An uneasy inheritance

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, July 17th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Christopher Nolan has spent hundreds of millions of dollars bringing The Odyssey to the screen.

But can Hollywood faithfully retell one of the books that helped build Western civilization?

Here’s WORLD’s arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino to tell us whether the film is equal to the task.

COLLIN GARBARINO: In Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the Greek hero who’s trying to make his way home after the end of the Trojan War.

CALYPSO: Tell me what you remember.

ODYSSEUS: A wife. A son.

Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway play Telemachus and Penelope, his wife and son who have been waiting 20 years for his return. The film includes the major moments from the epic poem. Odysseus and his crew struggle to make headway because of unfavorable winds. They face perils along the way, including the Cyclops, the Sirens, and the witch Circe. All the while Telemachus must contend with a house full of suitors who wish to marry his mother.

PENELOPE: Ithaca’s king is coming back.

ANTINOUS: No he’s not.

Nolan has a reputation for making big, bold movies for cinema lovers. And he leans into that reputation with The Odyssey. It’s his first film to be shot entirely on IMAX film, a feat that’s even more remarkable considering the exotic locations he lugged those massive cameras. He also relies on practical effects rather than computer-generated imagery. This is some serious old school filmmaking. Nolan has some experience telling a story with competing timelines. And he succeeds yet again with this film by making the episodic source material feel like a cohesive narrative.

ODYSSEUS: No one can stand between me and home. Not even the gods.

But despite showcasing some fine technical skill, Nolan’s Odyssey left me dissatisfied. Maybe it’s because I used to teach The Odyssey in my university class on ancient Greece, but I found many of Nolan’s choices irritating.

Let’s begin with the most trivial. In Homer’s poem, the Greeks’ weapon of choice is the spear, but everyone in this film relies on a short sword. And do they use those short swords for stabbing, like they’re supposed to? No. It seems most people get dispatched through having their throats slit after some kind of fancy spin move. The film is rated R for violence and language, but it’s only marginally worse than many PG-13 action movies. I also thought it foolish that Odysseus and his men would wear their bronze breastplates when they’re just hanging out on the ship. And then there’s the continuous mentions of “the law of Zeus,” which in this movie sounds like Jesus’ Golden Rule rather than the Greek custom of hospitality to strangers. These were minor irritations. I have major complaints as well.

At 2-hours-and-52-minute the runtime might feel epic, but Nolan’s attempts to update the 2800-year-old story for a modern audience cheapen it. The script relies on colloquial and cringe-inducing language. Part of that R rating comes from two awkward f-bombs that feel wildly out of place. At times, the dialogue is downright painful.

TELEMACHUS: My dad is coming home.

Moreover, Nolan lets his left-leaning politics get in the way of telling Homer’s story. The Greeks in this movie are no longer Greeks, but a multiethnic people. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with having diversity in the cast. But it should make sense within the story. Why is Helen black? Why is Odysseus’ right-hand man Indian? And how did a guy from east Asia get roped into fighting in the Trojan War? Maybe Nolan is trying to say Western civilization belongs to everyone now? I don’t know. But the cast also includes a transgender actor who is laughably unsuited for the role.

Worse is what Nolan does to Odysseus himself. He’s no longer the brilliant, yet proud-to-a-fault, hero who refuses to give up on his goal of reaching home. He’s become a conflicted, broken man who must atone for his role in sacking Troy and letting his men die in battle. This Odysseus exhibits sorrow over his toxic masculinity.

PENELOPE: Promise me you will come back.

ODYSSEUS: What if I can’t?

Homer’s Odysseus demonstrates his excellence through cunning and skill in battle. By the same token Homer’s Penelope shows excellence through her own cleverness and steadfast devotion. Nolan’s Penelope screams at her son because she doesn’t like the idea that she can’t rule the country herself. The film includes more than one feminist twist.

Did the story need these modern updates? It’s been popular for the entirety of Western civilization. Nolan seems embarrassed by his source material, so he repackages Odysseus’ story with progressive values. In fact, he seems embarrassed by the entire heritage of the West. In the end, he subtly tried to communicate to the audience that Western civilization itself has caused the world’s problems. Odysseus and the other Greek veterans turn out to be their own worst enemy, and they all need to just get out of the way. Nolan uses some speechifying toward the end to imply his story is a metaphor, suggesting perhaps something better will rise from the ashes of Western civilization.

But fear not, I’m sure Nolan fanboys will convince themselves that this is the best movie ever.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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