It’s one of the greatest films of the year. It’s a travesty of one of the earliest classics. Go see it. Don’t see it. Everyone’s writing about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
What to think?
First, I’m not going to compare the movie to the original. That’s a fool’s game. A film is not like a translation. It’s a new creation.
To compare the two would be like trying to compare a play with an opera – say, Shakespeare’s Othello with Verdi’s Otello. Or a painting of Samson and Delilah with the Biblical story.
But it is certainly possible to criticise – and praise – the film against what it’s trying to do. And – in short – what it’s trying to do is tremendous. Though few of the critical voices have talked about that.
And sometimes it succeeds enormously – and sometimes it falls short. Why it does is itself interesting.
Epic struggles are personal
The Odyssey is engrossing (with one major cavil, see below). It’s beautiful to watch (with one major cavil, see below). It’s epic (with one major cavil…)
And the great epics are about major changes in history. Personal struggles set against a wide social panorama. Epic struggles are personal.
This is where Nolan is both brave and very topical. Because the great theme that runs through the movie is morality. It’s about how a man can destroy the moral code in order to succeed. And the moral chaos that follows.
You see how that might apply to life today?
So, to my cavils. In reverse order.
Cavil #3
Epic struggles are personal.
The story is about much more than trying to get home. But we only really learn about Odysseus’s inner struggle at the end, when he looks back at what he’s done.
True, all the way through the characters talk about “Zeus’s Law”. This is interpreted essentially as the need for hosts and guests to treat each other with kindness and respect.
A moral code that is shown to be “holding civilization together” in Nolan’s own words.
But only at the end does Matt Damon’s Odysseus face his own tragedy: that he broke Zeus’s Law at the very start, when the Greeks presented the Trojans with the famous wooden horse, secretly filled with murderous soldiers. And thus – he predicts – they’ve cursed themselves with centuries of moral chaos to follow.
The problem is that this isn’t dramatised early in the movie.
When critics say the characters aren’t developed enough, the story not engaging enough, I feel this is what they are reacting to.
In a great epic we’d see the characters face this very real dilemma – morality vs success – in every frame.
Cavil #2
Which brings me to cavil #2. The game is fixed. Nolan puts his thumb on the scales. Beauty is only on one side.
If we are to truly engage with this moral dilemma, we need to see it as a dilemma. Both sides must have equal weight. But morality, in his film, is always good. Immorality always bad.
Take food and sex. Food in the movie is ugly. Men eat like pigs (and are turned into them!)
Sex – as has been remarked – is hardly present. Attractive as Calypso is (especially as played by Charlize Theron) we never see the sensual attraction that held Odysseus captive for seven years.
Even success is portrayed as slaughter. Why would we ever want any of this?
On the other side, Nolan doesn’t ever show the downside of morality – the fear of failure, the annoying need to obey the rules…
The dilemma disappears.
Cavil #1
Engrossing, yes. For the second and third hour.
But I’m sorry, the first hour was a hard slog. The first hour is about “setting up”.
When I taught screenwriting, I told my students I’d be sitting on their shoulders for the rest of their lives, watching every word they wrote.
And I would curse them if they ever said a scene was written to “set something up.”
For the first 60 minutes of The Odyssey, I honestly struggled. There’s too much setting up. Good as much of the action was, I’d be lying if I said my eyes didn’t close more than once.
From the hour mark, no problem. The rest of a long movie flew by.
Is The Odyssey worth the hype?
So should you see it? Yes, for sure (but take a thermos of black coffee for the first act).
I’m planning to see it again. But I might fast-forward through the opening.
A great movie? In parts. A classic? I’m not sure. Topical and brave? Certainly. For me, at least.
Tell me what you think.