The Odyssey
Streaming has gotten so bad I have decided to make the drive to town more often to find something new. We seem to be in, generally, a rather bland age of movies but there are some exceptions. When I was young in the 1960s, we were taught The Odyssey beginning in grade school. I don’t remember which version that was, but on viewing this film those stories came flooding back into my mind and I found myself feeling very nostalgic. I wonder if that is one reason for the movie’s popularity. More on that later.
My first warning about this movie is that I encourage you to wear earplugs, because it’s so loud my ears hurt when I left. It is also so quiet a few times I had a hard time understanding what the actors were saying. There were a few shots that were also too dark to tell what was happening. It’s a very modern movie in those respects. On the other hand, the movie is gorgeous. The director does a lot with light and shadow that is unusual these days, and color is saturated to the point of resembling the technicolor films I grew up with.
I won’t go into the actors in the film, because the director has emptied the Hollywood vault, American version. After seeing a clip and hearing an American accent coming from Odysseus, I admit I was a little worried that not hearing dialogue in the King’s English might lessen the experience for me. So sue me, it’s what has always been done and what I’m used to. Luckily, I don’t have a problem with trying new things. It took about thirty seconds to get used to the American actors. They were all so, so good in this. I can’t think of any weak links anywhere.
There has been a gigantic clutching of pearls online about a black actress playing Clytemnestra [and Helen]. They can F right off.
There has also been a lot of back and forth about the accuracy of this depiction of Homer’s epic, and he is credited next to the director with writing credits in the IMDB. How amazing is that? Three thousand years later, there you are writing movies. Anyway, yeah, this is a very very old work and it has been retold a million times and written down a millennia after the fact and then translated by a multitude of people. This is why I’m not overly fussed about the whining over “historical accuracy”. One of the nice things stemming from this kerfluffle is renewed interest in Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation, which does not assume all women are objects, whores or evil. This is probably because, in all these centuries, she’s the only woman to have translated the whole thing, with a modern sensibility.
How does this affect the movie’s structure? I believe the director may have had an eye toward appealing to us older people who grew up with a certain version of these stories. I don’t even remember which one it was, but most of this movie reflected that 20th century version, except for giving the women more agency and treating them like actual people with wants and needs and motives behind their actions. There still aren’t many, but their stories are different than I remember. For the younger audience, the director has made a few changes, like including Sinon. He’s a character from Aenid (ancient writer) and has always been depicted as a cunning liar. Here he is completely loyal and heroic (and another screaming pearl clutching character because he’s portrayed by a trans actor). As well, the director has tweaked the script to create a framing story of sorts, using Sinon and a character from the original that is enhanced a bit. This is a modern storytelling technique and not entirely part of the original. I thought it was really well done and as a modern fiction fan I’m all in for it. For a younger audience who possibly doesn’t know the story I think it probably helped. Of course, it also led directly to another modern practice, the final blowout fight scene. I rolled my eyes a bit. Yes, the fight is told in the ancient poem, but I don’t think it goes on for fifteen frenetic, loud minutes.
Not gonna talk about the dog. Argus made me weepy back then, and he got me again this time. A surprising change for me personally was how I responded to the end of the film. No spoilers, but as I remembered it, I felt back then like it was a huge loss for Odysseus. Sixty years later, it made me really happy. Funny how that works.
There are a few allusions to Christian ideals, and I hope people remember that this story predates that religion by a millenium. This is a very religious script, with many referrals to “Zeus’s Law”, which will feel very Christian, and a depiction of how close to humans the ancient gods were. I like the idea of a lot of people being exposed to that feeling of closeness.
As I left the theater, with my ears ringing, I was really wowed by the experience. I still think it’s a great film, but on reflection I can see aspects that maybe aren’t what they could be. Those are just quibbles, really, as befits a tale that has been argued over for so long. It’s an experience and I encourage you to see it on the big screen because it’s an epic. You should see it BIG. It blows my mind every time I think about how very old these stories are, and that there is still so much discussion and debate about them. The director has filled the movie with exceptional actors doing exceptional work, and made something gorgeous and heavy hitting. What’s not to love about portraying loyalty as a noble thing? And about how great it is to be loyal to an able leader.
Triggers: It’s an ancient war story. Lots of people die.
Available on: Theaters only at the moment.
LINKS:
CFR: In Addition
Well I wasn’t going to see this movie because I really don’t care about Odysseus. Hey, I’ve always sided with the Trojans. I also find the Ancient Greeks and Romas way too misogynistic for my tastes.
However.
I want to see this movie.
I am intrigued by the care, crafting, and love Nolan put into this movie, the quality of the cast, and the care to use a highly praised translation. Plus, if haters have to have idiotic snitfits about one of the most beautiful women in the world playing one of the most beautiful women in the world and a man playing a man soldier, well, I simply must go.
I’m going to lose it about the dog though.
Thanks Cranky.
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