Last weekend I participated in the global effort to save the cinemas, and went to see The Odyssey in a movie theater. It's been years since I last went to the cinema, but there was so much hype about this film that I wanted to see it for myself.
IMAX, 4DX, and other gimmicks
Part of the decision to go out to see this movie was the experience of shaking seats and other effects wrapped around the film, to make it more attractive to visit a theater for it. In the end, due to time constraints and overbooked cinemas, we ended up going to one that did not have any of these extra features. Sure, there was a huge screen, which is the least you can expect from a theater, though I'm not sure it was IMAX. Plus, we ended up watching it dubbed into Spanish. It was all good, though.
The Long Way Home After the War
The film's plot is heavily oriented on the classical Greek tales of The Iliad and The Odyssey, telling the story of Odysseus' journey home after winning the Trojan war. Since these songs were part of the oral tradition for centuries before being written down by Homer, the historical basis is murky at best. Even following Homer, the stories have been translated and interpreted at will, so no one should blame Christopher Nolan, the director of this film, for what he included or left out.
Just like when you're watching an opera, where it is useful to be familiar with the general outline of the plot, so you can enjoy the music, with this story too it's immensely helpful to have read the books. The timeline tends to jump around quite a bit, as various stages of the story are retold, remembered, and reemphasized in a new light. Personally, I believe this is the one great strength of this particular interpretation.
Mirroring Contemporary Times
None of the classical Greek gods appear in the film. Even supernatural creatures are some types of animals, distorted humanoids, and most of all manifestations of the fear, guilt, and remorse haunting the characters (mainly Odysseus). Didn't he manage to win the war by deceit, offering the wooden horse as a gift, and thus breaking one of the most fundamental rules of society? But he's not the only one, by far.
There seems to be an ongoing fear of the "sea peoples", which ring a bell to modern ears, as they allegedly brought down the great civilizations of the bronze age Mediterranean. - I even gave myself a face-palm when Odysseus outright said: "Our age of bronze is collapsing." On the other hand, to include something so ridiculous in the script can't be an accident. I think it was fully intentional, with a good reason.
I think this line, and the whole film in its close to three hour entirety, is supposed to show us the end of an era. When old norms and values are abandoned, and everything becomes relative, heroes turn into villains, and villains... remain villains, as everything loses its purpose. There is no going back. Even when reaching the place that used to be home, one is confronted with yet more battles, and further killings.
Go Ahead and Watch it - If You Want
All in all, I did not think the movie was bad. Still, I did not find it immensely captivating, or particularly deep to ponder. It was certainly too long, and by the time Odysseus finally reached Ithaca I just wanted him to kill everyone to get it over with. So I will give this film an ambiguous rating of 50/100. There are many better ones out there, and certainly lots of worse ones.
Rating: 50/100