Christoper Nolan’s The Odyssey is an enormous critical and commercial success, but not everyone is a fan, including the professor whose 2017 translation of Homer’s epic was one of Nolan’s main influences. In a piece for the London Review of Books, Emily Watson took Nolan’s The Odyssey to task, calling the writing “abysmal” and saying that she would have been “ashamed to have written any part of this script.“
Emily Watson on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
“Nolan’s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great,” Watson wrote. “It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours. It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words.“
To make matters worse, she adds that “There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”
“Unlike some of Nolan’s other films, The Odyssey is not boring, thanks to the source material, which is impossible to mess up entirely,” she continued. “It’s a family-friendly audiovisual spectacle, like an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth.“
It’s Not All Bad
Although Watson clearly isn’t a big fan of this particular adaptation, she’s still pleased that Nolan’s film has become such a success, if only to bring more attention to classic literature.
“Despite all this, the release of The Odyssey is still an event to celebrate. In what we are told is the streaming era, this epic is bringing audiences back to cinemas,” she wrote. “In what we are told is a time of declining literacy and the ‘death of the humanities’, translations of The Odyssey, including mine, are flying off the shelves.“
She continued, “Some of those who buy the book or show up in cinemas to watch Tom Holland may go on to study ancient Greek. Perhaps the film will persuade a few college administrators not to cut their literature, language and history departments. Nolan, who studied English at University College London – where students still study The Odyssey as a first year ‘foundational text’ – is doing his best to get the general public reading again, and I am grateful.“
The Odyssey
The film has already become a massive success, grossing $666.8 million worldwide after less than two weeks of release. That’s very impressive, especially as the sword-and-sandal adventure is nearly three hours long and rated R. Be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here.
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