Homer’s Epic, Brought to Life – With Mastery: ‘Odyssey’ is a Colossal, Thunderous Triumph of Cinema

By Jackson TOYON

Three years after we were blessed with Christopher Nolan’s pivotal biographical thriller “Oppenheimer,” the visionary director has returned to deliver a monumental film – and it’s an iconic story of old. Nolan has chosen to adapt the film “The Odyssey” by Greek poet Homer, which is sometimes referred to as “the greatest tale ever told.” Such a story deserves a film of incredible scale and ambition like not many films have managed before – and Nolan did not come to mess around and has already set the bar high for the rest of the year.

The city of Ithaca has been without its king Odysseus (Matt Damon) for 20 years. Having left to serve under his commander Agamemnon (Benny Safdie), he ventured forth to lead an army on a campaign to defeat the supposedly impregnable city of Troy. Left behind are his family, his beloved wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and his growing son Telemachus (Tom Holland). When Odysseus fails to come home after over a decade, suitors have assumed the worst and have begun to gather at his home every night to eat and drink, hoping to seize on the family’s weakness and court Penelope – thereby assuming the throne for themselves. Sinister suitor Antinous (Robert Pattinson) is particularly aggressive in his efforts – among them antagonizing Telemachus, who tenaciously believes that his father is still alive. Unbeknownst to his family, Odysseus’ campaign and attempts to return home have been catastrophically more difficult than he ever imagined. The besieging of Troy on its own took up an unproductive 10 years until Odysseus came up with the now famous Trojan horse plot to sneak into the city and destroy it from within – a plan that goes off without much issue. But in performing such a nasty trick that took advantage of the Trojans’ humanity, he broke Zeus’ law that binds society together and set in motion a years-long journey of magic and monsters that his crew must endure if they ever hope to see home again.

The challenge of a large ensemble cast is to keep a consistent level of quality among the actors and the performances of this cast are uniformly great – but it’s not lacking in standouts or pleasant surprises. Anne Hathaway is a tour de force in this film, and Robert Pattinson is delightfully hate-able as can be. Tom Holland puts out some of the best work of his career and Elliot Page, for as little screen time as he gets, impressed me more than ever before. Odysseus’ second-in-command, played by Himesh Patel, is excellent alongside Damon. The most memorable supporting standout performance to many was the unexpected role of Samantha Morton as the witch Circe, who claims one unforgettable sequence to leave her mark. There are more performances to praise but doing so would take up too much space!

As one might expect, the visuals and cinematography in this film are just about second to none. Nolan has created a breathtaking marriage of visual effects and practical effects in this film – the moviemaking magic is almost overwhelming – in the best way – and can be seen and felt in every major scene. Ludwig Göransson’s epic and historically informed composition keeps the audience on its toes the entire time helping to make a film that is nearly three hours long feel more like two. The film is heart-pounding and nearly unrelenting, but somehow always knows when to slow down to explore themes of memory and the deep civilizational costs of war that keeps the audience thinking about the film long after leaving the theater.

The ambition of “The Odyssey” is staggering – sometimes one must think about how lucky we are to live in the same era as a director who is a master of his craft. If one has the wherewithal, “The Odyssey” is the kind of work that deserves to be seen in an enhanced format – on the largest screen and with the best sound system one can find. To view it as Christopher Nolan intended is a large part of experiencing a film like this; streaming it on a smartphone or tablet just fails to fully do it justice. 

While it is not a film to take the kids to, one would do a disservice to oneself to miss this while it’s in theaters.

Rated R.