In my opinion, it is very good.
Like any Nolan film, the narrative jumps around temporally–the 'main' one is the narrative of the journey itself, told by Odysseus to Calypso in the 'present day' with Telemachus, played by Tom Holland, undergoing his own quest for information at the same time. This is intercut with further flashbacks to the war itself throughout the film, examining Odysseus' war guilt over the deception of the Trojan Horse, the sacking of Troy, and the sacrifices made during the war.
Thematically, I see a lot of parallels to other Nolan works. I appreciated how it’s less a straight adaptation of the poem and more using the story of the Homeric epic as a vehicle to explore the themes Nolan often looks at, like civilizational decline and man’s hubris.
I think The Odyssey is like an odd mirror to Oppenheimer if you look at it from certain angles. It’s not a traditional ‘epic’ in the sense of the sword and sandals movies of the 50s and 60s, but more of a sort of artistic exploration of themes Nolan’s looked at before.
The infamous Sea People of the Bronze Age Collapse, famously vague in historical records, are referenced as raiders bringing an age of coming darkness. This is framed as a consequence of Odysseus breaking sacred bonds at Troy, which seems reminiscent of some of the undertones in the back half of Oppenheimer and some of the themes present in his Batman trilogy.
I'd argue Agamemnon is the film's true antagonist and a greater-scope villain, something I think the source material easily backs up. He only speaks as a shade in Hades, and his presence in flashbacks to the war itself frame him as an ominous figure whose silence and black armor make him reminiscent of Darth Vader almost. The suitors are framed as a consequence of Odysseus and the other Greeks breaking Zeus' law at Troy, and both that and the war which gave them free reign of Ithaca by calling away Odysseus are consequences of Agamemnon's ambitions.
Overall, a very solid Nolan film but one that works best if you look at it less as an adaptation and more as, again, a movie that uses the Odyssey as a vehicle to tell a story about civilizational decline.
Like any Nolan film, the narrative jumps around temporally–the 'main' one is the narrative of the journey itself, told by Odysseus to Calypso in the 'present day' with Telemachus, played by Tom Holland, undergoing his own quest for information at the same time. This is intercut with further flashbacks to the war itself throughout the film, examining Odysseus' war guilt over the deception of the Trojan Horse, the sacking of Troy, and the sacrifices made during the war.
Thematically, I see a lot of parallels to other Nolan works. I appreciated how it’s less a straight adaptation of the poem and more using the story of the Homeric epic as a vehicle to explore the themes Nolan often looks at, like civilizational decline and man’s hubris.
I think The Odyssey is like an odd mirror to Oppenheimer if you look at it from certain angles. It’s not a traditional ‘epic’ in the sense of the sword and sandals movies of the 50s and 60s, but more of a sort of artistic exploration of themes Nolan’s looked at before.
The infamous Sea People of the Bronze Age Collapse, famously vague in historical records, are referenced as raiders bringing an age of coming darkness. This is framed as a consequence of Odysseus breaking sacred bonds at Troy, which seems reminiscent of some of the undertones in the back half of Oppenheimer and some of the themes present in his Batman trilogy.
I'd argue Agamemnon is the film's true antagonist and a greater-scope villain, something I think the source material easily backs up. He only speaks as a shade in Hades, and his presence in flashbacks to the war itself frame him as an ominous figure whose silence and black armor make him reminiscent of Darth Vader almost. The suitors are framed as a consequence of Odysseus and the other Greeks breaking Zeus' law at Troy, and both that and the war which gave them free reign of Ithaca by calling away Odysseus are consequences of Agamemnon's ambitions.
Overall, a very solid Nolan film but one that works best if you look at it less as an adaptation and more as, again, a movie that uses the Odyssey as a vehicle to tell a story about civilizational decline.
