Considering the various genres he has tackled throughout his filmography, ranging from superhero movies, science-fiction to historical war epics, you’d think Christopher Nolan choosing The Odyssey that is all about Greek fantasy as his next feature would be an outlier. The irony is that Nolan almost directed 2004’s Troy, which ended up being made by Wolfgang Petersen, who took liberties with Homer’s epic poem The Iliad such as stripping away the participation of the Greek gods, and made just another sword-and-sandal movie to capitalize on the success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.
As much as he has acknowledged the influence of Ridley Scott towards his own work, Nolan embraces the fantasy of Homer’s The Odyssey whilst never negating the storyteller he has been throughout his career, from both a thematic and filmmaking standpoint. Given its source material that has been adapted numerous times, including the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it seems odd to spoil The Odyssey, but considering there are some who have no awareness of its story, I shall give you a brief synopsis.
After the Trojan War which lasted for ten years, the Greek King Odysseus (Matt Damon) sets off on a long and perilous journey to his home of Ithica, where he will be reunited with his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway). As the years go by with Odysseus and his men encountering mythical beings, Penelope waits for her husband’s return despite multiple suitors hoping to claim her hand in marriage, while the young son Telemachus (Tom Holland) tries to find out more about his father’s whereabouts.
Due to Homer‘s poem being translated many times, as well as the aforementioned adaptations that have been made, there is no definitive version of The Odyssey, but the one defining theme is storytelling itself. Having studied the numerous translations, Nolan puts emphasis on how one can interpret a story differently from someone else, as seen here from Telemachus learning about his father’s skills as a strategic military leader to Odysseus himself looking back at his own history, with the siege of Troy repeatedly being shown and how it is interpreted from each viewing. Much has been reported about the film’s lack of historical accuracy, despite the obvious mythic narrative turns which is what Nolan is more interested in, especially when Benny Safdie’s Agamemnon bears a striking resemblance to Darth Vader.
From The Odyssey’s central narrative of a man going through great lengths to be reunited with his family, you start to see the themes that Nolan has explored throughout his work, from Odysseus seen as a divisive symbol much like Batman in The Dark Knight Trilogy, to the psychological torment he goes through like the many protagonists in Nolan’s cinema. Greek mythology at its core shows the grayish morality of humanity and other beings, showing that this ensemble cast nails from Matt Damon playing a somewhat leading man performance to Robert Pattinson as the sniveling suitor Antinous. Given his Spider-Man stardom, Tom Holland’s boyish charm fits well as Telemachus, whose coming-of-age arc is about maintaining innocence in a world that is becoming crueler.
While this never gets fantastical like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Nolan takes inspiration of the stop-motion cinema of Ray Harryhausen, who was no stranger to tackling Greek fantasy. From set-pieces such as the encounter with the Cyclops, not only does Nolan and his crew deliver the sense of scale, but also the horror, the latter of which very apparent in subsequent scenes that feature outstanding supporting turns from the likes of Samantha Morton and Elliot Page.
Going back to scale, the film is shot entirely in 70mm, and if you have the opportunity, go see this in IMAX. This is a truly cinematic experience, in which Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema takes full advantage of the wide vistas where Odysseus and his men not only battle the fantastical creatures throughout the elements themselves whilst Ludwig Göransson’s electrifying score treats every action sequence like a ticking time-bomb that gets your heart pumping.
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