{"id":14546,"date":"2026-08-09T22:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T22:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culturalleft.org\/cl\/2026\/08\/09\/nolans-odyssey-fails-to-grasp-todays-crises-or-the-poems-enduring-power-reviews-culture-socialist-worker\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T22:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T22:35:59","slug":"nolans-odyssey-fails-to-grasp-todays-crises-or-the-poems-enduring-power-reviews-culture-socialist-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturalleft.org\/cl\/2026\/08\/09\/nolans-odyssey-fails-to-grasp-todays-crises-or-the-poems-enduring-power-reviews-culture-socialist-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"Nolan\u2019s Odyssey fails to grasp today\u2019s crises or the poem\u2019s enduring power Reviews & Culture – Socialist Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The\n

The new blockbuster cuts major parts of the original poem<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I was even more excited when Nolan said that Emily Wilson\u2019s \u00adtranslation was an influence on him. Wilson\u2019s was the first complete \u00adpublished translation of the poem into English by a woman.<\/p>\n

It was disappointing, then, when there was not a \u201ccomplicated man\u201d\u2014as Wilson characterises the \u00adprotagonist\u2014to be seen.<\/p>\n

There is a lot to be said about the flat characters throughout the film, especially the unsurprising stripping of any complexity from the women.<\/p>\n

Penelope\u2014wife of Odysseus\u2014is bereft of her wit. Helen of Troy\u2019s agency is missing. And Clytemnestra, whose husband Agamemmnon recruits Odysseus to fight, has \u00adseemingly swapped her axe for a rather disappointing dagger.<\/p>\n

Athena\u2019s character seems to be missing altogether. Zendaya\u2019s \u00adportrayal of one of the only divine figures seen in the film is revealed to be yet another symptom of Odysseus\u2019 grief and trauma. <\/p>\n

There is also much to be said about the choice to film scenes in \u00adoccupied Western Sahara.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Nolan is able to use their \u00adlandscape to his liking and leave without having to confront the colonial violence against the Sahrawis.<\/p>\n

Nolan\u2019s film is of course an \u00adadaptation, not a translation, and so does not need to pay close attention to the text in the same way.<\/p>\n

However, the choices he made to cut out sections and introduce other elements is significant in its own right. <\/p>\n

The Odyssey is a poem that grapples with changing \u00adsocieties, with one man rule and oligarchy. It\u2019s a story of welcoming gods and \u00adstrangers and the impacts of war.<\/p>\n

Nolan\u2019s adaptation transforms these themes into the paralysing guilt of white men.<\/p>\n

These men are \u00adstriving to regain the objectified woman, surrounded by a collapsing moral order prompted by acts of war and violence.<\/p>\n

While Nolan\u2019s themes certainly ring true\u2014our world is rife with war and moral crisis\u2014his protagonist has a muddled and contradictory \u00admorality, simultaneously the enactor of violence and saviour.<\/p>\n

But he is missing all the \u00adqualities that make him an imperfect but at least interesting protagonist\u2014his wits, cunning and arrogance.<\/p>\n

Nolan\u2019s film is a rumination on the collapse of western morality, on imperialist violence and the plight of warmongering men.<\/p>\n

After nearly three hours of being buffeted by the sounds of violence, it is safe to say that the civilisation\u2019s impending doom is epic.<\/p>\n