The Odyssey Review
Three years ago, Christopher Nolan reached the pinnacle of his career. His ambitious 3-hour biopic of Robert Oppenheimer was a box office smash hit (perhaps due to some help from its release date partner, Barbie), and his film won 7 Oscars, including best director and best picture. If Nolan quit the business there and then, his career would be one of the most celebrated in modern film culture. Even without his Oscar wins, so much of his filmography is praised like deities themselves. Interstellar is constantly cited as one of the greatest films ever made by someone you probably know; The Dark Knight is still one of the best comic book films nearly 20 years after its release; Inception and Memento’s endings will be hotly talked about forever, and I am sure the likes of Dunkirk will be re-evaluated and eventually praised as a masterpiece (I hope).
Yet, Nolan did not take this time after his Oscar wins to focus on something smaller and more intimate—quite the opposite. Nolan has instead adapted The Odyssey, one of the oldest works of literature in the western canon and a story that is the foundation of the hero’s journey, the narrative template that has been used in countless works ever since. Armed with a 250 million dollar budget and a stacked cast, Nolan has added another success to his illustrious filmography.
Odysseus (Matt Damon) and the Greeks have won the Trojan War after ten long years. After all the blood that has been spilt, it is time for the Greeks to head home and be with their families. However, for Odysseus and his men, their defiance of the gods will blow the winds of fate towards a dangerous and deadly route home. Meanwhile, on the island of Ithaca, Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and her son, Thelemachus (Tom Holland), wait for Odysseus’ return as the pressure for Penelope to remarry is pushed upon them by the barbaric suitors, led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson).
The Odyssey is, on the surface, a straightforward story about a war veteran trying to find his way home. Yet, the overall feeling and themes at play here deal with the darker side of humanity, our shame and guilt and what we have done or failed to do and what the true cost of victory looks like. Odysseus’ guilt and disdain for his fate are character traits more attributed to Achilles and the story of The Iliad, but they serve a powerful repurposing within Odysseus’ story here. The one spearheading this 3-hour epic is Matt Damon, with a lot required of Damon here. His story is one filled with hope, hubris, hurt, and humility, showing the change in his character throughout the years, giving each section of his journey a distinctiveness to Odysseus’ nature. Damon brings the pathos and physicality to Odysseus’ journey with two truly exceptional moments that I won’t spoil here.
The entirety of the star-studded cast are all terrific, with some standout moments of intensity from the likes of Anne Hathaway as the tired and jaded Penelope; Robert Pattinson has not been this weaselly and slimy since Good Time, and Samantha Morton captivates in her brief time as the witch Circe in true scene-stealing fashion. Elliot Page is vital to Odysseus’ character arc and one whose performance was particularly poignant within their short screen time.
The sheer scale of Nolan’s project is one of its most striking qualities. You simply will not see a film in today’s Hollywood landscape that commits this much to massive practical sets and filming everything on location. Hoyt Van Hoytema, whom Nolan has collaborated with since Interstellar, knows how to shoot massive set pieces and big productions, once again utilising the IMAX format to create something epic. Each episode of Odysseus’ journey never feels the same due to the visual distinctiveness of each environment and the earthy, yet ethereal, score contributed by Ludwig Göransson.
Some parts of the journey are not as effective as others, and there is an element of the story (a part that remains equally flat in Homer’s poem) that leaves a little to be desired. Due to the nature of its structure, there are elements of the adventure that are more entertaining than others, yet Nolan's final act is so utterly cathartic and filled with some surprises that add another layer of nuance to Odysseus’ story that even those familiar with the story might not expect.
The Odyssey is the biggest film Nolan has made to date, but regardless of the scale, the thematic ties of guilt and regret are intrinsically what makes this a Nolan film. Oppenheimer regretted his creation; Cooper regretted leaving his daughter; Cobb is filled with guilt and regret for what he did to his wife. This idea is at the heart of Nolan’s filmography: the consequence of our own self-destructiveness and how fated we are to fall into it.