the Trojan War.
Christopher Nolan has cleverly worked the allusion to Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus (part of which is later quoted by Menelaus) into the Invocation to the Muse in the opening scene of the most ambitious project of his career yet – The Odyssey.
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It is not just in the opening scene that Nolan has deviated from the original epic. The inclusion of Sinon, turning Odysseus the trickster into the guilt-ridden hero tortured by flashbacks of the war, excising Nausicaä, and the Phaeacians, eliminating all the Immortals except Athene – are some of the obvious departures.
So let us look at what other things Nolan has done differently this time.
For the first time Nolan has photographed the entire film with IMAX movie cameras, eschewing digital admixture completely. This takes The Odyssey far ahead of his previous films – he has transmuted the limitations of analogue cinema into a part of the production philosophy.
Next, together with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, he has developed a whole new camera and sound technology – the IMAX Keighley film camera – to get the full impact of a 70mm IMAX image (aspect ratio of 1:43:1).
Other than that, a specially engineered sound blimp that could enclose the camera to reduce mechanical noise and allow sound synchronization with the large-format film, treating geographical location as part of character development, using IMAX’s enormous frame for mythology rather than spectacle alone, make it an outstanding theatrical experience.
However, after that almost interminable rollercoaster ride, the final effect is so overwhelming that it leaves one underwhelmed, and vaguely disappointed. Why?
One reason may be that India has no movie theatre with the correct screen aspect ratio and 70mm IMAX projectors to screen this movie. In fact, there are very few such theatres world-wide. So, did the less fortunate audiences fully enjoy the cropped experience? Doubtful.
The second reason relates to the basic form and content of epic literature. Ancient European primary epic poetry began as an oral tradition, sung in dactylic hexameter and centred around the exploits of gods, demigods, and heroes. By the time they were written down (circa eighth century BCE), the stories were already well known. Aristotle in his Poetics says that “the Iliad is at once simple and ‘pathetic’ and the Odyssey complex (for ‘recognition’ scenes run through it) and at the same time ‘ethical.’”
In the introduction to Samuel Butler’s Victorian era translation, (Barnes & Noble Inc. ©2008) editor Michael Dirda describes Odysseus as resourceful and crafty, a “man of many turns”, a trickster, a war hero. He is a multifaceted character in a complex narrative, in which the perils and adventures he encounters, all wonderful stories in themselves, also serve as powerful metaphors for the journey of human life.
Does Nolan’s film version capture all that complexity and psychological depth? I don’t think so.
Emily Wilson, professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, whose translation of The Odyssey Nolan has followed, is not happy. She thinks that “Nolan’s script is poorly written and lacking in emotional depth and character development.”
In an interview with Dave Davies, guest host for NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross (link provided below), she says:
“We need to have a protagonist with detailed, believable motivation,” Wilson says. “[But] these desires seem stripped from Odysseus. He doesn’t seem to want food. He doesn’t seem to want sex. What does he want?”
She also points out Nolan’s failure to capture the overall intellectual and emotional depth, the ‘gimmicky’ narrative structure, the grand visual style pitted against the emotional emptiness, and an incomplete handling of the social, political, and ethical issues essential to an understanding of the original poem.
Imagine a 21st century filmmaker trying to make a movie out of Paradise Lost. The project would probably turn into Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1974 attempt at adapting Frank Herbert’s cult classic novel Dune, which would have been (had it not been stalled during pre-production), an absurd 14-hour long film with a script ‘the size of a phone book’.
The Odyssey at least avoided that pitfall by a hair’s breadth. However, in the massive cinematic effort to compress the whole epic (plot time of 10 years), into 173 minutes, the storytelling aspect takes a hit.
Instead of trying to cover the entire chronological arc of Odysseus’s journey and creating a fractured narrative effect by going back and forth in time, Nolan could have done a better job by focussing on one or two striking events that stand out against the backdrop of the vast storyline, throwing the rest of the epic into greater relief. It would have felt less rushed and confusing.
Finally, although the characters speak in contemporary American English, some viewers, notably, were unable to follow the dialogues because they were distracted by the sheer visual magnificence.
If Emily Wilson thinks Nolan should have hired a competent script writer instead of doing it himself, I agree with her.
One final thought as to the ripple effect of this humungous effort. Will this film inspire audiences to go back and read The Odyssey? Or will they think they ‘know’ the epic simply because they have watched the film? Only time can tell.
But does that mean that the movie is not worth seeing? Absolutely not. It is a remarkable visual treat, even if some of the special effects are quite unconvincing. For example, Polyphemus devouring some of the men, Greeks breaching the iconic Walls of Troy, Circe turning the men into swine, seem unexpectedly fake. On the other hand, the scene in Hades, where the blind seer Tiresias (played by James Remar) lays out the path ahead with brutal clarity and unshakeable authority, or the shade of Agamemnon (played by Benny Safdie) who cautions Odysseus with his own homecoming experience, creates a haunting, atmospheric effect.
The star-studded cast have done the best they could with the script they were given. Anne Hathaway’s Penelope seems bland while Zendaya as Athene has not enough screen time to justify her role. Matt Damon in the lead role is more of a tortured and anxious sea captain than the complex, layered character that is Odysseus.
Tom Holland (Telemachus), Elliot Page (Sinon), Robert Pattinson (Antinous), Charlize Theron (Calypso), Samantha Morton (Circe) are all excellent actors. Lupita Nyong’o (Helen/Clytemnestra) brings a modern, interpretative perspective to the role while engaging with the broader themes of war, beauty, and female agency in Greek mythology.
One final thought regarding the ripple effect of this humungous effort. Will this film inspire audiences to go back and read The Odyssey? Or will they think they ‘know’ the epic simply because they have watched the film? Only time can tell.
Sources:-
- “The Iliad & The Odyssey” Translated by Samuel Butler, (Barnes & Noble Inc. ©2008), Editor Michael Dirda
[**Note: Miscellaneous Internet sources were consulted and referenced in the composition of this review.]
Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Prateeti is an English Lierature major from Presidency University Kolkata who took up the technology challenge without an Engineering degree in 1993 and embarked on a full-fledged technical career, becoming a RDBMS expert. She worked as the CoE Manager for Sybase products, platforms and technologies at SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. She is a great admirer of Augusta Ada King and Marie Curie.
She is also the author of ‘Green Rose Wild Earth’ a collection of poems published by StoryMirror Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
