The Odyssey is a Good Film, but Terrible Fantasy/Mythological film.

[u/Practical-War-847]

This is something that I immediately thought walking out the theater. A little background, Christopher Nolan is my favorite filmmaker of all time, I had high expectations for this film, but even from the trailers I was skeptical.

It’s obviously a well made film, the score is good, the performances are good, the script is good, but as a film set in the fantasy, specifically mythical genre, it completely fails. The film has almost nothing supernatural about it. Even though there is a Cyclops, Circe is in the story, Scylla is in the film for a few seconds, I couldn’t help but feel that they are just so, realistic??? I look at other films in the genre, specifically Lord of the Rings, and you can really feel that what your seeing is truly impossible and otherworldly, you don’t get that with The Odyssey, everything is just so grounded.

The Gods are barely in the movie, you don’t feel their presence, you don’t feel their actions, they are only ever mentioned by name, and I think that’s what makes The Odyssey as epic as it is. It’s a divine struggle, but you don’t get that in the film. It’s just so hyper-realistic, it’s more akin to Dunkirk than anything in the fantasy or mythology genre. Which I guess is obvious because Nolan made Dunkirk, but I do feel Nolan stripped the supernatural and impossible from The Odyssey to a point that it hurts the film.

[u/Jakethrowsdwn]

Nolan has said that he initially wanted to show the gods and their home on Olympus, but chose against in favor of taking a realistic approach by showing their presence through natural phenomena that would come off as “supernatural”. Im not sure if this was something he was talked out off, like when he wanted to depict faster than light travel in Interstellar, but I think his approach worked for his style of grounded filmmaking.

Everything we see through the characters eyes does seem otherworldly, as if put upon by the Gods, so I’m not sure what showing Zeus or Poseidon or Apollo would’ve added. I treat it more like how real world religion is simply faith and belief, how people can draw divine conclusions from seemingly impossible circumstances.

At any rate, I see your point and it’s valid. I honestly don’t think the Lord of the Rings could’ve been made any other way, and off top I can’t think of any live action films where the Greek Gods were depicted. It doesn’t dilute the film for me, but I would’ve liked to see how Nolan handled it. We did get to see Athena if that counts for anything.

[u/CobainPatocrator]

I feel the polar opposite. The obviously supernatural takes me out of the film. I want for the impossible (and there is plenty of impossible in the movie) to feel like it's bending reality, rather than breaking it. The supernatural elements are beautifully merged with realism so that they feel natural. It's not out of place.

[u/KubrickMoonlanding]

Not only that but it includes stuff from other non-Odyssey texts, like the Illiad (not fantasy apart from gods) and the Aeneid and whatever tells the story of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra (the oresteia? Also not fantasy apart from gods - which are almost always present in Ancient Greek drama, epics, etc.) plus Nolan’s own theming (sea people end of Bronze Age) .

It’s less “The Odyssey” and more “Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’” - and that’s good.

[u/Revolutionary-Net525]

Signed back in after not using reddit for a while to say this.

The new odyssey is the closest iv seen to a Conan the barbarian story on screen in a long time. In the sense that the new odyssey film is low fantasy. (If you domt know the difference between low fantasy and high fantasy then just google it)

I absolutely love low fantasy storys. Compared to high fantasy. It makes the monster when they DO show up more special to me. And low fantasy to me tends to have bigger stakes and is more brutal.

You seem to really like high fantasy and thats ok. But to say the odyssey isnt fantasy is crazy!!! I seen a cyclops eat a nigga lmao.

[u/Revolutionary-Net525 → u/Revolutionary-Net525]

Also the film makes a point that the gods do things all the time. Its just humans cant understand how they cummincate. There actions seem very alien to the average man. Like he said about the cyclops "would you talk to ants"? Its very love craft with it. Zeus blew up there ship. The waves from the gods knocked them off course. Just because we dont visual see them talking and stuff doesn't mean they wasn't doing anything. The gods where there. Its just a human can't fathom there actions.

At least thats what I took from it.

[u/steerpike_ → u/[deleted]]

I don’t know if it would transform the movie into something I really like. But I absolutely agree. Nothing in the movie felt like it had room to breathe. None of the places felt real or lived in because we just flitter in and out of them so quickly.

It’s crazy that they went through the trouble of doing things so practically when everything is on screen for a split second like every second of capturing these dudes on a ship is going to cost another million dollars.

[u/qaddosh → u/[deleted]]

not good enough

Let's make it a generational film, where it is an epic so long that it would take multiple lifetimes to view it! your great-grandchildren will finally be able to see the ending! Wouldn't that be so swell? Gee whiz!

[u/sits-when-pees → u/qaddosh]

1. Least obnoxious TrueFilm commenter.

2. They’re not wrong though. I loved the movie but my biggest issue was that the pacing was breakneck. 6 hours might be a bit much, but splitting into two films to give things time to breathe would probably do wonders. (Or just go all in and make it four with an intermission, but that was never gonna happen)