Some people will never understand how deep this movie went with its comedy. It's sad we will most likely never see another comedy film like this again.
As someone who has read The Odyssey many times, my main annoyance with Nolan’s adaptation is that for the next thirty years, whenever one of my favorite topics comes up, I’ll have to talk about Nolan's choices rather than Homer's.
It's happened again and again. Hollywood colonizes some long-beloved realm, kicks out the locals and the OG nerds, strip mines the ground for profit, and leaves toxic tailings in the soil: e.g. "Are you a terrible human, or do you love the casting?"
I don't want to talk about Nolan's casting. I want to talk about Homer's characters, their culture, and the stories that they've shared with me. I'm a guest here myself. I have no claim to Ancient Greece other than my love for it.
A magical thing about reading old books is it lets you hear ancient people's deepest questions about life and morality directly; it lets you see their preoccupations and obsessions, and it invites wrestle with their conclusions. In experiencing other eras, you may come to understand that you--we!--also live in an era with its own passing obsessions. Homer was far more concerned with guest-rights than with race.
It's not that we shouldn't have or express our modern opinions on these stories; it's that a thoughtful guest invited into a new culture listens first, makes a real effort to understand the things that seem strange, and then speaks.
This movie seems to be far more about the 2020's than about 1100BC (or 800BC). It seems poised to talk over Homer rather than to listen at all. I think that's a mistake. (I do hold hope that my fears are misplaced: Nolan is brilliant.)
The land will heal, but maybe not in my lifetime. Classicists of the future, I envy you.
A video that is currently going viral online: the groom’s friends created an incredible clip for a couple from Kazakhstan using AI.
It shows the lovers as if they had met in different eras and, across centuries, kept finding each other again and again.
The bride’s reaction is priceless.
I had fun with the 2026 #TheOdyssey but I will say, the BIG scene with the suitors absolutely DID NOT top the 97 version as far as dialogue went AND this reveal. Listen to the PROMO Odysseus cuts on these bastards.
(Careful for spoilers if you dont know the story)