The new blockbuster cuts major parts of the original poem
As a classics student, I was excited to hear that there was going to be a Christopher Nolan film about one of the greatest classical poems, the Odyssey.
I was even more excited when Nolan said that Emily Wilson’s translation was an influence on him. Wilson’s was the first complete published translation of the poem into English by a woman.
It was disappointing, then, when there was not a “complicated man”—as Wilson characterises the protagonist—to be seen.
There is a lot to be said about the flat characters throughout the film, especially the unsurprising stripping of any complexity from the women.
Penelope—wife of Odysseus—is bereft of her wit. Helen of Troy’s agency is missing. And Clytemnestra, whose husband Agamemmnon recruits Odysseus to fight, has seemingly swapped her axe for a rather disappointing dagger.
Athena’s character seems to be missing altogether. Zendaya’s portrayal of one of the only divine figures seen in the film is revealed to be yet another symptom of Odysseus’ grief and trauma.
There is also much to be said about the choice to film scenes in occupied Western Sahara.
The filming location is used by western media to display exotic and exciting scenes. But it is also where the Indigenous Sahrawis are systematically oppressed and marginalised.
Nolan is able to use their landscape to his liking and leave without having to confront the colonial violence against the Sahrawis.
Nolan’s film is of course an adaptation, not a translation, and so does not need to pay close attention to the text in the same way.
However, the choices he made to cut out sections and introduce other elements is significant in its own right.
The Odyssey is a poem that grapples with changing societies, with one man rule and oligarchy. It’s a story of welcoming gods and strangers and the impacts of war.
Nolan’s adaptation transforms these themes into the paralysing guilt of white men.
These men are striving to regain the objectified woman, surrounded by a collapsing moral order prompted by acts of war and violence.
While Nolan’s themes certainly ring true—our world is rife with war and moral crisis—his protagonist has a muddled and contradictory morality, simultaneously the enactor of violence and saviour.
But he is missing all the qualities that make him an imperfect but at least interesting protagonist—his wits, cunning and arrogance.
Nolan’s film is a rumination on the collapse of western morality, on imperialist violence and the plight of warmongering men.
After nearly three hours of being buffeted by the sounds of violence, it is safe to say that the civilisation’s impending doom is epic.
- The Odyssey is in cinemas now
