The Odyssey
The Odyssey is epic. It is a master class in direction. This journey combines several stories which,
on their own, could be movies. Besides the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men
encounter various adventures in their ten-year return to Ithaca. The journey
back home is their motivation.
Some of the scenes are fantastical. The Cyclops and the
Laestrygonians (giants) are gruesome and impressive. Christopher Nolan prefers
not to use CGI. Even in the Cyclops scene, Bill Erwin is in costume and, with
other mechanical devices, brings the Cyclops to life. For the ships and battles
involving hundreds of soldiers, they are all real. They spent every dollar of
the $250m production budget.
This is an ensemble movie. Time on screen is not
proportionate, even with three hours. Matt Damon gives a stoic performance in
his quest to return home. You can feel the weight of his journey. He is in most
of the scenes of the movie. Nolan wanted Damon to grow his own beard; no
prosthetic was used. The different lengths of beard indicate when the film was
shot.
Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Odysseus’s son. He never gives
up hope that his father is alive, defying the taunts of his mother’s suitors.
He appears in several scenes, fighting would-be suitors for his mother and
keeping his father’s memory alive. He plays the role with faithfulness to his
father and by defending his mother.
Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, Odysseus’s wife. In most of
the scenes, she sits behind a screen, weaving a burial shroud by day and unweaving
it at night to keep the suitors at bay. After Odysseus’s twenty-year absence,
Penelope does not give up hope that her husband is alive. She is defiant. This
was a brave performance by Hathaway. She appeared to have no makeup or enough
to make her look older and weary. No Prada was used in the making of this film.
An outstanding performance was given by John Leguizamo as Odysseus’s
faithful servant. In his role, he is nearly blind, making his acting more
challenging. He conveys his loyalty to Odysseus and disdain for the suitors
even as they torment him.
Charlize Theron is Calypso, the nymph who keeps Odysseus on
her island, feeding him lotus flowers to forget his memory. Her screen time is short.
It is implied they were romantically involved, but what else are you going to
do on an island for seven years?
The crescendo of the movie is Odysseus's return. He takes on
all the suitors. This is the scene where Odysseus proves his identity by
shooting an arrow through twelve axes handles.
The locations were an important part of the quest for authenticity.
It has been well advertised that this film was shot in IMAX. I do not have much
experience with IMAX film, but the audio was deafening. It was uncomfortable.
I have one observation of Nolan’s script. One of the characters
uses the F**k word. I am not a linguist,
but I do not think that word was in fashion in the BC era.
This is a three-bathroom movie. Lay off the Diet Coke.
