Short version: I liked it. Quite a lot. 😀

I also saw it on the biggest screen I could manage, which was a wise choice, i.e. The Odyssey is definitely a big-screen film, with fantastic (no pun intended) cinematography.

Having read two different versions of The Odyssey, in translation, and overall, I thought the film was “reasonably true” to the original — which, storywise, is the archetypal quest-journey. Christopher Nolan’s film doesn’t include all the monster encounters and magical-supernatural challenges en route, but it’s certainly got the main ones: e.g. Cyclops, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, the sirens, and the Land of the Dead. He also couples the lotus flower (forgetfulness) with Odysseus’s sojourn on Calypso’s isle.

Monstrous encounters

That being said, there are some quite big departures, especially at the end, but in terms of the broad brush of the story, i.e. epic journey, longing for home, and many tribulations, both on the journey and at home, this is recognizably The Odyssey. And it is an adaptation / retelling, so I didn’t expect a faithful rendition of the original.* 😀

The Trojan shore…

I also like the way the film weaves the Trojan War backdrop, particularly its conclusion with the wooden horse and sacking of Troy, with the return home. Because it’s those events, as well as the dealings with Cyclops, that are why Odysseus and his crew are doomed to wander. And I feel the film captures Odysseus’s war and journey weariness really well, along with his shrewdness and toughness. So although I had a question mark over Matt Damon in the role, prior to seeing the film, this was erased by his performance. Quite simply, he was Odysseus.

The Trojan War backdrop

The film also highlights the importance of xenia, the sacred law of hospitality and guest friendship, in the ancient world and Homer’s Odyssey  The behaviour of the suitors, invading the home of Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and abusing her hospitality, is a huge violation of xenia. Yet arguably, Odysseus and his men also violate it, entering the homes of Cyclops and Circe uninvited. So I liked that the film captured some of those subtleties.

Eumaeus

The Ithacan sequences, with Penelope and her son Telemachus (also Odysseus’s son 😀 ) striving to navigate the suitors’ greed and brutality, were well done, with Anne Hathaway, as Penelope, and John Leguizamo, as Eumaeus, the standout performances.

Perhaps most telling of all, although it was three hours long, The Odyssey didn’t feel like a lengthy film. 🙂

Penelope & Telemachus

In terms of aspects I didn’t like so much, I think the “action-hero reunion” between Odysseus and Telemachus was maybe too big a departure from the original. The final combat with the suitors, which was effectively Odysseus alone against the multitude, also stretched my incredulity a bit too far. (It’s also another departure from the original story, where he, Telemachus, and their small band of adherents, fought the suitors together.) In the Homeric epic, Telemachus’s guide, Mentor, is the goddess Athena in disguise, and I think it would have been good to have brought this out in the film, as well.

Penelope with Odysseus’s bow

Overall, though, I believe the film is really worth seeing, not least because it captures much of the essence of the original. And first up among a few “little things” that I really liked, was the first sight of the wooden horse reared amid sand and surf, on the Trojan beach. “Awesome,” I thought. I also really liked the way the film portrayed Agamemnon (the Mycenean High King and Greek leader). Chiefly, we only see him in armor,  and even in the return to Mycenae we never see his full face. This creates an impression of a monolithic force more than a man, which worked for me in the context of the movie.

Agamemnon

And finally, my favourite line, which comes when Eumaeus asks if Odysseus will bring vengeance for the suitors’ abuses — and the disguised Odysseus replies that, “He will bring it all.”

* And some aspects of the original would be very challenging for modern sensibilities. #JustSaying