Christopher Nolan's
Matt Damon, from left, director Christopher Nolan, and Anne Hathaway attend the premiere of "The Odyssey" at AMC Lincoln Square on Tuesday in New York.
Greek translator Emily Wilson critiques Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' for missing essential themes. Critic Daniel Mendelsohn praises Nolan's style but faults his portrayal of Odysseus. NEW YORK — For Greek translator Emily Wilson, the release of director Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" has been gratifying in various ways. Her acclaimed 2017 edition of Homer's epic has reached the top 5 on Amazon.com, leading a wave of similar books boosted by the movie.
Nolan has even cited her translation, notably the opening line "Tell me about a complicated man," as inspiration. But the film itself, which opened this weekend and has received raves from many critics, left her unsatisfied.
"I want to celebrate the fact that so many more people are aware of 'The Odyssey' and were brought back to the poem," she told The Associated Press. "But at the same time, I had the sense that Christopher Nolan was trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential to the poem.
" One of the year's most anticipated releases, "The Odyssey" stars Matt Damon as the returning warrior Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as his wife, Penelope, and Tom Holland as their son, Telemachus. Reviewers have praised the acting and the narrative drive, the grand scale of a movie shot entirely on IMAX film and how it weds the sensibilities of ancient Greece and the modern world, at least as Nolan perceives it.
The divide between scholars and critics seems in part a matter of whether the balance should tilt toward Nolan or Homer. Wilson and fellow translator Daniel Mendelsohn both expressed admiration for Nolan's cinematic flair and ambition, what Mendelsohn calls his "great visual panache.
" Both speculated that his desire to make a "Christopher Nolan" movie led to unfortunate decisions. Mendelsohn is an author, critic and translator and his assessment appeared Friday in The New York Review of Books, where he is an editor-at-large. Mendelsohn had previously defended Nolan's controversial decision to cast a Black actor, Lupita Nyong'o, as Helen of Troy, calling it a worthy way to "provoke, challenge and discomfit how we think about beauty and identity.
" But he faulted the director for giving us an Odysseus with "no cleverness, no humor, no wily charm. " One of the Western canon's formative tricksters has been transformed, he contended, into the kind of haunted protagonist featured in such previous Nolan movies as "Oppenheimer" and "Memento.
" "This tormented, guilt-ridden Odysseus, stripped of humor and wit, seductiveness and cleverness, is a sibling of Memento's anguished amnesiac, of Batman, of Oppenheimer, men tormented by pasts they wrestle with in different ways," wrote Mendelsohn, whose "Odyssey" translation came out in 2025. "Nolan has merely remade Homer's hero in his own image.
" Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said she didn't want to come across as a "snobby," nitpicking expert at odds with any deviation from the original text. But she questioned a range of omissions and other choices, from the absence on screen of the Gods Zeus and Poseidon to the "incoherent" messaging that condemns both war and physical cowardice.
She found Penelope's role so thinned out that it endangered "any possibility of believing in this marriage.
" Wilson also that thought parts of the movie, notably the scenes with Odysseus' dog, Argos, "catered towards modern sentimentality. "A spokesperson for Nolan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wilson declined to offer a grade or ranking for the movie, but said she would recommend it for others, as long as they see it in a theater.
"It was fun to be there with my kids. I didn't feel it was pulling teeth to engage with it," she said.
"If you can see it on a big screen you should absolutely go. "The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written. John Green's new tour will bring him to Salt Lake City. Here's what to know about his upcoming book
Please follow us on Google to support usTraffic Weather Sports Classifieds Cars Jobs Homes Television Radio Salt Lake Utah Local Film Literature Entertainment Art
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey Debuts to Critical Acclaim and Strong Streaming NumbersSummary: Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey has earned high praise from critics and audiences alike. The film, starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Holland, is already drawing sold-out crowds and performing well in early box office previews. A companion behind-the-scenes documentary also achieved a top-five ranking on Peacock. The movie retells Homer's epic story of Odysseus's long journey home after the Trojan War, while his wife Penelope and son Telemachus contend with suitors in Ithaca. The film's full box office and eventual streaming performance are anticipated with interest.
Read more »
Christopher Nolan's Oscar 'Odyssey': Can Matt Damon, Monsters and Mythology Deliver Another Best Picture Statue?Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's epic has arrived to a wave of critical love, sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and 89 on Metacritic. It represents the rare summer tentpole with awards ambitions built into its foundation. The sword-and-sandal epic could mark a huge comeback for the genre and potentially head towards the big Oscar record. Ridley Scott's 2001 blockbuster 'Gladiator' won best picture that season, briefly reminding Hollywood that ancient-world spectacle could still capture the Academy's imagination. Before 'Gladiator,' William Wyler's 'Ben-Hur' dominated the 1959 Oscars, winning 11 awards - a record at the time - including best picture, director and actor for Charlton Heston. Earlier biblical and historical epics such as 'The Ten Commandments' (1956) and 'Spartacus' (1960) demonstrated that spectacle could become a path to Oscar glory when paired with strong storytelling and cultural impact. Even Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003), though rooted in fantasy rather than ancient history, proved that a massive mythological adventure could become an awards-season phenomenon, sweeping the ceremony.
Read more »
Christopher Nolan's Odyssey: Bringing Greek Mythology to LifeChristopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's epic poem brings the fantastical elements of the story to life in a visually stunning and thought-provoking way. The film features a number of iconic creatures from Greek mythology, including the Cyclops, the Sirens, Circe, and the sea monsters Charybdis and Scylla. Nolan takes creative liberties to bring the characters and creatures to the screen, but the film remains true to the spirit of the original poem.
Read more »
All 7 Greek Gods & Monsters In Christopher Nolan's The OdysseyWho was in the Odyssey movie?
Read more »