Guest Column
Abhigyan De
Class: XII (Science)
South Point High School
The Odyssey was an enthralling film.
As a die-hard fan of director Christopher Nolan and the countless others like me across the world; All were eagerly awaiting the release of Nolan’s own twist on the greatest Greek epic of all time, The Odyssey. A rather ambitious project, but nothing out of the blue for Nolan. From the release of the trailer, this project was criticised heavily for its choice of cast, which had too many big names and the obvious historical inaccuracies.
It is readily apparent to all viewers that this was an amazing cinematic experience. Academy Award-winning composer Ludwig Göransson’s music is one of the best elements of the film, with ancient Greek instruments used throughout. I personally loved watching it; the experience in the cinema hall was surreal. The cinematography and sound effects were highly engaging, creating an overall enjoyable viewing experience and leaving me on the edge of my seat for most of the film.
Despite being such a good film, it is not a good adaptation of the story. Nolan has not adhered to the story. He has himself admitted to inspiration from Emily Wilson’s translation, which portrays Odysseus as a complicated, broken hero whose guilt becomes the catalyst for his catharsis, rather than the Greek hero in shining armour. He has made his own changes to the story, making Odysseus a broken man suffering due to his conscience, rather than what he was: a man so enamoured with his own ingenuity that he repeatedly makes others pay the price for his ego. I believe this is one of Nolan's best films and, as a cinematic experience, it's absolutely Oscar-worthy. But if we consider it as an adaptation of the Odyssey, it is not accurate, and Nolan has made far too many changes to the story to be considered accurate.
We shouldn’t change a film as we do a book, despite the absence of many crucial plot points and an obvious pretentiousness in the storyline. (Odysseus’s enemy wasn’t guilt but pride, and the line of the ‘Bronze Age’ was dumb). It was, after all, a Nolan film and made for a lifetime experience.
N.B: (THE ODYSSEY: Running in the cinema halls now)
Wikipedia:
The Odyssey is a 2026 epic action fantasy film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who produced it with his wife Emma Thomas. An adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey, it stars an ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Odysseus (Damon), the Greek king of Ithaca, undergoes a long and perilous journey home after the Trojan War and encounters mythical beings as he attempts to reunite with his wife Penelope (Hathaway).
The Trailor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB17eWZK4Hk
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