The Current Cinema - Helen Madden is most unimpressed by THE ODYSSEY (Christopher Nolan, USA, 2026)

Oh what a dull, hollowed-out hero is Nolan’s Odysseus. What a dead-eyed gloomy Matt Damon...

This Odysseus is certainly a Christian pilgrim, burdened by sin, plagued with guilt and obsessed with redemption .

Where is that quicksilvered hero of high emotion, unquenchable curiosity, the subversive up-ender of things and agog at the wonders of the world ?

Homer’s Odysseus is the world’s first described demobilised soldier, freed from the bloody walls of windy Troy, amazed now, just to be alive and to sail the seas, not quite so desperate to get home , but home is the destination. He is astonished at the beauty and marvel of the world, its goddesses and its horrors, happily waylaid by the possibility of another one, ever another opening of his eyes.

And the wit and humour of the man? All gone.

Gone too are the precious scenes with the wild and beautiful women who have been disappeared. Where is Nausicaa, the teenage princess whom Odysseus discovers when he is shipwrecked on the shores of Ogygia, playing ball with her friends? Where Odysseus plays out one of the most entrancing scenes in literature, clutching a branch to hide his nakedness he wins over the alarmed young woman with sparkling words, soothing and smooching with wit, irony and tenderness.

Nolan’s Calypso, the dangerous nymph with glossy braids, is barely conscious. While seductive Circe, the goddess of fabulous beauty, is now a grubby witch. Her physically reshaping of Odysseus’ men into pigs is a sickly vomit-inducing image and accompanied with the man-hating rant it’s the most egregious example of the crude token wokeness of the film.

So many 'fucks' but no actual fucking in this Christian’s progress. All that fun, Calypso bedding him every night for seven years, Circe every night for one year. This simpering Penelope is only allowed a few minutes in bed on his return. A night Homer describes as the longest night in the history of the universe ..as Athena held back the dawn for them.

Unbelievably, Helen is punished by Nolan as he inscribes guilt on the face that launched a thousand ships with gruesome scarring. In Homer’s Odyssey Helen survives intact, protected and loved by Menelaus. That thousands of soldiers die while Helen lives and loves is Homer’s brilliant insight into the brutality and arbitrariness of war...

And the truth of Homer’s Odyssey? This tale of a man who in the end, bereft of friends and companions, faces Ithaca, the future, alone – is literature’s first intimation of that psychological truth, that we are all, in the end, stranded on the shore and alone.

The Current Cinema - The editor cant resist a few remarks on THE ODYSSEY (Christopher Nolan, USA, 2026)

 

OK...here's my thoughts on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

First. I haven't read the book. Then again I hadn't, (and still haven't) read The Bible when I saw Nicholas Ray's King of Kings and George Stevens The Greatest Story Ever Told though I was a lot more familiar with the basic story. I might try and read The Odyssey now, just as I might try and read Albert Camus' The Outsider after seeing the recent Ozon film version.

Second. I watched the film at the Ulladulla Arcadia Twin Cinemas at 10.00 am with a half dozen others, most around my own age. The charge for the toilets at the end of the 2.46 minute running time of the actual visuals (which I presume means that there are 20 minutes of credits to make up the advertised time of 186 minutes) was hectic.

Third. I therefore did not see the film on IMAX, 70mm or any other advanced format beyond the usual presumably 4K projection that is the standard these days. For some that might mean I saw something resembling a VHS pan and scan tape compared to the real thing that Nolan shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. 

In that light I have decided that, with permission, I am going to filch Ross Campbell's report posted on Facebook about his IMAX experience. Ross writes: Saw Christopher Nolan's film THE ODYSSEY this afternoon at Melbourne's IMAX cinema. Congratulations to Kevin Adams and the entire IMAX projection team for their splendid presentation of this epic achievement. THE ODYSSEY is the first full-length feature film to be made entirely on full-frame 15-perforation 70 mm IMAX film. Cinema’s biggest format. Cinema’s biggest screen. And it’s film!

"Melbourne's IMAX is one of a very small number of venues in the world, and the only one in the southern hemisphere, that still maintains these remarkable projectors where the film runs horizontally through the machine. Melbourne’s projection team has become internationally recognised for keeping the 15/70 equipment in first-class operating condition. Projectionists from other countries have looked to Melbourne as one of the exemplars of non-digital IMAX presentation.

"The 15,000-watts of combined sound, distributed across the front screen channels, side surrounds, rear surrounds, overhead channels and the sub-bass system, envelopes the audience in a totally immersive experience. Sitting centre towards the back rows, it was enthralling.

"I look forward to seeing THE ODYSSEY again, currently screening at the Sun Theatre Yarraville, where it’s being shown on film in the 2.2:1 widescreen 70 mm format; it’s in the Barkly auditorium where Rob Murphy and Brian Davis had such success with Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL EIGHT in 2016.

"Prior to seeing the film, I found a very helpful podcast from The Rest Is History team on YouTube where they give a detailed chronological account of Homer’s ODYSSEY. Both Homer and Nolan delight in playing with a non-linear presentation of the story: flashbacks within flashbacks? Decidedly. The Rest Is History even has fun in suggesting an Australian connection with the emphasis on ‘barbecues’. Theirs is an engrossing account of THE ODYSSEY to prepare one for Nolan’s magnificently imagined film. The first sight of the Trojan Horse alone is worth the price of admission.

The Complete History of Homer’s Odyssey ".

Fourth. I admired Nolan's decision to avoid any mock Shakespearean dialogue. The conversations are down to earth. There are no four letter words uttered that I recall.

Fifth. I had some trouble following the narrative, the individual highlight sequences being straightforward, as it cut between pasts and presents in a sometimes complicated manner though from the moment Odysseus returns home, the last hour or so is pretty straightforward.

Sixth. For a cinephile Nolan doesn't seem to have learnt many lessons regarding choreographing hand to hand combat and battles in general. A look over the symmetries of late Kurosawa from Throne of Blood through Yojimbo and Sanjuro would have been a big help and maybe some quick pointers might have been gained even from the Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies and from just about anything made by Tsui Hark.

Seventh. There is music, throbbing and rather undulating throughout. It places a layer of bubbling and unmusical sound over everything. Not sure if that isn't finally just irritating.

Eighth. I dont quite understand why Odysseus had to keep his identity secret when he finally returned. His son twigs who he is but no one else does. He has to have the epic battle in the Palace to round out the action so I assume it's all related.

Ninth. Nolan's current career arc strikes me as somewhat similar to Cecil B De Mille, William Wyler and George Stevens who all used their authority to make more and more bloated pictures as their careers headed for conclusions (I know Wyler made a handful of pictures after Ben-Hur including, The Children's Hour andThe Collector and Stevens made The Only Game in Town to finish off but you know what I mean). Nolan is a way away from the conclusion of his career so I recommend for next, I know I know, something like The Collector, or maybe something like Following, Memento or even a remake of some little known European thriller like Insomnia. Maybe Claude Sautet's Classe Tous Risques...just saying...