Does Homer's Odyssey translate to film?
The latest film by star director Christopher Nolan (the Batman trilogy and Oppenheimer) is now screening in cinemas. By choosing Homer's Odyssey – a classic more than 2,500 years old – as the basis for his story, Nolan has sparked a vigorous discussion: can an ancient epic be brought to life with the spectacular animation fantasy worlds of a contemporary Hollywood blockbuster? The Greek press weighs in.
An uncompromising epic
Protagon is delighted:
“The Odyssey is a triumph for film as a medium at a time when major productions are increasingly starting to look like 'small, medium' or digital projects. Nolan identified a gap in cinematic storytelling that has existed for decades. Namely, that earlier generations simply lacked the technology to properly capture the fantasy element in the text without losing its realism. And he has filled this gap with an uncompromising epic. Enhanced by Ludwig Göransson's spellbinding score and a cast of actors performing at the peak of their abilities, The Odyssey is a reminder of what a visionary director can achieve when he discovers the keys to the ancient world. It is an Odyssey that is harsh, brooding, and undeniably magnificent.”
Comeback of an ancient classic
Eugenia Manolidou, director of the the School for Ancient Greece, writes in Proto Thema:
“ There is an interesting irony at play in the global interest. ... A few years back, at the height of 'cancel culture', a teacher in the US proudly declared that she had helped remove the Odyssey from the curriculum. Today tickets for this epic are sold out ahead of the premiere. I wonder what she would have to say to this. A film adaption poses no threat to Homer. The only danger is that we stop reading him, feeling him, interpreting him. So let's watch this film and assess it with our knowledge, reasoned arguments, and above all, with Homer's work open beside us.”