Christopher Nolan’s new film “The Odyssey” is getting attention not only for its box office buzz and critical praise, but also for the reaction it has sparked among scholars of Homer, according to ABC News.
Greek translator Emily Wilson said she was pleased that the movie has helped drive renewed interest in Homer’s epic and her own 2017 translation, which climbed into Amazon’s top five. Nolan has also pointed to Wilson’s wording of the opening line, “Tell me about a complicated man,” as an inspiration.
At the same time, Wilson said the film left her unsatisfied. She questioned several choices, including the absence of Zeus and Poseidon from the screen, a message she described as mixed on war and cowardice, and a version of Penelope that she felt was too limited.
Scholar and translator Daniel Mendelsohn also praised Nolan’s visual style and ambition while arguing that the director turned Odysseus into a more tormented character than the clever, witty hero of Homer’s poem. Still, Wilson said she would recommend seeing the movie in a theater, and she described watching it with her children as enjoyable.
