Long and arduous tends to be the journey of anyone crazy enough to adapt the classic poem "The Odyssey" for the cinema, in an ironic mirror of the protagonist's journey. Filmmaker (and sir) Christopher Nolan makes it look easy – despite a few slips along the way. Opening in Brazil this Thursday (16), the film from the director of "Oppenheimer" (2023) mixes stunning photography and earth-shattering sound editing to create a rare epic cinematic experience. Over the course of almost three hours, the Brit's "The Odyssey" moves between a respect that borders on the dogmatic for Homer's work and the humanization of a story about men and gods – with a sensitivity that brings a bit of contemporaneity to the poem written almost 3,000 years ago. Human like Odysseus, however, Nolan does not resist some of his most primitive impulses and makes the necessary concessions to the budget of such a – pardon the word – Homeric project.
'The Odyssey' trails a journey between dazzling epic and Hollywood exaggeration; g1 already seen
Long and arduous tends to be the journey of anyone crazy enough to adapt the classic poem "The Odyssey" for the cinema, in an ironic mirror of the protagonist's journey. Filmmaker (and sir) Christopher Nolan makes it look easy – despite a...
Opening in Brazil this Thursday (16), the film from the director of "Oppenheimer" (2023) mixes stunning photography and earth-shattering sound editing to create a rare epic cinematic experience. Over the course of almost three hours, the Brit's "The Odyssey" moves between a respect that borders on the dogmatic for Homer's work and the humanization of a...
- Over the course of almost three hours, the Brit's "The Odyssey" moves between a respect that borders on the dogmatic for Homer's work and the humanization of a story about men and gods –...
- Human like Odysseus, however, Nolan does not resist some of his most primitive impulses and makes the necessary concessions to the budget of such a – pardon the word – Homeric project.
- Among them, the choice of an overly star-studded cast, which prevents a deeper connection with characters who represent the different facets of man for millennia.
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Among them, the choice of an overly star-studded cast, which prevents a deeper connection with characters who represent the different facets of man for millennia. As charismatic as he is, Matt Damon has never been one of those actors famous for losing themselves in their roles. With two Oscar nominations for acting (and a win for the screenplay for "Good Will Hunting"), the 55-year-old American is great, but he is always, invariably, a version of Matt Damon. The same can be said of some of his more notable co-stars, like Tom Holland (the young man behind the mask in the most recent Spider-Man trilogy) and Anne Hathaway ("The Devil Wears Prada"). It's not that the trio isn't doing well. Far from it. But the presence of such well-known and, in a certain way, Hollywood faces takes the film away from the reality of the Acropolis – even though the effort to film in real locations stands out throughout the entire production. The big exception is Robert Pattinson ("Batman"), who takes advantage of the complete lack of complexity of his villain – an ambitious and envious coward – to produce one of the most delicious interpretations of his career. From horror to beauty Just like the poem, Nolan's script tells the saga of the protagonist's (Damon) return home over the years, and how he uses the ingenuity that gave the Greeks victory in the Trojan War to overcome the fury of the gods and other mythological beings. Along the way, the Brit slips on the biggest banana skin of adapting literary classics with some dialogues that sound too theatrical or rigid, but he uses his almost unparalleled gift for creating tense and suffocating environments to overcome such slips. Its greatest asset may be the transformation of moments portrayed exhaustively in other works into sequences worthy of the best horror films. The howls of pain from the Cyclops who traps the hero and his soldiers in a cave, for example, must echo for days in the memories of any spectator. In addition to sound editing, the always spectacular work of cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and composer Ludwig Göransson – long-time partners of the director – contribute to the filmmaker's achievement. With the exception of some silly excesses in the art direction, with some exaggerated armor that looks like it came out of a bigger-budget episode of "Power Rangers", "The Odyssey" comes as close as possible to being technically perfect. An achievement that deserves to be appreciated in the best projection available. Nolan's reflection If he gets lost in the celebrity of his protagonists, Nolan translates the universality responsible for the success of the original poem in the diversity of the cast, sprinkled with actors of different nationalities and ethnicities. Aware of how silly it is to ask for authenticity in a work of fiction with fictional monsters such as giants and spirits from hell, the filmmaker plays with possibilities and expectations. In the process, it also exposes the racism of those who criticize the casting of a black actress, like Zendaya, as the goddess Athena – a choice that not only makes sense in her version, but also humanizes her. Nolan's "The Odyssey" is a reflection of its creator. Imperfect and exaggerated, but in total control of its grandeur.
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