There are certain stories which demand an ambitious, epic translation to the big screen. Homer’s The Odyssey, written multiple millennia ago, is significant enough in its own right, but the follow-up to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer only raises the anticipation given his reputation for bold and towering cinema. Many will proclaim it the best film ever made – or at least the best in a long time – and while that distinction may be up for debate, Nolan’s The Odyssey definitely delivers an immersive and stunning interpretation of a literary classic.
The 172-minute film begins with the image of the infamous horse sitting on the shores of Troy and slowly begins unfurling its story, which finds Odysseus (Matt Damon) struggling for years to get home after fighting with Agamemnon’s army and facing off against enemies both in the form of man and Gods. Back in Ithaca, malicious suitors court his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and press her to choose a new husband to be their king to snatch the throne away from Odysseus’ son Telemachus (Tom Holland).
A preexisting knowledge of Homer’s work isn’t necessary to appreciating this film, though it will help set up a sense of what’s to come with several of the more memorable and potent moments to be found within this film’s lengthy package. Its structure isn’t linear, which only adds to the weight of Odysseus’ journey and the distance he feels from the comfort of a home that is no longer a welcoming place, a palace of sorts overrun by seedy, self-serving individuals who can’t begin to fathom the sacrifices Odysseus and his men have had to make fighting in their names. While this story has a definitive and emphatic end, it succeeds in having no true beginning, starting and restarting at multiple points to access the various layers of this substantial narrative.
Nolan has established himself as a grand visual storyteller with past projects like Inception and Interstellar, and he reteams with his Dunkirk and Oppenheimer cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema for his latest endeavor, which is filmed with IMAX 70mm cameras. It’s a film that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible, with typically awe-inspiring shots of oceans, beaches, and battlefields that convey an incredible grandeur and scope. The set pieces are equally eye-popping, and the Trojan horse itself has a mesmerizing sparkle that stands in such stark contrast to the conduct of the soldiers within as they prepare for their deception and the brutal carnage they wage as soon as they emerge from within the walls of an unsuspecting city about to be destroyed.
Nolan’s cast includes previous collaborators Damon, Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Elliot Page, with a handful of impressive actors for whom this is their first – but likely not last – Nolan production. Damon wears the burden of everything Odysseus has endured and compellingly conveys the convictions that guide him. Among the standouts from the supporting cast are Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, who accompanies Odysseus on his voyages and often clashes with his leadership, Samantha Morton and Charlize Theron as human-appearing beings with strong powers and nefarious aims, and Pattinson as the petty Antinous, who connives to dispose of Telemachus and marry Penelope for the power it will bring him. Others, like Lupita Nyong’o, who has the dual role of twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and Zendaya as the goddess Athena, make a mark even in extremely minor roles that give them fleeting screentime and material.
The appropriately audacious vision Nolan has for this film, which includes the incorporation of supernatural elements that are accepted by the characters because they cannot argue with what their eyes are seeing and what is happening around them, serves it well. Its modernized screenplay, which includes monikers early on like “mom” and “dad,” feels decidedly and distractingly anachronistic, detracting from an otherwise deep and striking immersion in an ancient world. There are surely moments where this very long film could have been trimmed, but its technical elements stand entirely on their own, inviting audiences for an epic experience that will surely come to be known as the signature telling of this classic poem, perhaps as noteworthy as the original itself. Nolan is exceptional at bringing what he imagines to life for all to see, and he’s enlisted a solid list of partners both in front of and behind the camera to ensure that this effort is well worth the price of admission and the investment of time to watch it.
Movie Rating: 8/10
