This English-speaking, fantasy-action film is photographed in the United Kingdom and the USA and chronicles the journey of Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, to return home after the Trojan war.
THE ODYSSEY Starring: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Rated M (Mature themes, violence, and coarse language), 172 min.
Review by Peter W Sheehan, Jesuit Media Australia
The film is an adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek epic poem, the Odyssey. It is a realistic interpretation of Greek mythology that relates to the 2017 translation of the Odyssey by British-American classicist, Emily Wilson. Filming took place across five countries.
The movie shows Odysseus on a perilous journey to return home that brings him into contact with mythical beings, sirens, goddesses, witches, and nymphs. He attempts to return to his beloved wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and Matt Damon vigorously takes the role of Odysseus.
At home, Penelope fends off multiple potential suitors in the absence of her husband. Odysseus is helped on his journey by Athena ( the goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft). Tom Holland plays the son of Odysseus and Prince of Ithaca, who is determined to find his father; and Charlize Theron plays Calypso, a nymph, who wants to keep Odysseus as her immortal husband,
With multiple Academy awards in hand for Oppenheimer (2023), Christopher Nolan cements his reputation as an excellent film Director. Oppenheimer showed he was totally familiar with the pulling power of quality direction, and eye-catching “special effects”. The effects he mounts here are very well suited to Trojan mythology. The movie incorporates horror, mystery, romance, and action thrills into its story-line and the film delivers its effects with great realism.
This film overlaps with a 2024 movie (“The Return”) directed by Uberto Pasolini about the same journey of Odysseus to find his wife. Here, Nolan executes a very different treatment of Greek mythology and his movie involves graphic depictions. At no stage, however, does the cinematic appeal of Nolan’s film interfere with the narrative complexity of Greek mythology. Nolan faithfully respects the poetic appeal of Homer’s work, and the film clearly honours the way Homer delivered his epic. The sweeping, visual detail of this film is amazing.
Reviewed by Peter Sheehan, an Associate of Jesuit Media