The Odyssey
Dustin Chase
At the end of most Christopher Nolan films, the leading man (he has yet to do a film with a female in the lead) has a moment of “what have I done/caused” and “now I must fix it”. Nolan loves an antihero, the flawed leading man. Whether it’s Bruce Wayne, J. Robert Oppenheimer or even all the way back to Al Pacino playing detective Will Dormer in “Insomnia.” Odysseus, as played here by Matt Damon, is the ultimate flawed hero in the Nolan collection. Whether you have read Homer’s “The Odyssey” in school or seen one of the many obvious films based on that story (“Cold Mountain,” “O Brother Where Art Thou,” “Paris, Texas,” etc.) we are all familiar with the 3000-year-old plot. Nolan’s ambition here is to offer the biggest, loudest and most definitive cinematic version to date. The pressure he places on himself (and what makes him one of our best and most inventive directors) and the entire production, to one-up his past accomplishments, and create not just another film event but an experience is always achieved.
Eight years since the fall of Troy and twenty since King Odysseus (Damon) left Ithaca to ultimately become the hero of Agamemnon’s Trojan War. He still has not returned. His wife Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) guards the throne, refusing to remarry, insistent that one day he will return. A baby when he left, now a grown man in line for the throne, son Telemachus (Tom Holland) has become a target for the greedy suitors who want the throne. As the morality and values of Zeus’s law begin to erode inside Ithaca, we find Odysseus far away, a fragmented version of the once powerful king. His triumphs in battle have long given way to sorrow and regret. He will never stop trying to get back home and keep his promise.
There are moments in Nolan films where you understand that he is working on a genius level. That was evident in the intricate layering of “Inception,” time dilation in “Interstellar”, even his first film “Memento” showcased just how Nolan perceives narrative different from the rest. Flashes of cinematic genius in “Oppenheimer” when you realize he made a gripping suspense film essentially about people standing around discussing science. “The Odyssey” is less genius and more opulence. Shooting an entire film with the gargantuan, loud, IMAX camera is certainly a cinematic achievement, a new entry for the film history books. Does all that difficulty really make the film better? “The Odyssey” looks, feels and sounds enormous, but often comes across hollow. Scale for scale’s sake.
Nolan’s script grasps for emotion anywhere it can; the dog waiting 27 years for his master to return, the son in need of a father, or Penelope’s desperation. Three-time Oscar winning composer Ludwig Göransson again scores for Nolan (he won last year for “Sinners” and the year before for “Oppenheimer”) but it’s one of his least impressive works. Partly because of the restrictions Nolan gave him, to only make music with instruments of the time. Again, difficulty for difficulty’s sake. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema back at Nolan’s side after taking home the Oscar for “Oppenheimer”. He gets some stunning shots here, especially knowing the level of difficulty flying that camera around. Again comparatively, his work on “Interstellar” or “Spectre” was more impressive and memorable overall.
As expected, the narrative is non-linear, jumping between present, backstory, flashbacks, the past, and visions. This works in Nolan keeping the audience sustained for the full three hours, however it’s the final act, the last forty minutes when the adventure is over, where the film truly shines. Nolan’s practical approach to locations, using sparse special effects, creating real 60-foot mechanical cyclops in the cave, helps ground the fantasy film. Much like how Oppenheimer comes to regret the devastating bomb he created, Odysseus’s self-reflection in Nolan’s version is quite a welcome modern interpretation of “forgive me for what I have done.” “The Odyssey” satisfies on the experience level no question, especially if you pay the extra to see it in IMAX. It struggles like many Nolan films with emotion.
Final Thought
Spectacle, yes. Spectacular, somewhat. Life-changing, mood inducing cinema that leaves you unable to function after (i.e. Inception, Interstellar, Dark Knight trilogy), no.