I am going to see Christopher Nolan's Odyssey tomorrow on opening night.
I've not heard high things about it and it's tempered my spirits.
I shall give an update on how it actually is.
Okay, I've watched the whole film. And honestly? I should have expected the Internet to just hate on things because assumptions were made and the full movie wasn't watched.
Here's my full opinion down under the cut.
I liked it. Heck, I liked it a lot. It takes a very realistic position on the Trojan war with SOME historical details and little god interactions, and more how the gods influence their culture rather than the outcome. As someone who is writing an Iliad and Odyssey isekai, I appreciated this approach. I took notes during the watching so I could remember some key talking points.
Pros:
The sea people were a major plot point! I found that super cool. They're mentioned in history as the people who came across the sea and collapsed the bronze age, which morphed into the iron age. There is only a few texts about them in Egypt, so I was SUPER happy to hear that they were mentioned and a plot in the story.
It was also mentioned in the movie that Agamemnon used the excuse of Helens capture to secure trade routes from Troy, which is ALSO a historical reason why the Trojan war happened.
Penelope even mentions to Odysseus she suspected Helen ran off with Paris, which is also historical considering the Greeks think she was kidnapped and the Trojans think she came on her own free will. It's a major plot point in my own series and I'm glad to have seen it mentioned.
I ADORED that they stuck with Agamemnon sacrificing his young daughter to appease the gods and Penelope thought it was monstrous when she was told about it, (it is). It was a great factor in the movie and good piece of lore from mythology that doesn't often get mentioned.
They mentioned the pillaging Odysseus crew did before the lotus eaters, which doesn't get mentioned a lot in adaptations! Really appreciated that.
The Cyclops scene? OH. MY. GOSH. I FELT the fear in the theater. It was SUPER well done and really felt the stakes.
Telemachus acted like a homeschool kid seeing a big crowd of people for the first time when going to Sparta haha, it made me laugh and was a good bit.
I appreciated how Helen asked Telemachus to relay to Penelope that she was sorry for the war. Great tie back to the Iliad.
The scenes of the Greeks taking over Troy were PHENOMENAL. I thoroughly enjoyed whenever those came up. Tense, action-packed, in the moment, and felt realistic too.
They did cover the giants that took the majority of Odysseus crew. I liked how they portrayed them to have iron armor, one of the many reasons they overpowered Odysseus crew.
The crew showed signs of mutiny and disobeying far before the calf scene which was great. They thought Odysseus had sinned and wasn't asking for forgiveness so they took over in parts, when in reality the gods were screwing them over. REALLY liked that.
Agamemnon told him to disguise as a beggar when he got home on account for what happened to him. (They did explain the wife was upset at the daughters sacrifice and killed him for that). It played nicely into the movie.
They didn't let us viewers hear the siren song as if we had earwax in ourselves. I thought that was AMAZING, along with Odysseus reaction to hearing it. One soldier took his earwax out and jumped in, which goes along with the myth of if a group sails across them without stopping they die (iirc) so it was a neat detail to have at least one jump in. The way they described the song was amazing as well.
I LOVED how Odysseus met Telemachus and changed his view on burying the dead in times of panic, as well as them honoring with them in flames which in consequence burnt a temple down. Great symbolism for how Odysseus was feeling, loved that.
THEY LET ODYSSEUS PET HIS DYING DOG 😭😭😭 HE GOT TO SHOW AFFECTION AND SAY BYE.
They portrayed the suitors REALLY well so much that I hated them. Kicking Argos, beating on beggars, being mean to Telemachus and being derogatory to the queen, her wishes, and the servants, it was all portrayed very well. Actors did a good job because I hated their characters. Kinda symbolized Troy a bit too, they ate and never went to war, grew fat, hid within the walls of a kingdom, so when the REAL soldier came home they were swatted like flies.
Really liked Odysseus talking with Penelope scene, that was so sweet.
I don't like Agamemnon in Greek mythology, but oh boy did he AURA FARM with the way he stood in center frame when Troys gates were opened? He ATE. Bro gained so much aura from that one scene. Makes sense since he's the high king but MAN you just HAVE to see it, it's wonderful. Never cheered so hard for a man I extremely dislike.
Some of the suitors bowed to Odysseus before the fight ended to spare their lives and it felt super real and like something that actually happened. I appreciated some of them having sense, even though in the book I think they all get slaughtered.
Odysseus and Penelope get to sail into the horizon and beyond at the end, yay :)
Cons:
I did not like all the tension Telemachus had with his mother, it was like the movies had them arguing every scene they were together to further the plot and not on the same side against the suitors. The movie stressed they had different ideas on how to handle the suitors and they could never agree and talk in love.
I wish they would have implemented Odysseus cunning 'nobody' scene with the Cyclops or other people SOMEHOW, but it was completely cut from the movie.
Oh gosh, the way they portrayed Menelaus was AWFUL. if I remember correctly, Menelaus was HAPPILY married to Helen before and after the war and during the Trojan War Helen actively MISSED Menelaus. That was NOT the case in the movie. Menelaus scarred her in the movie, and actively talked down to her. He was portrayed as cruel and rude. His response to Helen's antagonizing was pretty bad too.
I also didn't like how they portrayed Helen. Her being black wouldn't have upset me if she wasn't literally described as white skinned in the Iliad, along with being depicted with blonde or strawberry blonde/red hair to fit the beauty standards of that time. She was also super condescending to Menelaus, antagonizing him with Agamemnon's death and not happy to be with him at all. Her sass would 100% be intolerable historically. It's like they tried to give her a voice of frustration and just made her a horrible, angry person instead.
Circe's scene was AWFUL, but in different ways. 1, she was alone and had no servant girls, and she was portrayed like a victim when the men came only asking for food (I understand she might have had trauma before that but she literally turns them into pigs so, I don't know why she was acting so afraid?) also they asked quite nicely and she still did it.
Speaking of the pig scene, HORRIFYING. I'm scarred for life. She like rubbed their faces into pigs and put her hands into their mouth as they transformed, horrid, never want to see that again. and the men were already eating like rabid pigs before the transformation but the way it was presented made it look like a bad thing? They were STARVING, I got the message that "men are like pigs" already with the suitor scenes, but Odysseus men were STARVING and they still asked politely in the movie, and she made it seem like they came onto her and forced her to feed them and ate like pigs as if they could have gotten it elsewhere.
Really didn't like the message she gave Odysseus either, how she was like "your men are going to die" that wasn't your job, ma'am. That was for the underworld.
Didn't care for how big of a role Sinon had in the movies, I don't actually know if he's related to Antonious (suitor, did I spell that right?), but it was just a weird subplot that I didn't think was needed.
They ALSO tried to portray Calypso as good(ish)? Like she was like "I saved your life!" Yet she was like trying to help him remember his past and what he did because apparently he forgot after eating lotus, and she grew to love him and wanted him to stay, but like "let him go" because "his heart was elsewhere," like, kinda felt like the movie had a hard time letting the women make bad decisions or be "evil." In the book from my understanding, Calypso kept him there against his will and forced herself on him for YEARS. why did they like try to make her like she was suffering just because he wanted to go home? She was super floppy in her character, helping him remember but wanting him to stay, as if she was a comforter to him rather than his abductor and captor. Didn't like that at all.
This is more just a creative liberty critique although it makes sense, Odysseus blamed himself throughout the movie, and although it was still a good plot point, he actively admits "yeah, Athena inspired the horse yet I'm still being punished for it" and "yeah the gods casted winds on this island and we were stranded and had nowhere to go and our food ran out" and "yeah we've angered poseidon for hurting the Cyclops but we hadn't stolen anything and we had to get out alive" like it was clear everything was the gods fault, and he still blamed himself. I get that's their culture but there were times were Odysseus wouldn't honor the gods and would try to defy them, I wish they leaned in more to that (because it's what got him home).
They made Penelope like weirdly throne hungry and like "why can't I hold it myself?!" And she was super mad that a woman couldn't just have the throne? She wanted the suitors to burn yes, but she was also super against Telemachus taking the throne, which was weird, and she wanted to hold it herself until she died? It was odd and I didn't like it. She did miss Odysseus yes but that part just felt so out of character to the rest that was portrayed.
I understand that Emily Wilson's version (the one Christopher Nolan based the movie on) is more feminist and wants to give the "women a voice" but it didn't really feel like giving them a voice over just voicing feminist propaganda through their tongues, I don't think the women would have said what they said in their culture. Sure they want to be heard but I believe not like it was portrayed.
Neutrals:
They skipped over the lotus eater part entirely, but included lotus on Calypso's island, and had her feed it to him so he would forget and wish to stay with her, which makes sense imo.
They used the pillaged people to identify Odysseus and Ithaca to the gods rather than the Cyclops, for he was mute, kinda? He didn't really talk. And it was his men who said their kingdom rather than Odysseus himself.
Troys walls were short in the movie, I think they should've been, historically, a little bit more tall for accuracy.
They didn't have traditional Greek or Trojan armor, but honestly I didn't hate it nor liked it? They portrayed the Trojans in white, fitting, no stains on their clothes because they hid in their walls for nine years.
No mention of Achilles.
No mention of Hermes, he was completely removed via the Circe and Calypso scene.
The portrayal of Hades was more like a "they went to this part of the world, offered sacrifices and resummoned the dead." Weird how the dead had to lick the sheeps blood before they could talk, kinda unnecessary imo. Makes sense for pagan practices and their religions but it was just too odd for me personally.
Aeolus the god of the wind, and the wind bag were skipped over entirely as well.
Athena's role was USELESS, you could have probably removed Zendayas parts from the film and none of it would change.
Tiresias tells Odysseus his men are going to die rather than being like "oh if this happens, then this will happen," he just states a matter of fact they will die at the island or by the sirens and Odysseus is like "no we won't, I'll defy the gods." Though, ironically, the only one defying the gods is the one who made it out alive, vs the rest of his crew tried to honor the gods and they died. Interesting how that worked.
It was eurylochus who made the decision to go against Odysseus and go to the Scyllas lair rather than the whirlpool. He then 180s and blames it on Odysseus when 6 men get eaten, tho Odysseus didn't really help by admitting he knew that would happen.
They only showed Scyllas snakes heads and a big of the body as they retracted.
Odysseus revealed it his men that they would die should they kill the cows, they swore not to, obviously they did in the end but they were content with their fate I guess, despite begging Odysseus to ask the gods for forgiveness for their lives. Like bro YOU killed the cow and knew what would happen, YOU pray!
They skipped the whole scene of Odysseus going to another king and telling his tale, as well as receiving a boat and gold from them.
There wasn't too much color in the movie but honestly color did NOT fit the vibe of the movie, it was like thriller horror and color would've thrown it off. I do remember Agamemnons wife purple dress tho.
They didn't develop Odysseus crew a lot, a little bit but not a lot for their deaths to feel super heart-wrenching in the movie. If they would've given us more I felt like I could feel the heartbreak of the crewmates but I don't hate that it was not there.
They had the pillaged captives speak a different language.
And wow, that's it. I really did like the movie overall, like a 8/10 for me, but nothing higher because those cons were DEFINITELY cons that took away from the movie for me.
If you read this far, please let me know your thoughts on my thoughts! I'd love to discuss this.
Follow for more historical Greek content and if you're interested in an isekai of a 21st century woman going into the Odyssey and Iliad. Thanks for reading my thoughts, let me know what you think.
- Zelphin
